Graphics Card Upgrade

Graphics Card Upgrade

With the advent of Fortnite reaching my computer, I wanted to be able to play the game without it looking like a potato.

I don't play many computer games, generally keeping to consoles. With Fortnight, I wanted to play with my son and not have to buy a new console. I was amazed Fortnight even ran on my computer. Well, just barely. With all settings on low/off, I was getting 10 frames per second. That's not good, it's pretty much unplayable though I did manage more than a few eliminations. While my son and I had fun playing together, my game play was significantly hindered.

I decided an upgrade was in order. I initially priced a graphics card at $70, and that was better than $250 for a used console.

I've never built a computer from the ground up, but I've added/replaced memory, hard drives, and optical drives. While it can seem daunting, this is an easy upgrade.

I landed on an nVidia based  card. My machine already had an nVidia card geared for workstations. Perusing the web, I saw a lot of GTX 650, 750, 950, 1050. The higher the number the higher the cost. I settled on a 600 series variant, before I learned even more.

Before I went too far, I looked up the sizes of the cards to make sure they would fit my desktop machine. A number of the GTX cards are double thickness, but my desktop had plenty of space all around. The graphics card fits into a PCI-E slot.
While I didn't know this ahead of time, most graphics cards require additional power, luckily my computer already had the cables in place. Check on this before you purchase. You may need an adapter cable.

With the nVidia numbering convention, the first digit is the series. The 1000 is the latest series. There is no 800 series. The last two digits are the model number. It can range from 720, 730, 740, 750, 760, 770, and 780. The higher number didn't necessarily mean a better card. A 960 is just the newer version of the 760, but a 770 card might perform better than the 960.
I needed at least a X60 series that would be the best cost/benefit and that's when the cards start stepping into the high end. I ended up on a 760. The price would be $100, more than I initially wanted to spend, but it would put the graphic fidelity at console level. A 760 won't be better than a 960, but it is better than a 950.

I began hunting eBay auctions for the right card/price. I settled on the EVGA brand. Reviews and research looked good, and it's easier to dig through eBay listings once I got very specific about what I wanted. While there are plenty of off brand offerings on eBay, I didn't want to get into that.

I ended up getting a EVGA GTX 760 super clocked for $100. While I'm wary of buying something like this on eBay, the seller and listing looked legitimate, and eBay has buyer protections in place.

A few days later the card arrived at my door. Before installing the card, download the correct drivers. I went to EVGA's site and downloaded the proper driver. Next, access the add/remove programs list on your computer and delete anything/everything nVidia. This will provide a fresh install, but be forewarned, with no drivers when you switch your computer back on, the resolution, etc will be off because drivers control that.

The inside of a desktop computer.

Shut down the computer. Unplug all peripherals and the power cable. I gave the machine an hour to cool down. My case has a side panel that has an easy release. Then I used compress air to dust the inside. There was a fair amount of dust. It had been a few years since I last dusted. Inside a computer can be scary if you've never looked inside, but just be careful and take your time.

I just need to pull the graphics card out while lifting a plastic stop. There were no screws at the rear slot. The new card is a double height, so remove the next lowest slot cover. It should slide right out.
The new card slides right in. Insert it into the same slot, while your computer may have multiple PCI-E slots, there is a "main" one. The new card is a lot heavier than the old card and I didn't like that weight just hanging. I got an extra screw I had and screwed the rear panel into the machine for another secure mounting point. The machine already had a threaded hole and the rear panel of the card was meant to be mounted.

The upgraded card requires additional power. My computer already had the cables from the power supply so it was a simple plug and play. Make sure any wires under the card do not contact the fans. I had one wire that need to be moved, I tucked it under a plastic panel inside the case.
Replace the panel and plug everything back in.

Next came the big moment, does it work? It can be hard to see if both fans on the card are spinning, but I used a small mirror to make sure. They were. When I first switched on the computer, it booted up but the monitor was blank. A moment of panic hit me, but I did a hard shut off and made sure everything was plugged up correctly, every cord and cable I unplugged and reset.

I tried again and I saw the startup routine on the monitor. Your desktop resolution will be wonky, but that's because you uninstalled the drivers. Install the new driver, it will take half an hour, but upon completion your resolution will be back to normal.

There are a few tweaks I can enact in the nVidia interface. Here are a few tips for setting up Fortnite.

I opened Fortnite and tweaked the settings. There is low, medium, high, and ultra settings. After a bit of tweaking, I ended up on all high settings, with motion blur off. This resulted in an average 80 frames per second, sometimes higher. You want to target 60 fps for playability.

With an eyeball test, the graphics look just as good, if not just a tick better than a console. My son and I play right next to each other on adjacent monitors.