- Apr 7, 2013
- 2
- 0
- 10,510
I have an old PC that I want to extend the life of for a little while. The weak link is the video card, I believe.
The computer is an HP Pavillion A6028x: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c00883075#N83
With upgrades to 4gb RAM, AMD 5600+ processor, and a couple of extra HDDs. I have Win 8 64 bit installed.
It has a 300W power supply (the original), a Bestec ATX-300-12Z:
http://www.outletpc.com/bx7516.html
Mobo: MCP61PM-HM (Nettle):
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c00906137#N155
The graphics card I have currently (rather than using the onboard one) is an NVIDIA 8400 GS 256MB (I think it's 256Mb, anyway):
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-8400-gs/specifications
I am looking to spend $30-50 on a new or used video card to replace it. I was looking at:
2Gb Galaxy Geforce 440 GT that I have found for $40 new http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162099
1GB Gigabyte Geforce 450 GTS for $50 used:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3593#ov
Visiontek ATI Radeon 3650 512 Meg for $20 used:
http://www.visiontek.com/3000-series/hd-3650-512mb.html
I'm stuck with this PC at least for a while, and the current GPU seems to be the bottleneck. I DON'T play video games anymore, so that isn't an issue. I DO watch a lot of video on it, and mainly use it for Photoshop. I also run 2 monitors. Larger videos have trouble playing back, and Photoshop is often slow (I have tweaked the scratch disk and cache files to the best of my ability). Obviously cheaper is better, so I can put the extra $ towards a small SSD or just a new PC eventually.
What do you think of the video cards I have found, or do you have a suggestion for something better for ≤ $50 (new or used) that would be a significant improvement over my old gpu?
thanks in advance,
Craig
The computer is an HP Pavillion A6028x: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c00883075#N83
With upgrades to 4gb RAM, AMD 5600+ processor, and a couple of extra HDDs. I have Win 8 64 bit installed.
It has a 300W power supply (the original), a Bestec ATX-300-12Z:
http://www.outletpc.com/bx7516.html
Mobo: MCP61PM-HM (Nettle):
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c00906137#N155
The graphics card I have currently (rather than using the onboard one) is an NVIDIA 8400 GS 256MB (I think it's 256Mb, anyway):
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-8400-gs/specifications
I am looking to spend $30-50 on a new or used video card to replace it. I was looking at:
2Gb Galaxy Geforce 440 GT that I have found for $40 new http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162099
1GB Gigabyte Geforce 450 GTS for $50 used:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3593#ov
Visiontek ATI Radeon 3650 512 Meg for $20 used:
http://www.visiontek.com/3000-series/hd-3650-512mb.html
I'm stuck with this PC at least for a while, and the current GPU seems to be the bottleneck. I DON'T play video games anymore, so that isn't an issue. I DO watch a lot of video on it, and mainly use it for Photoshop. I also run 2 monitors. Larger videos have trouble playing back, and Photoshop is often slow (I have tweaked the scratch disk and cache files to the best of my ability). Obviously cheaper is better, so I can put the extra $ towards a small SSD or just a new PC eventually.
What do you think of the video cards I have found, or do you have a suggestion for something better for ≤ $50 (new or used) that would be a significant improvement over my old gpu?
thanks in advance,
Craig
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