Looking for some guidance regarding upgrade

[Blackus]

Hi All,

I'm looking to upgrade from my nvidia 8500GT to:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-099-XF

I've not replaced a graphics card before and have a few concerns as to whether I'd be able to upgrade my current card by simply removing it and placing the above card into the system or if I'd need to make any changes to my PSU, add additional cooling to the system, change the motherboard etc.

I have a stock Clara motherboard (1x PCI Express x16, 1x PCI Express x1, 2x PCI), an Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz 1333FSB Socket 775 4MB Cache and currently have 2GB RAM.

After reading around for some time (with a £200 budget in mind for a new card) the 8800 GTX seems like a great choice (I like to game a fair bit, running at generally 1440x900) - My 8500 is abit dated now and just isn't cutting it.

Apologies for a pretty newbie question, but I'd appreciate if someone could help me with this.

Thanks,

J.

 

[Slinky1989]

I'm assuming the pc is a pre-built system? What make and model is it as I have a sneaky feeling it might be from where I work.

 

[Blackus]

Hey Slinky,

Yes, it is a Packard Bell (iExtreme J8510) I picked up fairly cheap last year.

Full spec info: http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?sn=100280080355&g=1400

 

[Slinky1989]

Aha, yep. Tis. The first thing I'll say is that you WILL need to upgrade your power supply aswell, as the ones that they put in those are cheap and are as low power as is humanly possible to power that system. I Think those only have 350watt power supplies. May be 400watt (at the most), but they don't have a powerful enough 12v rail to power a card like the 8800gtx, although surprisingly, a 9600gt that someone wanted me to install did run on one of the cheap 400 watt ones.

Second thing is that those cases aren't exactly large so you'll have to check whether or not the card will actually fit as the 8800gtx is pretty long as noted in the product description on ocuk:

Note: This card is 275mm in length so make sure it fits in your case! Also the cards require PCI-E x16 slots, they will not function in a x8 slot so for SLi you need dual x16 mainboard. Finally 500W minimum for PSU and 600W+ is recommended.

They've also quite rightly noted that you'll need a more powerful powersupply, although if you get a decent one that's say 450watts from a brand such as enermax, corsair, tagan or thermaltake for example, you shouldn't have too much of a problem with those.

However you shouldn't need any extra cooling and the motherboard you have at the moment is absolutely fine.

As far as installing the card is concerned, it's literally a case of uninstalling the drivers, taking out the old card, putting the new card in (and plugging in the pci-e power connectors aswell) and then reinstalling the drivers.

 

[-iceblade^]

also, you need 2 PCIe connectors to run the card... tis a power hog

 

[Blackus]

Thanks a lot for the help Slinky, answers all my questions.

I'll grab a better PSU and measure up the machine to see if it'll fit!

Cheers mate.

J.

 

[thegoonden]

Before you rush out and buy PCIE power adaptors...check to see if your card of choice comes with any, and if your new PSU has 1 native on it.

That way you wont end up with a parts bin full of fscking PCIE-molex adaptors, like yours truly, world class muppet.

 

[Blackus]

Cheers for the responses guys.

I've gone ahead and ordered the card, along with:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-017-OK&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

Am hoping that PSU will suffice - Reviews seemed great.

I've measured up my case and it seems it will fit OK - There is a small detachable HD cradle in the way, I've read a few people sacrificing a HDD bay for this card which I'm happy to do at the moment, just hope I've measured it right.

Really looking forward to getting it set up now