cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Help for a bewildered dad

Averagejoe
Grafter
Posts: 43
Registered: ‎13-01-2015

Help for a bewildered dad

Hi,
I had a PC built for my son, at the time we didn't spec it for gaming but he's now into it and is finding that the games like CS:GO won't work properly and suspects his graphics card (GC) is not up to spec. I'm more bothered that a new GC will need other bits adding to it that I don't fully understand.  I was hoping someone might explain having reviewed the spec below what he needs to play these sorts of games with no lag or rubber banding etc,.  I appreciate we cant get top spec and max fps and all that, just some good gaming time.
His spec is;
win 8.1 64 bit
Intel pentium G3420 @ 3.2 GHz
8.00gb dual channel DDR3 @ 666 mhz
Graphics - Intel HD Graphics 2270W (1920*1080@60Hz)
931 gb HD storage left
Any basic help or advice would be most welcome
Thanks
10 REPLIES 10
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

At a first guess
For playing CS GO the CPU should be OK just about but the integrated graphics just won't cut it for that resolution
However before splashing out on a graphics card we need to find if your system will support it
Can you advise the motherboard and the power supply
Averagejoe
Grafter
Posts: 43
Registered: ‎13-01-2015

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. H81M-PLUS (SOCKET 1150)
not sure about power supply
Averagejoe
Grafter
Posts: 43
Registered: ‎13-01-2015

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

not sure if this helps
Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Model H81M-PLUS (SOCKET 1150)
Version Rev X.0x
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Haswell
Chipset Revision 06
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model H81
Southbridge Revision C2
System Temperature 28 °C
BIOS
Brand American Megatrends Inc.
Version 0804
Date 06/01/2014
Voltage
+5V 5.240 V
+3.3V 3.392 V
+12V 12.096 V
VIN3 0.136 V
VIN4 0.272 V
VCORE 1.728 V
PCI Data
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage Available
Data lanes x16
Slot Designation PCIEX16_1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 0
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage Available
Data lanes x1
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

As long as you go for a single slot graphics card it should be OK if the power supply will support it
However it is possible that it won't so we need to know that
Averagejoe
Grafter
Posts: 43
Registered: ‎13-01-2015

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

not sure how to find that out, any assistance welcome, or is one for the PC builder?
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

Two possibilities
On the back of the computer where the power supply power feed is connected there may be a plate giving the information
Alternatively remove the side plate of the computer (with everything switched off) and there should be a plate visible on the side of the power supply
However
If you are going to get a professional to add a graphics card rather than doing it yourself he should and will check that
He will also advise the minimum graphics card you will need
St3
Aspiring Champion
Posts: 2,614
Thanks: 502
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

might be cheaper to buy a second hand gaming pc from ebay or somthing. going off those specs they look pretty low
hillyfields123
Grafter
Posts: 150
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎16-09-2014

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread but if it's still relevant:
The processor would be fine as Oldjim says but the integrated graphics won't cut it for CS:GO.. If you can find out the wattage (power) of the power supply then recommending a graphics card is trivial.
Doglet
Grafter
Posts: 45
Thanks: 3
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎03-02-2016

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

An AMD HD 7850 only uses a single 75W 6-pin power connector I'd recommend that as a descent graphics card with low power requirements.
It's what's inside the Playstation 4 and can run games at 1080p/30 without issue. (Should be able to run an old game like CS:GO at 1080p/60 though)
I think it got re-branded as a R9 270 or R9 280 in later iterations. Pentium CPUs are an old design and might bottleneck it though. You'd be better with an i5 CPU.
hillyfields123
Grafter
Posts: 150
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎16-09-2014

Re: Help for a bewildered dad

Quote from: Doglet
Pentium CPUs are an old design and might bottleneck it though. You'd be better with an i5 CPU.

The Pentium G3420 in question is a Haswell chip which is exactly the same microarchitecture as the i5-4xxx chips and is by no means an 'old design'.