This thread is sort of two pronged. First I need advice on whether I should get a new graphics card and second I need advice on what I should be looking at.
Just some background. I built my PC about 5 years ago with help from a different forum and put a . It's running well since and I've only ever added more RAM to it. Everything else has stayed the same. I generally play strategy games with low to medium graphics so the graphics card has never really been of any concern. However last winter I bought NBA 2K15 and while I had no problems at all with any lag or performance issues, my GPU's temperature would stay at about 80°C and over, setting the GPU fan to max and making a slight smell for the duration of the game. Now at first I thought this was fine. My thinking was that it only happened with one game and once I dropped playing the temp dropped down immediately so I didn't think there was much damage. However, I recently downloaded Napoleon: Total War and I started getting the high temperatures, the fan speed and the smell on the campaign map alone, I haven't even tried the battles. Plus lately I've noticed that it seems to be put under more strain doing almost everything. Resting temperature is nearly 50°C and the fan seems to be audible more often than not. Skype and Youtube even seem to be testing it.
On top of all that I would like a bit more power to speed up games in Crusader Kings 2 and such.
Then secondly, if I could benefit from a new GPU I'd need to know what to get. I literally have no idea about graphics cards at the moment. My PSU and Mother are as follows:
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/global/ie/Prod...82E16817139028
Motherboard: http://www.gigabyte.ie/products/prod...px?pid=3375#ov
Both of these are from the original build. As for price, money is a bit tight at the moment (but obviously not too much if I'm thinking of GPU). I mean in an ideal world I'd rather stay under €100 but I realise that is probably unrealistic for a decent GPU. I figure at least if I have an idea of what to look for I may be able to pick up a cheap, secondhand one.
Thanks in advance for any help and if I left out any details please advise.