I jsut got a new desktop computer.  The video card it is running is a:

 NVIDIA GeForce GT 520

Ever since I got it, ME3 seems to run a bit choppy and when I play Planetside 2 (which I have only played on this new desktop) I can only pull down about 10 FPS if I am moviing.  I'm not a tech expert, is this video card not built for gaming? 

That video card is not really meant for gaming - or at least anything more demanding than Farmville.

Originally posted by ompgaming
Ok, thanks for the info guys.  Any recommendations for an affordable replacement I can put in?

That would depend on what your price ceiling is, how much PC gaming you do and how demanding the games you play are, and how long into the future you realistically expect your graphics card to carry you. If you want to be playing all the latest games at the highest settings, and hope to be able to play upcoming games the same way for the next year or two, you should probably expect to pay $250 or so. That's also assuming the other specs of your computer (CPU, RAM, etc) are a little higher-end than your GPU is, or you may run into bottlenecks with something else.  

Are the GTX 560 series more for gaming then?  

I like to enjoy my games, but I don't need to make movies off of them, I just want a bit more than 10 FPS, is all..  

Get a GTX 550, they're only like 100$ on Newegg/TigetDirect. Good bang for your buck, they'll run any game out there, and many on higher settings. I have a Raedon 7770, cost me like... 130 i think. I run every MMO out there on Ultra. 

It depends on the other specs you have also... CPU and RAM.

Thanks for the suggestions.  For reference I have a:

Intel Core i5-3450 CPU @ 3.10 GHz with 12 GB of RAM

I would prefer to stay NVIDIA since thats what I know, and as you can see, I don't know much.  Would there be major issues if I switched to a RADEON card?

Originally posted by ompgaming

Thanks for the suggestions.  For reference I have a:

Intel Core i5-3450 CPU @ 3.10 GHz with 12 GB of RAM

 

I would prefer to stay NVIDIA since thats what I know, and as you can see, I don't know much.  Would there be major issues if I switched to a RADEON card?

 

I honestly like AMD card over NVidia, used to prefer it other way. As long as you removed all old drivers no issues at all. The 7770 cards are great for those on a budget and save quite a bit on power.

Originally posted by ompgaming

Thanks for the suggestions.  For reference I have a:

Intel Core i5-3450 CPU @ 3.10 GHz with 12 GB of RAM

 

I would prefer to stay NVIDIA since thats what I know, and as you can see, I don't know much.  Would there be major issues if I switched to a RADEON card?

 

Your RAM appears to be mismatched but that is the least of your worries at this point.  More importantly we need to know the size of your case and power supply unit (PSU).  Preferable the actual make/model for each, especially the PSU in order to make a sound suggestion.

With regards to nVidia vs AMD there really is no reason these days to show preference for one company over the other (unless you use more than 3 monitors).  In the past there were cases where drivers from one would outshine the other, this is where the divide usually spawned from (power consumption being another), however these days that simply isn't true.  And as Quiz will tell you, on the lower price spectrum nVidia just can't compete with AMD's current generation of available cards.  For that matter with AMD recently dropping prices on a number of their cards one could argue there are few price points in the current nVidia lineup that make much sense over AMD.  Again, this is speaking strictly from a price to performance perspective.

Originally posted by ompgaming
I looked up teh 7770 and it does seem to have about the same performance as the GTX 550 series at just a little less.  Do you think that card would be good enough to run ME3 or Planetside2 on moderate to low settings, then?

You might find this useful since you haven't mentioned your actual price point and we still don't know what your case/PSU can handle.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

Originally posted by miguksaram

Originally posted by ompgaming

Thanks for the suggestions.  For reference I have a:

Intel Core i5-3450 CPU @ 3.10 GHz with 12 GB of RAM

 

I would prefer to stay NVIDIA since thats what I know, and as you can see, I don't know much.  Would there be major issues if I switched to a RADEON card?

 

Your RAM appears to be mismatched but that is the least of your worries at this point.  More importantly we need to know the size of your case and power supply unit (PSU).  Preferable the actual make/model for each, especially the PSU in order to make a sound suggestion.

 

With regards to nVidia vs AMD there really is no reason these days to show preference for one company over the other (unless you use more than 3 monitors).  In the past there were cases where drivers from one would outshine the other, this is where the divide usually spawned from (power consumption being another), however these days that simply isn't true.  And as Quiz will tell you, on the lower price spectrum nVidia just can't compete with AMD's current generation of available cards.  For that matter with AMD recently dropping prices on a number of their cards one could argue there are few price points in the current nVidia lineup that make much sense over AMD.  Again, this is speaking strictly from a price to performance perspective.

My case is a standard sized desktop.  Proably 14 in tall by about the sam wide and perhaps 4 or 5 inches thick.  Its an ASUS brand desktop.  I had never heard of them before I purchased this one last month.  The power supply is 300 W, but i don't know the brand.

Originally posted by ompgaming

Originally posted by miguksaram

Originally posted by ompgaming

Thanks for the suggestions.  For reference I have a:

Intel Core i5-3450 CPU @ 3.10 GHz with 12 GB of RAM

 

I would prefer to stay NVIDIA since thats what I know, and as you can see, I don't know much.  Would there be major issues if I switched to a RADEON card?

 

Your RAM appears to be mismatched but that is the least of your worries at this point.  More importantly we need to know the size of your case and power supply unit (PSU).  Preferable the actual make/model for each, especially the PSU in order to make a sound suggestion.

 

With regards to nVidia vs AMD there really is no reason these days to show preference for one company over the other (unless you use more than 3 monitors).  In the past there were cases where drivers from one would outshine the other, this is where the divide usually spawned from (power consumption being another), however these days that simply isn't true.  And as Quiz will tell you, on the lower price spectrum nVidia just can't compete with AMD's current generation of available cards.  For that matter with AMD recently dropping prices on a number of their cards one could argue there are few price points in the current nVidia lineup that make much sense over AMD.  Again, this is speaking strictly from a price to performance perspective.

 

My case is a standard sized desktop.  Proably 14 in tall by about the sam wide and perhaps 4 or 5 inches thick.  Its an ASUS brand desktop.  I had never heard of them before I purchased this one last month.  The power supply is 300 W, but i don't know the brand.

14"x14"x5" is not standard ATX desktop size, that is in the realm of Micro ATX which could effect the overall options you have for both a new graphics card and PSU (you will most likely need to buy a new PSU in order to effectively upgrade your graphics, sorry 300w no name PSU is an expensive gamble).  If you can provide the make/model of your computer, you said it's an ASUS, I can do some research for you and give you better advice.

What are the effects if the power supply can't handle the pull the graphics card needs?  The salesman said that I would be able to upgrade the graphics card if I needed to.

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Originally posted by ompgaming
What are the effects if the power supply can't handle the pull the graphics card needs?  The salesman said that I would be able to upgrade the graphics card if I needed to.

 

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The power supply is a tricky component.

Most of the time, the computer will just shut down if you try to draw too much power.

But - the power supply is connected to everything. If the power supply starts to run out of spec (voltage ripple, low voltage, anything), very wierd things can start happening. BSODs, random restarts, it can even physically damage your hardware. It is not uncommon at all to see someone have their RAM blow out, they replace that, then have their RAM + their video card blow out, replace both of those, then have their RAM + motherboard blow out, and give up and find out it was a power supply issue the entire time, costing several times what it would have cost to buy a better, higher quality power supply in the first place.

To make matters worse, ~most~ power supplies cannot deliver as many watts as they say on the sticker. I would estimate probably 90% of all power supplies sold (and the number may be even higher than that, almost every power supply inside a pre-built computer probably would) would fail before they hit their rated power. Most people think "Just get a bigger power supply" - but the answer isn't bigger, the answer is higher quality. If your computer needs 400W, and you have the option of a good 400W power supply that can deliver 100% power with no problem, or a 700W power supply that can maybe deliver 70%, but has issues - I'd take the 100% every time.

Not very many power supplies are that good - it takes a lot of high end test gear to weed out the bad ones, and only a few sites are able to do that. I like HardOCP - if a unit even passes their tests, it's a good unit - regardless of if it wins an award or not. Most power supplies fail their tests.

Moral of the story, don't skimp on the power supply. It's like tires for your car: you can go cheap, but your probably going to regret it one day.

Originally posted by ompgaming

My case is a standard sized desktop.  Proably 14 in tall by about the sam wide and perhaps 4 or 5 inches thick.  Its an ASUS brand desktop.  I had never heard of them before I purchased this one last month.  The power supply is 300 W, but i don't know the brand.

Your PSU is completely weak to handle your PC. You need minum of 650W-750W for your PC and specs. All new GPU starting from 400 Nvidia series and 6000 ATI/AMD series require you to have atleast a 38A on a +12v Rail on the PSU which your doesn't. I have no idea how you GPU even works at all unless it's a motherboard buildin one. But you might want to get a better PSU and GPU, get something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130620 and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182063. Only if you have the money to spend on it that is. These will last for quit awhile. Plus what king of RAM do you have, speeds and timing, as well as the brand.

Originally posted by ompgaming

 

My case is a standard sized desktop.  Proably 14 in tall by about the sam wide and perhaps 4 or 5 inches thick.  Its an ASUS brand desktop.  I had never heard of them before I purchased this one last month.  The power supply is 300 W, but i don't know the brand.

There is no such thing as a "standard" sized desktop.  If it's only 4-5 inches in one direction, then that's probably an extra-narrow case that most power supplies and video cards won't physically fit inside.  That means you can't upgrade it very much unless you're willing to replace the case as well.

Either of these would probably fit:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202002

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161418

It would be good to post your exact specs before trying to upgrade the computer.

Actually, it would be better to see if you can return the computer for a refund.  Even if you have to pay a 15% restocking fee, you'd probably come out ahead to return it, eat the restocking fee, and buy something more sensible for your needs.

Have you considered asking for help before buying something random?  Buying something random and hoping it's good doesn't turn out well.