Help upgrading old pre built pc

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victor_021

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Aug 4, 2013
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So i have a old pre built system that i want to upgrade. Its a Fujitsu Esprimo P1510.

My specs:
intel® Core™ i5 processor i5-750 (4C/4T, 2.66 GHz, 8 MB)
ati Radeon® HD 5670, 1 GB
6 GB RAM
330w psu
Windows 7 64-bit
Unsure what motherboard i have but i think it has 1 PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot, 1 PCI-Express x1 slot and 1 PCI (32-bit / 33 Mhz) slot.
I play about a bit of everything,Borderlands,Crysis,Planetside,Company Of Heroes and pretty much always in 1080p.


PDF with additional information: http://pdfs.icecat.biz/pdf/25233841-5475.pdf

Image of system: http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a532/021victory/Opencomputercase_zps2c99fb27.jpg

Note that the ati 5670 in the picture is about 17 cm(6.6inches) long.

Correct me if i'm wrong but but would a new graphics card be the best upgrade? My budget is 300$ but i could go a bit higher if necessary and i have really no preferred company when it comes to Nvidia vs Amd.

But can my motherboard support a new graphics card? Is my psu good enough? Would my current processor bottleneck it? Do i even have enough space in my case for a modern graphics card? Do i need a low profile card?

Sorry if thats a lot of questions but any help is much appreciated. :)
 
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IInuyasha74
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

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You have two real options to go with this that I would recommend. For $300 you could go for a whole new system. You could get a motherboard and a APU for around $200 and that would be better in CPU power and I think GPU power, but I am not 100% sure, GPU power may be close to equal so I am not positive.

Because the increased CPU power you will probably see good performance increased all around, and the GPU if I am right is close to a 6650 in power so that should be a boost also.

Option 2 which is cheaper, Get an AMD 7790/7850 ($127-$150) and a bigger power supply for around $50.

Both options will cost about $200 and be a significant upgrade in gaming. I personally use a 7850, and have a friend with an APU which works wonderful also. I can give you some links if you would like.
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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In order:
Yes, the i5 750 is still a handy CPU for gaming. (mines doing very nicely, thank you) but that 5670 is like a pocket calculator by current standards.
Yes, the motherboard has a single PCI-E x16, version 2.0 slot.
No, according to the specs in the PDF it's only 300 Watts, you'll need about 450 with at least one 6 pin PCI-E power lead for a decent card.
Depends on what card is used and what resolution the display is.
Yes, but you'll be better off with Nvidia, their cards tend to be shorter, and Zotac make some particularly compact cards.
No, the case will support full height cards.
Shame about the prebuilt system, the i5 overclocks like a thing possessed but I doubt the motherboard will allow such fun and games.
Another point on the system: cooling, prebuilts usually have...'value engineered' cooling so I think it will be important to get a card of the type I'm going to link to later-one that exhausts its hot air outside.
You don't specify the monitor resolution so I'll assume 1080 rez and will suggest either a GTX600 or if you push the budget 'till it squeaks a GTX760 I would have suggested the GTX660Ti, but the GTX760 is about the same price and a fair bit quicker. Both will require a suitable power supply.
A nice GTX660: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130825 EVGA have one of the best (USA/Canada) warranties out there and a gold standard after sales service.
And a nice GTX760: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130935
Both cards are 9.5" long and should fit if I've scaled your photo correctly.
A nice power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139050 You can get a little cheaper (<>$10) but this is modular, so it will not fill that small case up with masses of airflow destroying wires.
 
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victor_021

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Ok so i think a GTX 660 is just what i need but there is still stuff i'm wondering about.

What is the AMD equivalent of a GTX 660 and would you recommend that over the 660?

I have heard that non reference cards with a aftermarket cooler are quieter than the stock cooler. Is this true?

Since I live in Scandinavia availability and pricing is a bit different, so i narrowed it down to 4 cards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125443

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127699

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500270

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121660

I am mostly looking for the quietest and best performing card as opposed to the best cooler since i'm not really a extreme overclocker. (feel free to suggest any AMD card in the 200$ price range as well)

btw i always game at 1920x1080p
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

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AMD equivalent to the GTX 660 is the AMD Radeon 7870.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
I personally would go with the AMD card.

That cannot be answered if it is quieter or not. Very few companies stick to the reference designed cooler. Some are quieter, some are louder. Some are better at cooling, some are worse. You would need to actually compare two items directly against each other to tell.

If you stick with Nvidia, I would go with this card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127699

If you want a quieter card, you would be better off to find one that only has one fan as that will be quieter than two.

These two card from AMD would perform Equal or better than the 660. The bottom one is the best overall but it is a bit more expensive. I specifically chose these two models because they are should be quieter than the other coolers on the same card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161411
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131478
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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@ victor_021: It is true, but the Nvidia reference cooler is still pretty quiet and effective.
Unless the case can accept a front intake fan, I'd suggest you go for a reference design-the system may be OK with one of that cards you have linked but I'm not sure how it will handle an extra 200+Watts of heat being pumped into it.
Probably I'd go for the Zotac, but the others are equally good choices.
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

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I debated on if I should advise him to get the Zotac or MSI card myself. The Zotac in reality should have an advantage in cooling because the heat pipes it uses are made of copper, as opposed to aluminum. That will help the card stay a little bit cooler and possibly quieter.

The reason I went with MSI is mostly that I like the brand. A lot of MSI stuff tends to be good quality, and the only MSI GPU I have owned ran pretty quiet and cool. That doesn't mean that this one will be quiet and cool also though.

Like coozie7 said they are all good choices. Deciding which is best is tough, but I doubt you will be upset either way you go.
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

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Oh yea he has a good point that I think everyone has skipped over. Your 330w PSU will not run the GTX660, Radeon 7870, or any other cards mentioned. If you don't get a PSU you won't be able to get this big of an upgrade.

One other thing this reminds me about, I don't follow the Nvidia cards as much anymore, I switched to AMD, but the 760 will outperform the 660 and use less power. I don't think it is much more expensive at all really either. If anyone else posting on here has the info on GTX 760 more at hand, Victor may want to go with it instead of the GTX 660.
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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@ IInuyasha: We both mentioned the need for a new PSU in our first posts ;) .
@ byogamingpc: I'm not sure that GTX760 will fit, according to the PDF specs linked by victor_021: http://pdfs.icecat.biz/pdf/25233841-5475.pdf the PCI-E slots will accept a 24 CM (9.4488 inch) card, and the GTX760 linked is over 10 inches long even a stock card at 9.5" long may not fit. The only point is that it may be possible to insert the card into the HDD cages and then swing it into the PCI-E slot, so the card encroaches on the HDD space, but it's hard to see from the supplied photo if this is possible-and it may cause issues with the power connector/s being blocked by the cage anyway.
But Zotac do make a tiny GTX760: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500307 ,like the GTX660, it's less than 8 inches long and will fit easily.
Given the small case and limited cooling I still think victor_021 would be better off with a stock design, whichever GPU he chooses, it will be a tight fit, but it's only 1.3 m.m. over the 240!
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

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Sorry about that. I sometimes jump over lines when reading block text :p
 
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victor_021

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While I definitely agree with you guys that the GTX 760 would be a good buy, the price of it where I live absolutely destroys my budget, so unfortunately have to stick with the 660. Also i'm pretty sure i'm going to go with Nvidia since the 660 and 7870 are so close when it comes to performance and price and since i play a lot of Nvidia optimized games and games using PhysX.

Like you guys said just about all my options for a gpu right now are all good but coozie you mentioned that since my case doesn't have a front fan(and just poor cooling in general) I might be better off going with a stock cooler. If this is true would something like this be good?:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130825

About the PSU, the one suggested seems like a good choice but like most modern psu's it has its fan on top. But in my pc case both the space above and below where the psu should be is blocked. Is this going to be a problem? Like when i install it should i place the fan pointing up or down? Or do i need some other kind of psu?

Picture of bottom of psu:
http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a532/021victory/psu_zpsa1f0fa53.jpg
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

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Yes the card you linked will be good. What he was meaning is coolers like the original, because you want the heat to vent out the back of the case and not be vented to the inside of the case. The card you linked just now shoots air out the back of the case like the original one so it will work fine :)

As for the PSU problem, if that picture is from your case then it looks like only a small edge of your PSU is blocked by metal, and not enough of it to matter. As long as the fan is not covered it will be fine. If the fan is covered you will have problems because the PSU can overheat.
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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The GTX 660 you linked is the same as the one I suggested earlier! Just bear in mind, it's a fraction bigger (by 1.3 m.m.) than the 240m.m. than may be available, so it'll be a tight fit. If you're uncertain the Zotac cards will fit easily enough the only downside is they'll run a little hotter than they might in a better ventilated case.
Seem to have dropped the ball on the PSU issue, you'll need to install it with the fan downwards, which is actually the normal orientation for a top mounted unit.
Once again, the small case may cause problems, you'll need to check with a ruler that a new PSU will fit, I notice the one installed is quite short.
 
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