# Gamer Dopers: Worth it to upgrade my video card? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 26, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamer-dopers-worth-it-to-upgrade-my-video-card/616866 "2012-03-26T18:40:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blind\_Guardian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@Blind\_Guardian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blind_Guardian)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamer-dopers-worth-it-to-upgrade-my-video-card/616866/1 "2012-03-26T18:40:08Z")
I see that RitterSport posted a thread on this same subject this morning, but I didn’t want to piggyback onto his thread. My current system is about four years old, and I’m planning to get a new one next year with my tax refund. I’ll probably hand this one down to one of my siblings once I get the new rig. I recently got a bonus check from work that I wasn’t expecting, so I have some disposable income for a change. I’m not much of a gamer, but I do play Star Wars: TOR and I’m thinking about getting Skyrim. I have everything set to low in TOR, and it still gets choppy when I use flight paths. And occasionally when I’m in high population areas. This is my current setup: CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Dual Core 2.6GHz RAM: 4GB DDR2 (2x2GB) GPU: GEForce 8600 GT 512MB Motherboard: Asus M2N-SLI OS: Windows XP Professional 32 Bit Is it worth it to upgrade to a newer video card, or do I have to worry about bottlenecks elsewhere in the system? And if it’s worth it to get a new card, does anyone have any recommendations for a good card in the $150 to $230 or so range? Like RitterSport, my knowledge of the video card market is hopelessly outdated, and I have to re-educate myself each time I get a new computer. I currently have a Nvidia card, but I don’t have any particular loyalty to any brand when it comes to GPUs.