Little Help Please :)

[Swayne]

So I bought this tower and when I downloaded CS:S and started playing I got 100+fps. Next thing I know, Steam Cloud activated and all my new binds and settings went back to what they use to be when I played from my old laptop and my fps got cut in half :facewall:

So great Tech Help Gods, please help me get the full potential out of my new computer.

 

[I'm your huckleberry]

I am assuming it changed your graphics settings as well. Your computer has Intel HD 2000 graphics which is not great. You will probably have to turn the resolution down to its lowest to get 100+ as you were before.

 

[Swayne]

Then any suggestions for a new graphics card, don't really want to upgrade anything else. I don't much about computers so any help is appreciated.

 

[Snipeye]

How much money do you want to spend on an upgrade?

 

[I'm your huckleberry]

Also, is css all you play?

 

[Swayne]

I only play CS:S and stream movies. I just got this setup last week so I don't want to spend too much. $200? What ever gives me the most bang for my buck. Only really want to upgrade the vid card.

 

[I'm your huckleberry]

Well, you may have to upgrade your power supply as well. Not sure how good those OEM ones are. Yours is said to be a 300W. How much is on the 12V is not known. There is a good cheap one from corsair:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&Tpk=cx430

Currently $37 before rebate and $17 AR. Bought as cheap as you can get for a decent unit.

As for a video card, you are probably looking at something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102952

 

[pillar]

While I agree with the power supply suggestion, I found a better suggestion for a video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150543

There is not much difference between the 6570 & the 6670. Heres a pretty hardcore review of both video cards from Toms Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6570-radeon-hd-6670-turks,2925-2.html

The main reason I posted the 6570 is because it has free shipping (saving you I think $6 vs the other) & this video card comes with lifetime warranty (pending that you dont attempt to overclock the video card, which I cant really find a reason you would wanna even try that in the 1st place). Also I have some great experience with doing the lifetime warranty, seeing as my previous card was an evga geforce 9800gt (yes its an nvidia card, but thats besides the point) & was having some heat issues after 2-3 years with the video card. Got the receipt info from Newegg & sent off the card to evga to figure out the issue & I figured that they would send me a refurb 9800gt in return. However the technology was definitely outdated so they sent back a geforce gts450, all because I sent in the form to secure the lifetime warranty. I gave the lifetime warranty a try & ever since I havent regretted it. However, there will be a form in the video card box that you will have to fill out within 30 days of purchasing the video to secure your ability to enable the lifetime warranty.

Seeing as how you're not really doing much, the decision is completely up to you (video card wise).

 

[Swayne]

Okay, so I unplug the old vid card and power source and these two items just simply plug in and i'm good to go? Is it idiot proof? Again, I'm a noob.

 

[I'm your huckleberry]

Well the power supply has several connections including to the motherboard (2), the dvd drive, hard drive, and then the video card and possibly case fan(s).

Well I take that back, you currently do not have a separate video card. Yours is contained in your cpu so you will not have that connection. But when you plug your new vid card in, you will have to plug in a pcie power plug to it from the psu.

 

[Reylaark]

Youtube has a lot of videos on installing a power supply, and installing a video card if you want some info. Just search for the bolded terms.

Quick question... have you checked if Vsync is turned on in your settings? That would also cause lower frame rates.

You probably have a 60 hertz screen, which means your screen can draw a new picture(refresh) 60 times per second. Vsync links your frame rate output to this number so that it would drop your frames per second to 60 or less.

CSS isn't that demanding a game so while I know a discrete video card (discrete meaning separate) is indeed better, CSS itself shouldn't necessarily require all that much to run on high settings.

 

[Swayne]

I just wanted to be sure I did not need any extra hardware or cables. I'm pretty mechanically inclined so I am not too worried about the unplugging and plunging back up part.

I have a 20" 1600*900 LED monitor and pretty sure it's 60Hz. I have not messed with Vsync. I need to look into that.

Again, when I first started playing I was getting 100+, then Steam Cloud I believe imported my old settings from my outdated laptop.