Graphics Card Help Needed

[planettv]

Graphics Card Help Needed - Post on Mod The Sims 

I am linking to my post on Mod the Sims, so I don't have to repost everything over here, so make sure you look at that too. I can post my DxDiag log file over here too if need be. Also, I am posting this in TS4 Technical section, since I mention TS2, TS3 and TS4 in my post.

Basically what I am wanting to do is get another graphics card for my PC. One that will work well with the TS2 and TS3 and be for TS4 minimum yeses up to Vampires or My First Pet stuff, since it's more and more likely the rest of my PC is not good enough for TS4 (feel free to confirm this for me), as it was built about 2 years before TS4 came out and a year before TS3 Into the Future. If I can do this, then I can fix my TS3 issue which only has 3 solutions this being one of them. My current card is a AMD Radeon HD 6870 XFX, so I would like to stick with AMD.

Thanks for any help.

[puzzlezaddict]

@planettv  Your hardware looks like it would run Sims 4 just fine, even including all packs on ultra settings if you get a graphics card that can handle it.  For a new GPU, the motherboard and power supply also matter, and those don't show in the dxdiag.  So please list the exact model of each one.  For the board, there are a number of ways to find out, including physically looking at it; for the PSU, looking at the side is the simplest and often the only way.

Please also let me know whether you're willing to update to Windows 10.

[planettv]

All I am wanting to do is switch out the graphics card with a different AMD one that will work. I want to keep this PC Windows 7, so when I am able to get a new PC it will be Windows 10 and this one will be my secondary PC. My AMD graphics card is original to the PC, as it was the one I chose for my PC when my Dad was getting it for me. I should note, that noise I mentioned in my Mod The Sims post seems to have stopped, as I haven't heard it since. Now I use this program, Real Temp, to check the temperatures of my PC when I am in TS2, TS3, or TS4. For TS4, the temperature would be in the in the 70's and the third column from the left, the temperature, when looking at the screenshot of the program, would get up to 82 and I know that's not good. TS3 temperatures would be in the 60's and TS2 the 50's for all columns. I do there is something in the PC that uses thermal paste, I can't remember the name, and maybe it needs new thermal paste. Also, I do have fan in the PC that I would like to oil, but I can't get three of screws unscrewed.

[roberta591]

@planettv Case fans usually have sleeve bearings. After time the lubricant breaks down and gets gummy. Re oiling the bearing only prolongs the time for replacement some. Some older Nvidia GPUs used to run hot. BTW AMD bought ATI which was Nvidia's competitor. The fact that the card is running hotter over time could mean less air flow. Replacing the graphics card may require a power supply upgrade. HTH

[puzzlezaddict]

@planettv  I need to know what power supply this computer has because the faster the graphics card, the more power it draws.  If I were to recommend something that requires 650W and your PSU is only rated for 600, you could see performance issues or even restarts while playing, especially since the PSU is also on the older side.

Both the CPU and GPU have thermal paste spread over the chip itself.  Since you're replacing the GPU, you don't need to care about your current one, but the CPU's paste should definitely be replaced if it hasn't been already.  You'd need to take off the CPU cooler and then use isopropyl alcohol to remove the existing paste from both the CPU and the cooler's heatsink, i.e. the part that makes contact with the CPU.  A tube of quality thermal paste, for example Arctic M4, can cost as little as $10.

Having said that, what is this temperature reading from?  Your processor is actually fine at 82º C, in terms of both safety and performance, and while your GPU shouldn't run that hot, it would simply throttle and not be in any danger of damaging itself.  (Plus you're replacing it, so it's not a problem anymore.)  But internal case temperatures will dictate how efficient the GPU cooler can be, and the CPU cooler as well if you're using an air cooler, as you probably are.

[planettv]

1. My Power supply wattage is 850w and it's a Corsair TX850W ATX12V & EPS12V Power Supply.

2. Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH X79 LGA2011 Desktop Motherboard - Intel X79 Chipset

3. CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K Processor (12M Cache, 3.20 GHZ) LGA 20101 / CPU Cooler: Intel BXRTS2011LC High Performance Liquid Cooler LGA2011, LGA1155

4. My PC case is this: zalman z11 plus hf1 high performance mid tower case.

I am mentioning the last three items in case they are needed.

According to the description of the program, Real Temp, it's the temperatures of the cores in the CPU. CPU has never had the thermal paste replaced, so maybe that explains the temperatures I got when in TS4. Oh and thanks for telling me it was heatsink because I couldn't remember the name. I will have my Mom replace thermal paste because she had to do that for one of her past PCs. Now that noise I mentioned in my Mod the Sims post and then mentioned here that it was gone, is there a chance it could come back if I went into my TS2 game?

[puzzlezaddict]

@planettv  As long as your power supply is holding up, which is reasonably likely given the model you have, it should be able to handle almost any graphics card out there.  The processor should be able to keep up with most GPUs as well, and you wouldn't need a top-tier card for Sims games anyway.

Since you want to stick with AMD cards, I'd say you could comfortably go as high as a 5700 XT or 6700 XT, but you don't need that much power: a 5500 XT or 6600 (not even the XT) will be more power than Sims 4 can use, at least if your goal is 60 fps on a 1920x1080 monitor.  A higher refresh rate or a higher-resolution requires more power from the GPU, for sure, but a 5500 XT should still handle 2560x1440 at 60 fps.

If you want to buy a used older card as a stopgap, a 580 would be perfectly fine, and even the significantly older R9 390 would still be okay, although I wouldn't go lower than that.  If you really only need a card for a year or so, the 390 could be relatively cheap on Ebay because AMD is no longer supporting it.  But AMD is also not supporting Windows 7 anymore, and the last available driver (from this June) will likely be fine for quite a while in a Windows 7 system that's not going to be updated.

New cards are still quite expensive unless you get lucky in one of several ways, for example winning a Newegg Shuffle.  Even the 5000-series cards are still being scalped, but used 500-series and older are almost reasonably-priced on Ebay.

It should be pointed out that both Sims 3 and Sims 4 have issues that cause slowdowns all on their own no matter how powerful the system.  These can be buffered to a degree by stronger hardware, but only up to a point.

The other thing you need to do is physically measure the clearance for a graphics card, specifically from left to right.  Some cards are quite long, and not all mid-tower cases have the clearance for a three-fan GPU.  But there are enough smaller options that you should be able to find something suitable.

As for the sound you described in the MTS thread, I can't really tell you without more information.  But if you're sure it's coming from the GPU, I would think the most likely explanation is that one of its fans is squeaking as it revs up.  When its speed is above or below a certain range, the noise goes away.  In this case, the noise isn't actually a problem as long as the fan or fans are running smoothly, which you should be able to see just by opening the case and loading a game.  And if there's no noise, check that the fans are running anyway, just to be on the safe side.

[planettv]

Thank you for the suggestions. I leave my desktop size at 1680x1050, as that is size I prefer. The specs I listed for my PC were listed, because I happened to have the receipt from when Dad got the PC, and it had that information on it. I will be double checking with the company that built my PC and there's a reason for that. I used to have Vista gaming PC and it had a 400w PSU with AMD Radeon HD 2400. My Dad got me a updated card, AMD Radeon HD 4650, and he thought he had done enough research, but turned out the card was right on the edge of power supply. That and my PC is the last one my Dad ever got me so that's why.

I did see this one, MSI - AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 Graphics Card, on Best Buy's website but it was sold out, which is a shame because I liked the price, as it was close in price to what my AMD Radeon HD 6870's price was. I might try to get that one as the reviews on Best Buy were quite good. I did happened to see reviews on the XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS XXX Edition on Google and on Amazon and some of the reviews where not that great. Thou, there where plenty of good ones on Best Buy's website.

You wouldn't happen to know if AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is all yes for everything that has come out so far for The Sims 4?

My PC had 6 fans total, 3 that can be oiled and 3 that don't. There just happens to be one that doesn't need to oil right behind the one in my PC that has 3 of 4 screws I can't get unscrewed. If I can get them unscrewed then I can not only oil the fan, but I dust off the one behind it.

As for the noise, I did listen to it closely when it was happening, and when I got close to the where the graphics card is connected to the motherboard, that's where the sound seemed to be coming from. I will try going into TS2 and see what happens.

[puzzlezaddict]

@planettv  A 5500 XT would run all current Sims 4 packs on ultra settings with a good amount of room to spare.  However, I'm not sure AMD is even currently making them, as its production capacity changed over to the 6000-series cards more than a year ago.  You also won't be able to find one for $200 or anywhere close, new or used, unless you happen to have a friend who's upgrading and willing to sell you their old one.

All graphics cards are sold out, all the time, on Best Buy.  The same is true for Newegg, other than a couple of $2,000 GPUs that might stay in stock for an hour at a time; and for Amazon and Walmart, other than scalped cards from third-party sellers; and for all the other sites that aren't scams.  There aren't any $200 cards being produced at all, right now, although there's a rumor Nvidia may release a 3050 and 3050 ti, which, given the 3060's MSRP of $330, should come in under $300.  Those cards will also be immediately sold out, with regular gamers resorting to the Newegg Shuffle or fighting the bots at Best Buy on drop days.

This is why I mentioned Ebay before.  Although prices there are still unreasonably high, they're not as bad for older cards, and if you're planning on building a new PC (with a new GPU) in a couple of years, you might not mind buying an old GPU for this one.  There are, unfortunately, not a lot of decent options at the moment.

For the screws that won't come out, there are tools for that kind of thing.  If you don't have one and don't want to buy one, you could take the computer to a repair shop or your local hardware store and ask for help.  The hardware store might even do it for free, at least my local one would.

Another workaround is shooting compressed air at the fan.  Even if it blows the dust back into the case, it would probably be in an area you could clean.

[planettv]

I'm just glad I'm not on Windows 8/8.1 because AMD stopped supporting that OS in 2017. I'm going to try and find the MSI one, but I know I got the others you mentioned as choices. Again, thank you for the help. When I'm able to get a new PC, I will be back unless I run into some issue before then.