Hey cpu guys, i have a quick question for you guys.

I play lots of racing games on my computer (NR2003, DiRT, etc) and when I race, even with all the visuals as low as they get, I consistently get 15-20 FPS, and when im just sitting in the car not moving I get 40-50 FPS. However if I get clogged up in traffic(More than 4 cars) I get like 9-13 FPS.

My question is, what would I need to run the higher FPS? I was thinking a graphics card, but IDK.

I know im running Windows 7 64-bit with an Intel Core i3, which I believe is a dual core processor, so would I have to upgrade that too?

I would really like to achieve 35-40 FPS consistently with a full field of cars (43) while being able to have the graphics set high enough to tell the difference between a car and a blob 50 ft away.

Are my expectations realistic? What would I need to upgrade? Thanks guys.

I also play a lot of racing sims. give me intill tomorrow when i can get on a real computer so i can help you. I wll also point you to some of the best sim sites for any racing games.

I don't game on PC's but work with them so I will give this a go. I would suggest you get a Graphics Card that is specifically geared toward gaming and max out on the amount of RAM you have. You might also want to create a separate user on your computer you use specifically for gaming. You should configure that profile to not autostart anything that isn't specifically needed to run the games you want to run. The less stuff you have running in the background the better performance you will receive from your PC. Your i3 processor should be enough but that will also depend on what your computer is running in the background.

Hope this helps.

the i3 is ok...at best. I would upgrade to an i5 or i7

What is your ram? how many gigs?

I would suggest at least 6...minimum 4

as for the graphics card...yes. I am going to assume you are using an onboard graphics card which just means built in to the motherboard. A dedicated card would be the option to go.

The problem that you face is that there are a lot of variables involved in upgrading. Certain sockets only match up with certain CPU's...you have to get the same type of ram, and you have to have motherboard that is equipped with a PCI-E x16 slot to put the graphics card into. All of this requires detailed knowledge of what PC you have.

Post the exact model and I can check out how/what you can do to upgrade to get the results that you want

Definitely the graphics card. I would HIGHLY recommend an ATI Radeon graphics card if you are in the market for one. Also, make sure you have plenty of memory. The amount of FPS you're getting is going to depend on what resolution you are running your games in.

GrundleLove pretty much spelled it out. Going to need specifics because there are a lot of compatibilities to consider.

The Core i3 fits an 1156 socket, which the i5 and some of the i7's fit as well, which means you can upgrade the processor. I would at least upgrade to an i5.

I'm also going to assume, like Grundle, that you probably just have onboard graphics, which put frankly, suck for gaming. You're going to need a real card to get any decent gaming action.

I'm going to assume that you're computer is new enough that it has a PCI-E x16 slot. If you could crack open your case and look for the motherboard's make and model info it would be very easy to determine.

Then it's just a matter of how much you want to spend. Depending on the card you get, you might also have to get a bigger power supply.

Gaming rigs are a slippery slope my friend.

I think the bare minimum card I would get to play modern games at decent framerates would be an ATI 5770 1Gig (about $120....cheaper if you snag one off eBay), and if you have more to spend, a 5850 or 69xx would be all the better, but then you're talking $200-$300 for the card.

Budget + specifics will be a big help here.

Its a Dell Inspiron N5010.

Graphics card : Intel HD® <-- Junk

4 gigs RAM

I'd like to keep it under $200.

Thanks!

Wait....is this a laptop?

Wait....is this a laptop?

Yes.

Yes.

ouch.

In a nutshell that means you are SOL.

The only thing you can do is upgrade the ram from 4 to 8.

You can not install a video card on a laptop as well as you can not upgrade the processor on that model. Well, if its the same socket but you will run into way more problems than solutions...

Sorry to give you the bad news man, the memory is probably if not only thing you can upgrade

Balls. Well atleast I know that now.

You could go with an external video card. I'm not sure how much a good one costs but I am going to assume they are more expensive than an internal video card of the same quality. Here is a link to site I found. http://www.build-gaming-computers.com/external-video-card.html