Is a new video card needed here?

• Micho wrote on 2011-05-22 18:59
  I don't really know much about computers so that's why I made this thread to seek help, so a month ago or so I made a thread to help me decide which desktop I should purchase, that idea has been scrapped apparently my parents won't allow me to buy a new computer.
  
  ANYWAYS, ever since the Vindictus update I've been lagging a lot, usually I wouldn't be lagging this bad, I had my graphic settings in normal and I had to turn it down to low, so would switching to a better graphics card help? Or is it something else?
  
  Here are my computer specs:
  
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  [Image: http://puu.sh/2aXA]

  
  
  

  [Image: http://puu.sh/2aXE]

  
  
  

  [Image: http://puu.sh/2aXH]

  
  
  

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• Osayidan wrote on 2011-05-22 19:05
  Looks like a fairly decent system, I would start by checking out what's running, see if there's no viruses or malware of any kind, and see if there's anything running that doesn't need to be. An upgrade to the graphics card will help either way but if there's no need for it after a good old PC cleanup you just saved yourself some moniez.
• Micho wrote on 2011-05-22 19:48

  Quote from Osayidan;452285:

  Looks like a fairly decent system, I would start by checking out what's running, see if there's no viruses or malware of any kind, and see if there's anything running that doesn't need to be. An upgrade to the graphics card will help either way but if there's no need for it after a good old PC cleanup you just saved yourself some moniez.

  
  
  EVERYONE LIEKS MUNNIES.
  
  Anyways, I just scanned by computer with Malwarbytes and Trend Micro Internet Security nothing came up. So, how does one clean his computer? :what:
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-05-22 20:01
  Yeah, that system should be adequate for Vindictus. And I find that "cleaning" computers is a waste of time. ;( Backup docs (which you are supposed to do all the time anyway!), format and reinstall Windows.
• Osayidan wrote on 2011-05-22 21:45

  Quote from Yoorah;452334:

  Yeah, that system should be adequate for Vindictus. And I find that "cleaning" computers is a waste of time. ;( Backup docs (which you are supposed to do all the time anyway!), format and reinstall Windows.

  
  
  Best way to do it but to a lot of people when you say that it's the end of the world (which technically was supposed to be yesterday so I guess it doesn't matter).
• Micho wrote on 2011-05-23 06:30

  Quote from Yoorah;452334:

  Yeah, that system should be adequate for Vindictus. And I find that "cleaning" computers is a waste of time. ;( Backup docs (which you are supposed to do all the time anyway!), format and reinstall Windows.

  
  
  Does that mean I have to re-download everything? Doesn't sound so nice, since I'm sharing the computer with my mother and she would probably flip ****. So any other way?
• TA wrote on 2011-05-23 09:31
  Try the graphics card. One with at least 1GB of vRAM on the card would do much better for today's games.
  
  Reformatting isn't going to fix your problem. That's just a temporary solution, and it only works for a short time because of the inefficiencies of the Windows filesystems. They slow down over time, and so do hard drives.
  
  That's still not gonna help with your overall performance issues, if it is a video issue. Which it is.
  
  Your RAM is more than enough. 6 GB can more than handle any game out today. You shouldn't have to play this game on normal, or low. Just upgrade the card then you can play on highest with no lag. Don't have to worry about technical crap you couldn't care less about.
  
  But uh... get an NVidia card. ATI cards are super suck with Vindictus especially. Their drivers are just... bad. They haven't honestly even been competitive with GeForce for some time now. It's kinda like Intel vs AMD. One's cheaper, but... nobody should really recommend it.
  
  I got this April 20th. It was $247. Should still be priced similarly.
  
  The sewers do seem a bit harder on systems though. I even get a little bit of lag on my end when I host sometimes in the sewers, running on highest settings. It's just slight though.
  
  Honestly, I think they just did a crappy job making it. Kinda like Age of Conan did where even the most expensive systems couldn't run it for crap. I mean, I'm running an i7 920, 12 GB of RAM and a GTX 560 Ti. I shouldn't lag in anything. It can pretty much chew up and spit out any game on highest.
  
  But still... the sewers. I dunno what it is about them. Maybe all the reflections on everything or something...
  
  Do you lag during any of the other ones, or is it just the sewers? If it's just that, then honestly I think it's probably their problem.
  
  I doubt they'll fix it though. So, a new card would probably be a good idea for now. Reformatting isn't gonna help you. That's not even a good idea.
• Micho wrote on 2011-05-23 16:36
  Yeah it's just Sewers really, and I can't really run anything above Low and I have to run Sewers on Lower, so yeah guess I need a Graphics Card, but how do you insert it into your computer? Also does Newegg work for Canadians?
• TA wrote on 2011-05-23 20:46
  It's pretty easy. You just undo the screws, if it has any (my case is screwless), then unplug the cords hooked into it which is its power, then pull it out of the slot. Put the other one in, and plug in the appropriate cords, screw it in and you're good to go. Just gonna have to get the new drivers installed. You might wanna uninstall the old drivers first.
  
  I dunno if Newegg works for Canadians or not. But, you should make sure your power supply is large enough to handle it. How many W is your power supply?
• Ampersand wrote on 2011-05-23 21:17
  From Canada, you should order from http://www.tigerdirect.ca/ or http://ncix.com/
• Micho wrote on 2011-05-24 00:52

  Quote from TA;453171:

  But, you should make sure your power supply is large enough to handle it. How many W is your power supply?

  
  
  Is it listed on the screenshots I posted? If not, how do I check it?
  
  

  Quote from Ampersand;453208:

  From Canada, you should order from http://www.tigerdirect.ca/ or http://ncix.com/

  
  
  Thanks, any good graphics cards there? I am really clueless when it comes to computers.
• TA wrote on 2011-05-24 01:20
  It's the big box at the top of your case where the power hooks into. It should have how many watts it is written on it.
• Micho wrote on 2011-05-24 01:27

  Quote from TA;453400:

  It's the big box at the top of your case where the power hooks into. It should have how many watts it is written on it.

  
  
  Couldn't find it but there was a little sticker on the cable, it said "10A 125V" if that relevant, I'll keep snooping around but I doubt I'll find anything.
• TA wrote on 2011-05-24 01:34
  Is it a prebuilt? If so what model is it?
• Micho wrote on 2011-05-24 01:36

  Quote from TA;453418:

  Is it a prebuilt? If so what model is it?

  
  
  Gateway DX4820.