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What GPU for me?

Matticus88

Matticus88

Matticus88

Associate
Joined
20 May 2012
Posts
47
I need an upgrade

This is what i have;
cfIvr.gif


CPU - AMD Athlon II X3 425
MoBo - nForce 720a LINK
RAM - 3072MB DDR3 (1024mb + 2048mb)
Gcard - Nvidia Geforce 9200
Monitor - Acer V193HQ 1366x768res
Chassis/Case - Small Form Factor (SFF)

I have a bit of confusion, The nvidia website page linked above says my MoBo is DDR2 yet my RAM is DDR3 but works fine.

I would like a new Graphics card at least 1GB, and within £60-£90 if at all possible. And as my Case is SSF i assume that means i can only have low profile graphics cards?
 
Hi there, do you know the make and model number of your motherboard (you can find this by going to the "mainboard" tab in CPU-Z). Nforce 720a will just be the chipset type.

As for which graphics card to go for, may I ask what particular make and model case and PSU you are using are? There are a huge number of SFF cases with different internal dimentions, some only able fit tiny graphics cards while others able to fit large gaming graphics cards. Also, the capacity and quality of the PSU will set the upper limit of the graphics card power consumption (with more powerful cards using up more power generally).

Finally, may I ask what you will be using the PC for? (gaming, HD video watching, CAD, photoshop etc.)
 
The case is this one :link

MoBo Model is : "WMCP78M"

I'm not sure how to find out my PSU's specs without opening up my computer, and as its still in warrenty, i know that if i do open it, it will breakdown and the warrenty would be void. I'm only looking for a graphics card now, so i can save some money for it for when the warrenty runs out.

Edit, on the side of the case on the sticker it says "Model rating - 220-240Vac, 3A, 50Hz, if you can determine the Wattage from that.

Edit2: oh, uses would be games, movies & photoshop really
 
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Ok, it looks like that board has a single PCIE x16 slot and only enough room for a low-profile, single slot graphics card. So with this restriction you won't be able to get anything very powerful for gaming, though playing movies and running photoshop won't be a problem.

As for the PSU, are you sure that is what it says? As 220V x 3A = 660W, which isn't a wattage you will find with a SFF PSU.

Looking futher it seems that the PC is called the Acer Aspire X3300, I will see what PSUs this uses...

Edit: Looking at the specs it seems to come with a 220W PSU - which should power pretty much any single slot, low profile graphics card available. I will now look for the most powerful one...

Edit2: It looks like the most powerful single slot, low profile graphics card is a HD 6670 like this one. It isn't exactly a gaming monster, but it should be able to play modern games smoothly so long as you turn the settings down.
 
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I am confused about buying one of them HD 6670's

EDITED - Removed the Links as asked by cmndr_Andi below.

Edit: Do you have any shop links where i can get the one in the review you linked? i looked through the entire review and i am quite pleased with what i read. Edit2: I think i found one,{Edit:link removed} can you confirm its the same one? with so many cards that look different but have the same name lol

Does it matter that it is ATI and not nvidia like my MoBo?
 
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Sorry man, could you remove those links as they are against forum rules? Instead perhaps replace them with the model numbers.

Unfortunately that Sapphire low profile, single slot HD 6670 doesn't seem to be sold on OCUK - so I can't give you a direct link.

However, here is the link from the official Sapphire website. As for finding one to buy, I can only suggest you google: "Sapphire 11192-18-20G HD6670".
 
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ok thanks cmndr_Andi! i removed links (don't want to get in trouble:))

I'm guessing i've found the correct one, it has the same model number on (i didn't think of search by model number at first)

Would you mind if i sent you a PM with the shop link i have? if it is ok to do so.
 
The model number of the one you want is "11192-18-20G" - so if you find one with that model number for at a reputable place then you are onto a winner.

Feel free to send me a trust message (no PMs on this forum AFAIK), there isn't a similar card available on OCUK so I think that should be OK.

As for AMD cards working an Nvidia boards - there used to be some trouble, but these days with a relatively modern chipset and windows 7 it should be fine.
 
cmndr_andi said:
The model number of the one you want is "11192-18-20G" - so if you find one with that model number for at a reputable place then you are onto a winner.

Feel free to send me a trust message (no PMs on this forum AFAIK), there isn't a similar card available on OCUK so I think that should be OK.

As for AMD cards working an Nvidia boards - there used to be some trouble, but these days with a relatively modern chipset and windows 7 it should be fine.
Click to expand...

Trust/e-mail thingy sent.

Thats good to hear about the AMD/nvidia compatibility.
 
Hi,

Andi is 100% right. A 6670 will perfectly feet your needs and due to a low res you could just push a tad more peer out that card when gameing.

Happy days
 
Hello, Bringing my thread back up, i have another question or two to ask.

1. My current card the Geforce9200 is a intergrated card, That wont be a problem will it? And can having both the new card 6670 and the 9200 increase performance even more?

2. I took a photo of the inside of comp, just to triple check the 6670 low profile is correct for me...

compinternals.jpg
 
In my picture, There is 2 metal plates that can be twisted or slided off to fit the two plates of the card.. i think.. Oh and, What is that small pin socket for? just curious.

(This post is a bump in disguise, I'm not sure of a bumping rule, but this thread had dropped to page 2 and i'm still looking for anwsers, if it is against the rules, This will be the last bump you see me make :))
 
You only need to twist one of the plates off.

When you have the card, you'll see it fits on that top, larger slot.
The smaller one (to the left of it in your pic) is a PCIe x1 slot. This is useful for sound card, network cards, and other add ons. You wont be using that, and don't nee4d to worry about the plate below it.

Your integrated 9200 can't be used to enhance the performance of the new graphic card (and is so much weaker, it wouldn't make a difference even if it could).

When you fit the new card, unplug the graphic cable from the current slot, and plug it into your new card, and boot up.

It may be that it wont boot up straight away: sometimes you need to disable the integrated card in BIOS first, or at least change settings so the new card is given priority. If that happens, pop on here and we'll ttell you how to sort it out.

From the looks of that, by the way, you could probably have got a standard double slot graphic card (which would mean you'd have to remove those two twist off plates, not just one). But you'd have to be very careful which one to pick, with your power limitations.
 
Matticus88 said:
I assume the Graphics card will come with a decent manual for installing? and a guide for disabling the intergrated card?
Click to expand...

Graphic cards don't need much installing (plug into the motherboard, plug cable from motherboard to monitor, switch on, then install drivers).

As noted above, the integrated graphics is a motherboard feature, and varies, so instructions for that will be with your motherboard manual. But don't worry about that - just try installing the new card, setting up, and it should work automatically.
 
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