gfx card upgrade

[grettin]

hi there, I have an lcd monitor and a hdtv setup to my computer (hd is running at 1080p 1746x1006 through dvi - hdmi cable and the monitor is at 1920 x 1080 through dvi - vga adapter then vga cable)

currently i have a gtx285 1gb with 2 dvi out and am using them both. now normally i put a video or something on the tv whilst i'm playing games on the monitor but i have to have the graphics turned to low to play it ok.

my question is would a second gtx285 make it so i can play on high settings? or would i be better off replacing it?

also is it that thats holding me back?

i have an amd 64 x2 5600+
4gb ram
windows 7

anything else you need to know please ask

sorry for all the text and thank you in advance for any help

Paul

 

[KalC]

hi there, I have an lcd monitor and a hdtv setup to my computer (hd is running at 1080p 1746x1006 through dvi - hdmi cable and the monitor is at 1920 x 1080 through dvi - vga adapter then vga cable)

currently i have a gtx285 1gb with 2 dvi out and am using them both. now normally i put a video or something on the tv whilst i'm playing games on the monitor but i have to have the graphics turned to low to play it ok.

my question is would a second gtx285 make it so i can play on high settings? or would i be better off replacing it?

also is it that thats holding me back?

i have an amd 64 x2 5600+
4gb ram
windows 7

anything else you need to know please ask

sorry for all the text and thank you in advance for any help

Paul

The CPU is a bottleneck on the system. You should probably upgrade that first, what motherboard do you have?

 

[grettin]

mother board is M3A32-MVP deluxe

hmm so if I got a newer cpu that would make it work better? as in if I can upgrade cpu on that motherboard then i won't have to buy another gfx card?

I hope so.

thank you for the reply

 

[KalC]

mother board is M3A32-MVP deluxe

hmm so if I got a newer cpu that would make it work better? as in if I can upgrade cpu on that motherboard then i won't have to buy another gfx card?

I hope so.

thank you for the reply

Actually first, whats gaming like on the monitor only? Do you notice any slow downs? Or is that only when you hook up both your TV and the monitor?

Also what games are you playing? If you could post your full system specs that would be great

 

[grettin]

well the only game I play is world of warcraft which you wouldn't think of as being very graphically demanding which is why I thought getting a decent graphics card would sort it out. i have to play on the very minimum settings to get around 40fps in the later areas (which are designed for better systems I think) now if I turn the effects up it very rapidly drops to around 10fps or less. I haven't actually tried turning the graphics up whilst not using the tv, so i'll try that now and post back.

also by full system specs, what else is there? the only other thing I can think of is I remember my windows 7 score was 5.5 because of my hard drive. processor was 6.5 and the rest around 7 to 7.something.

i'll check game now with just monitor and post back in a minute.

 

[grettin]

ok just had a little run around without the tv on and it helped my fps went down to about 17 in a cluttered area (with graphics on highest so thats actually much better than 10 or less when up to middleish.

so what would be my best bet to get the tv usable at the same time?

thank you again for your advice.

 

[KalC]

well the only game I play is world of warcraft which you wouldn't think of as being very graphically demanding which is why I thought getting a decent graphics card would sort it out. i have to play on the very minimum settings to get around 40fps in the later areas (which are designed for better systems I think) now if I turn the effects up it very rapidly drops to around 10fps or less. I haven't actually tried turning the graphics up whilst not using the tv, so i'll try that now and post back.

also by full system specs, what else is there? the only other thing I can think of is I remember my windows 7 score was 5.5 because of my hard drive. processor was 6.5 and the rest around 7 to 7.something.

i'll check game now with just monitor and post back in a minute.

ok just had a little run around without the tv on and it helped my fps went down to about 17 in a cluttered area (with graphics on highest so thats actually much better than 10 or less when up to middleish.

so what would be my best bet to get the tv usable at the same time?

thank you again for your advice.

Ah so the problem is to do rather with World of Warcraft? You definitely don't need a GPU upgrade for that then. Your CPU should be fine with running World of Warcraft TBH (although this should be your next upgrade path). Are you running the latest drivers on your GTX 285? If not, then download from here:
Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

Dont worry though, alot of people have trouble with playing WoW even with high end hardware. Try this though, in WoW settings, try turning down the level of shadows. Apparently, the shadow code written for the game really dents the performance, so hopefully turning it down (or off) should help with the gameplay. Is WoW the only game you play or are there any others?

On a side note, which TV do you have?

And oh yes, no problem mate! Here to help!

 

[grettin]

Thank you very much for your help KalC, with shadows off i can play with high settings at about 30fps wich is fine for me.

just a quick one though or would i have to repost in cpu forum?

well anyway what would you recomend for an upgrade to cpu? would i have to get a new motherboard?

I found this page (CPU-Upgrade: ASUS M3A32-MVP DELUXE cpu support and features) does that mean that all the processors listed work with my m/board? and if they do are the Phenom x4 chips 64 bit? (just because I use the 64 bit os) and are they actually an upgrade? sorry for all the questions. I've just got a little bit of cash saved up and was going to upgrade my computer so if cpu is the way to go then I would be very grateful for some more help doing that.

 

[KalC]

Thank you very much for your help KalC, with shadows off i can play with high settings at about 30fps wich is fine for me.

No problem

Just experiment to see what settings give the best results. Is that when connected to your monitor only or with the TV connected also?

just a quick one though or would i have to repost in cpu forum? well anyway what would you recomend for an upgrade to cpu? would i have to get a new motherboard?

I found this page (CPU-Upgrade: ASUS M3A32-MVP DELUXE cpu support and features) does that mean that all the processors listed work with my m/board? and if they do are the Phenom x4 chips 64 bit? (just because I use the 64 bit os) and are they actually an upgrade? sorry for all the questions. I've just got a little bit of cash saved up and was going to upgrade my computer so if cpu is the way to go then I would be very grateful for some more help doing that.

I would recommend creating another thread in the CPU forum

I cant help much with AMD CPU's, im sure someone with a bit more knowledge will help you out