Upgrading desktops video card - have questions!?

I am upgrading my new HP p6204y desktop with a new video card that supports HDMI. The monitor I purchased with it is an HD monitor and the quality would look so much better, I believe, if I upgrade. My PC currently has a 250w power supply so I know I will need to upgrade that as well.



Is there any brand suggestions for video cards and power supplies? I was looking on NewEgg and saw a ton of decent priced items, but I am clueless as to what I purchase. I don't want anything expensive - so if I can get something decent priced that will work, it will be perfect.|||First of all you need to know 'if' you need a new power supply.



In your case it really depends on the graphic card you are going to buy. If you are buying a low end graphics card (a lot which usually support HDMI today) then probably you are fine with a 250W power supply



Here is what I found out about your pc's power consumption:

Processor - 65 Watt

Mobo - around 62 Watts

HDD + DVD RW - around 40 Watts





So if you get a graphics cards like the latest DX11 ATI Radeon HD 5450 (my recommendation, got released today and costs around 60$, newegg link --->) then you might be fine but its is recommended that you get a 300W power supply to make sure your system is stable.



I recommend:

Power Supply around 30$ - COOLER MASTER Elite 460 RS-460-PSAR-J3 460W ATX12V V2.31 Power Supply ---> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



ATI Radeon HD 5450 around 60$- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



Personally I would buy a graphics card and plug it in and see if it runs fine with the current power supply, but I will not recommend that you do that.



When getting a Power Supply you should make sure you get a reputed brand! Brands like FSP Group, Antec, Aero Cool, Cooler Master, CORSAIR, Foxconn and Zalman are pretty reliable. Others you just have to search the internet for.





I had a system like yours a while ago and I upgraded to a mid-high end graphics card and still used my old 300W power supply and the system still runs fine. Hope this helped.

What is a good Video Card brand with an NVIDIA chipset?

I'm shopping around for desktop video cards. I just want a higher quality manufacturer (like Maxtor is to hard drives) and I would like it to have an NVIDIA-made chipset. Also a Composite-Video our S-Video out will be necessary. I don't want something over-priced or that lights up or anything fancy, I just want something that isn't going to have any kinds of problems.|||Try going with EVGA. I build computers for myself, friends and relatives, and I always use EVGA cards with nVidia chipsets. They are available at Circuit City. But it is much cheaper to buy them online at newegg.com. Try this link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis…

I have it narrowed down to EVGA cards with nVidia chipsets. I don't know what type of interface you need (AGP, PCIe, etc.) or what size of memory you want. You'll have to sort by the interface first, and then see which ones left have the video out that you want. Then pick the amount of memory you want from what's left of those.

Also see evga.com.

Hope this helps!|||I'd stick with nVidia.

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Difference between laptop and desktop video cards?

I have a Ati Mobility Radeon 3650 vRam 512mb DDR3. (This is a laptop video card)

How much better/worse is that from an ATI X1800 or Nvidia Geforce 7800 (Desktop Video Cards). I understand video cards pretty well, but I don't exactly know how to judge between desktop and laptop video cards.

The reason I am asking this is because I am wondering how well I can play COD4. I have a Sony Vaio FW:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665507465|||The ATI Mobility Radeon 3650 supports DirectX10 and the ATI X1800 and the GeForce 7800 only support DirectX 9.0c. However the Mobility Radeon 3650 is not that great because laptop cards are made to consume little power, thus offering a lot less graphical power. Also many laptop cards suffer from incompatibilities with certain games.|||They're all different cards. If you compare apples to apples - say nVidia 8800GTS and nVidia 8800M, there are some small differences, mainly to reduce power consumption.|||Most laptop video devices are integrated into the motherboards, whereas desktop cards can be upgraded

Is there any requirements to upgrade your desktop video card?

I mean, do you need a better motherboard or processor to upgrade your video card?



I am actually planning to upgrade mine, cause last week i bought a desktop computer @ bestbuy and here's the spec.



http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+De…



Note: Please Click on Spec. Tab.



I wanted to upgrade the video card into GeForce GTS 450. Do you guys think that will work?|||It will work.

The only thing you need is a PCIE x16 expansion slot which this has.

Also make sure you PSU is big enough. Try look on the PSU for the wattage. You should need around 500 watts total for this configuration and this even allows for a little bit of wiggle room. Sometimes though prebuilts have very small PSUs like 300 or 400 so check on that (I didn't see it in the spec tab) Other than that GPUs can fit on any motherboard for the most part

Best desktop video card?

Hey guys,



Just got an HP quad core and looking to upgrade the video card from the GeForce 9300GE it came with. I would like something under $200 and will be able to play me most of the games coming out in the next few years at close to max settings.



So is it possible?



Thanks|||I suggest the ATI 4850. Nice card. Basically edges out the Nvidia 9800GTX+ with it winning some gaming benchmarks and the 9800GTX+ winning some. Thing is, when the 9800GTX+ wins its not by a lot and sometimes its so little you wouldn't notice the difference while in some benchmarks, like Bioshock, the 4850 destroys the 9800GTX+. Here's some gaming benchmarks that may help you decide:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.a…

Something to think about is that you will probably have to upgrade the power supply in your HP with one that has both the watts AND +12V amps to power bigger cards if you haven't already done so. Don't need 1000 watts. A Corsair 450 watt PSU will easily power an ATI 4850 or Nvidia 9800GTX+ provided your HP doesn't use a proprietory PSU.

Without knowing what board your HP has I don't know why someone would say that you can "always" buy 2 cards and run CF???|||Being a ATI guy, the ATI Radeon HD 4850 is sure to be a price versus performance champ as the MSRP is $199 and will certainly go lower just like the Radeon HD 3850 did after it was launched.



Reviews: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/731/…

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ati-ra…



You can always buy two and crossfire but make sure to cool them...

Dell Inspiron 530s (slim chasis) desktop Video Card Help?

I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 530s (slim chasis) desktop... I need to put in a video card that has dual monitor output. Its a 1.6 GHZ with 1GB DDR2 SDRAM. Basically the computer needs to support two monitors. The card Office Max sold us, was not "recognized" by the computers... additionally they were TOO big for the "slim chasis" that this Dell Desktop is in. Can someone assist me with which video card I need to pick up, please? Also, it'd help if they offer this card at Office Max because thats where my spending account is through. Thanks.|||Almost every single low-profile case that has dual outputs loses the second monitor port when you replace the regular bracket with the low profile bracket. This card is probably the only one that will work for your application because it stacks both outputs on top of each other in the low profile configuration instead of side to side on a regular bracket like the other low profile cards which makes them only good for one monitor when you replace the bracket. You will need a free space below the PCI graphics slot so that means you will probably lose a PCI slot:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.…|||The 530s has a choice between graphics on the motherboard (Intel Integradted Video) or an add-in pci-express X16 graphics card (low profile). There are LP dual monitor PCI-E cards, but you have to pick one that fits in the slimline chassis and one that does not consume more power than the system can supply.



Since you recently purchased the dell, you still have (free) technical support. Call or email them and ask which graphics cards have been tested with this PC.



In my opinion, OfficeMax is not the best place to buy complicated hardware such as graphics cards. They do not have the technical expertise nor the selection that you are looking for, especially when it comes to specialized parts for small systems.



Good luck.|||there are several low-profile video cards available with dual monitor capability, but to be honest with you, I tried to do the exact same thing at my job on in Insp.530 low profile (I'm a comp specialist at major university), and it wouldn't recognize the card. Something odd about the motherboard blocked every card I tried. I ended up adding one of those crappy usb video cards to activate the 2nd monitor. Don't try any gaming on that one though...sorry I'm not more help, but I just wanted to let you know that you may be out of luck.

Hp pavilion slimline desktop video card issues, am I doomed from playing Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3?

I have an HP desktop slimline s5390d brand new with Intel® Core i3 , Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic (32-bit), 2GB RAM, but video card Integrated on motherboard (see motherboard and chipset) (with 128MB shared graphics memory). It took me a long time to keep saving on this and was attracted on the minimal space it required, and was planning on buying a great video card later after saving. Starcraft 2 is coming and it requires great performing video card which I don't think is supported by my new desktop. It's just recently that I discovered slimlines only allow low profile video cards. Has anyone found a half sized video card with low power usage that is able to play the coming games. I am beginning to really regret buying this non-upgradeable desktop and it has only just been less than a month. Or am I doomed on not being able to play these games unless I buy a new desktop designed for gaming. Please help|||Something like this : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as… is what you are going to need. Without knowing the specifics about the game you are trying to play, I don't know if it is "enough" video card for it. This what I found for requirements: The minimum system requirements for the Starcraft II Beta are as follows:



PC Minimum Requirements:

• Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1/Windows 7

• 2.2 Ghz Pentium IV or equivalent AMD Athlon processor

• 1 GB system RAM/1.5 GB for Vista and Windows 7

• 128 MB NVidia GeForce 6600 GT/ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card

• 1024x768 minimum display resolution

• 4 GB free hard space (Beta)

• Broadband connection



Here is what your motherboard has and supports: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docum…



This is the problem with "slimline" or "all-in-one" computers. They are very restricted in their ability to upgrade. What you buy is often all you will ever have.