Adding card reader/graphics card advice please

[alemor311]

Hi all,

I've been using the PC below for about 6 months now with no major problems but I'm beginning to regret my decision to not include a card reader and a decent graphics card. Is it a reasonably simple process to fit them now? Bearing in mind I've done nothing like this before! Also what kind of transfer speed could I expect compared to USB 2 or USB 3?

I thought I could just use my card reader that I use with my laptop but it's quite a pain swapping it over so often so an integrated one in the tower would be handy. As for the graphics card my son was playing a star wars web-based game online the other day and when there was a lot going on onscreen it really started to struggle. I'm on fibre broadband so don't think connection speed was the problem. Maybe the right thing to do is bite the bullet and get something proper?

Don't really know about budget as I've no idea what these things cost but something middle-of-the-road would probably suffice.

Any help/advice much appreciated.

Alex


Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790 (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H97M-E: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS Series Modular 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

 

[jerpers]

If it is Star Wars battlefront or any other modern game for that matter, it will struggle with the onboard Graphics. I would suggest a GTX 970 for best results. With an internal reader, they often use a USB header off the motherboard so there is little difference in speed. I personally would use an external one.

 

[alemor311]

Thanks for the reply. I googled that card and now understand just how little I know about these things! As well as vastly more expensive cards I saw that there is also a 960 for £110 less and a 750 for £180 less. Now I understand that I'd be getting an inferior card but was just looking for something to make simple web-based games run smoother and possibly some purchased games but certainly nothing too full-on like Call of Duty or Star Wars Battlefront. Would the cheaper ones give me any noticeable improvement or are they an utter false economy I should steer clear of?

Thanks again

 

[jerpers]

The 960 would be ample for your needs there and there would be a big difference from what you have already

 

[alemor311]

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated