My brother just got a Asus M51BC-US003S and foudn that he is having trouble playing some games such as skyrim, dark souls 2, and metro last light. What graphics card should he upgrade to and what other things to compliment it? Or is there some adjustments he can make through the computer to make the computer perform better?

Max budget $450

His complete specs are:
(Manufacturer # M51BC-US003S )

Specifications
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8
CPU
AMD 8 Core FX-8300
Chipset
AMD 970
Graphic
AMD HD8570 2GB DDR3
Memory
16GB
at 1600MHz
4 x DIMM
Storage
1TB SATA hard drive (7200rpmRPM)
Optical Drive
24X DVD-RW Drive
Wireless Data Network
None
LAN
10/100/1000Mbps
Audio
High Definition Audio 8-channel CODEC
Front I/O Ports
1 x 16-in-1 Card Reader
1 x Headphone
1 x Microphone
2x USB 2.0

2x USB 3.0
Back I/O Ports
1 x RJ45 LAN(10/100/1000)
1 x 8 channel Audio I/O
1 x PS/2
2 x USB 3.0
4 x USB 2.0
Power Supply
300 W/350W Power adaptor
Dimensions
9.5” x 20” x 21.7” (WxHxD)
Weight
25.3 lbs
Accessories
Keyboard
Mouse
Warranty Card
Power Cord
Quick Manual

 

Do you care about Nvidia vs AMD cards? I run a Nvidia GTX 780 and its by far one of the best cards I have had in a while.

 

My brother doesn't care but what are the differences? I've never built a gaming computer. I've always been an avid streamer and have been concerned with HDD space, reliability and virus software. I dont know jack about graphics cards lol.

Do you recommend him upgrading his power supply to something bigger as well?

 

HD8570 is lower-mid. 128bit bus and only 35 Double Precision GFLOPs of raw processing power.

I'd suggest something like an R9 280:

Newegg.com - MSI R9 280 GAMING 3G 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

That right there is on sale with the 8% code, and $30 rebate. For a comparison the R9 280 is good for 741 Double Precision GFLOPs of raw power.

Also, that's 66 watts max power vs 250 watts on the R9 280... So you should also double check the power supply or buy a new power supply to feed a better gaming card.

 

get an SSD

 

Great card. Anyways, as for differences I have had better luck with overclocking nvidia cards versus AMD. However that is more prone due to me always decided to use them. Cant go wrong with getting that or the 780

 

r9 280x | eBay

Seconded on the r9 280

But on ebay you can get new r9 280x'es for less than $200

But first I would think you should upgrade the PSU.

 

You almost need to always upgrade the PSU when upgrading to a nice card

 

Awesome, thanks for the reply! But what exactly is GFLOPS of raw power?

I told him to get a SSD too for the OS

I'm glad to see a nice agreement on the r9 280 and I was actually looking at that after reading reviews on it on google before I posted this thread.

What power supply would you recommend?

 

Corsair makes good PSU's Just make sure you have enough power going through.

 

this... but the GTX780 isn't cheap. It's a great GPU and probably run anything to everything

 

Yup... Only downside is price.

 

GTX780 is just at the border of the budget willing to spend.. but what makes it worth an extra 300 compared to an r9 280x that people are saying is going to be find running the games on max settings? What features will be noticed?

 

take a look here and see if its worth it for you. its ultimately your choice on how much you want to spend and how well you want it to perform:

AMD Radeon R9 280X compare Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 GPU

 

Will deff need to upgrade the PSU to push a new card. You dont need a jillion watts though. Look for a corsair 600-800 or so. There are some websites that can help estimate what wattage you need based on what components you are pushing (will depend on your video card you decide on). eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

Im still rocking an nvidia 660TI and can play everything on highest settings at 1080p What resolution is he trying to push? Unless he is going multi monitor and super hi rez, He doesnt need a $$$$ supercard.