Geforce GT 210 1GB for Minecraft ?

[DIYspanner]

I've been asked to look at a PC upgrade so my nephew can play minecraft.

Is the Geforce GT 210 1GB adequate ?

I'm not a games player so I need expert advice please.

Thanks

 

[mattylad]

I would have though minecraft could be played using the onboard GPU as the graphics are so pants.

 

[DIYspanner]

Many thanks mattylad.


I have no idea myself, haven't seen the game in play.


I was asking about the 210 card since a GT 240 card is recommended for optimal play, I.E.

http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Hardware_requirements

 

[mattylad]

That's just my opinion, not any technical knowledge on if it's any good.

Basically get the best card you can afford as other games will come along that want to be played when you get bored of Minecraft.

Also ensure the power supply can provide the extra supply\demand for it.

Son is stood behind me, tells me it's very CPU intensive.
Youtube the card, Google it and minecraft to see what others have said

 

[AronSearle]

What motherboard / CPU do you have.

That card may not even be a perceptible upgrade from the onboard GPU (it scores 180 and some new onboard GPU's will score 500ish) .

And yes, minecraft is CPU intensive not GPU.

Also post you budget restrictions, and PSU specs.

 

[DIYspanner]

Haven't got the motherboard and cpu yet, I keeping watch on ebay.

CPU, most probably a dual core Athlon.

At least 2GB RAM, possibly 4GB

I've always been a fan of Gigabyte motherboards.


What's the main stream for pci-e Nvidia games play ?

 

[AronSearle]

Thread about upgrade = havent purchased the parts yet = :facepalm:.

Anyway........

This is all a bit pointless without any idea on budget, and what other components you have, and what (if any) computer the kid currently has.

Might be better to max out the CPU spec, rather than get a budget CPU and budget graphics card, much more future proof and you can always add a GPU later much easier than you can do another whole upgrade.

 

[DIYspanner]

£100 is the budget


I'll perhaps look at a Phenom CPU but as I'm not a gamer, the card is more of an issue for me in getting the right one.


I've looked at the wiki site for Minecraft and the GF GT 240 is advised for optimal performance.

Anyone got a better card to suggest ?

 

[AronSearle]

Sigh.....

Sort out the CPU and Motherboard first, and concentrate your budget on these items. The low end cards you are looking at may not be much of an upgrade from the on board GPU (or even worse if you get a decent motherboard/CPU bundle).

Stop putting the cart before the horse.

 

[DIYspanner]

I've come across a motherboard with Integrated NVIDIA® CineFX 3.0 Graphics Engine on ebay.


Since the motherbaord also has a pci-e x16 slot, I presume the graphics can be improved on?

 

[AronSearle]

NVIDIA® CineFX 3.0 isnt the graphics chip, but a driver for it (loosly speaking).

Post the link or motherboard model number.

Yes you can upgrade later, and in fact it is dead easy to whack in a graphics card later, just make sure the PSU is 400w minimun.

It really depends what you want to do with the computer and how much you want to future proof it, any components you buy will play minecraft and a cheap graphics card like the GT240 will do fine (£5-10). But it won't play many other modern games.

Spend just a little more on a good CPU and Motherboard, and you get a more future proof system, and you can buy a graphics card later on, up to you.

 

[DIYspanner]

This the one I've seen - support upto 8GB RAM

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2755#sp

 

[AronSearle]

You seem to focus on ram allowance.

Bear in mind any game requiring 4gb of memory wouldnt even run on the hardware that motherboard can support, so don't put in more memory than that.

The chip technology on that motherboard is about 9 years old, you will want a graphics card, but the CPU's that motherboard can support will be the bottleneck, and minecraft is CPU intensive.

This looks compatible. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMD-Athlo...856?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19fb7db4a0

It will run minecraft fine, stick in the GT240 you where looking at (EDIT look to pay about £10).

Just don't expect it to play any modern games.

 

[Spark123]

You could get a raspberry pi, as far as I am aware you can play minecraft on that.

 

[DIYspanner]

May I ask if this board is a reasonable improvement on the one suggested above ?


http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3833#ov

Onboard graphics is Radeon 3000 HD.

If I get an AMD FX-4100 cpu to got with it perhaps?