GPU update

[ozinoz]

My rig at home is getting on a bit now - heading for 5 years I think. It is an early gen i7 with a GTX5460ti GPU.

I was thinking of a small upgrade, GPU wise and thought I would look at a s/h GTX970 from somebody upgrading to a bigger card. Any thoughts? I really cant justify dropping too much $$ on it, and prices here are very expensive

Will this just drop into my rig (I am very tech illiterate I am afraid) where the old one is? - I really don't fancy having to pay $200 for somebody to install it if it si not too difficult. I have watched a few vids and it looks easy, but then so does brain surgery when you know how to do it

Any how-to tips gratefully received :)

[peterhayes]

ozinoz
You need to consider:
Your present Power Supply can it drive a GTX 970? Does it have the correct MOLEX connectors for the new card?
Is a GTX 1060 a better bet?
Monitor Resolution?
Is there enough room on your motherboard (case) to install a new card - they do tend to be a bit taller, longer, and wider these days.
Make sure your PCIe slot on the mother board can support the new card.

If everything is OK its easy to install a video card.
Turn off all power to the PC. Unplug all cables and remove side of case.
Ground yourself against static electricity
Unscrew the back plate holding the old card into the case.
Check if there is a "small lock type device" holding the card in the mobo slot.
Release that and ease the card out, upwards smoothly.
Insert the new card - may be wider than the old one so you may have to remove another metal slot on the case.
Insert the card into the mobo slot pressing EVENLY and making sure any slot on the card matches that on the mobo, and it "locks" into place on the mobo slot.
Tighten the retaining screws the holes will line up if you have the card seated correctly - check the card is seated.
Close the case turn on the power and perform a CLEAN install of the latest NVidia drivers.
Google anything above you do not understand!
Google you tube videos how to replace a video card using the brand and card details eg MSI GTX 1060 or similar and that should help.
Here's a basic video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YRlO-55njI
Don't rush and don't force anything.
Good Luck
pH

[buzz456]

Double check on the physical size of the one you are proposing to go to as they vary by manufacture quite a bit. I have a GTX960 by EVGA with a single fan 2Gb that I would sell you for cheap that is very small so I'm sure it would fit if you are interested. PM me if you are.

[peterhayes]

To the OP
Buzz is offering a very good card - if it will fit, etc.
Could be a bargain.
pH

[ozinoz]

Thanks for the info - thought I would just post an update.

Been having some issues with the PC of late - just suddenly started giving a BSOD (even in Win 10) and shutting down and repeated memory dumps, so decided, with Rick and team's new route on the horizon, to bite the bullet and buy a whole new PC. Have gone for an I5 7600K 4.2GHZ with 16G ram, GTX1070TI GPU and twin SSD drives. Might be overkill for TS but it was better to be safe I thought. TSW is dead to me (contains, nor is likely to ever contain, anything of interest to me) but I might get into some flightsimming while waiting for B&LE and Prepar3d looks interesting.

Its a custom build and not due for a week or so, so just hanging in there...

[buzz456]

You will be amazed.

[crosstie]

Great setup for TS. The 1070 runs it silky smooth on my rig
with all sliders maxed out. Suggest you dedicate one
Of your SSDs to games if you can, separate from the OS.
Stuart.