Upgrading Graphics card in HP Compaq dc7800 Convertible MiniTower from Factory card

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Mykal Minky

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Sep 1, 2013
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Hi, I'm looking to buy a new card for my dc7800 Minitower. At the moment the integrated card is burnt out so I'm just needing one card but would like to add a 2nd card in the near future. The specs are below. I'll also be upgrading my RAM from 2GB to 4GB when I buy this card.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Right now

BUDGET RANGE: $600 max no rebates

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Star Trek Online, A few Steam games that are 'ram greedy'

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Intergrated card (burnt out)

Power supply is:

Power consumption
365 watts maximum
Power requirements
Input voltage 90 – 264 / 100 – 240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, 47 – 63 Hz, active PFC (80% High Efficiency)

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Intel Q35 6600 will have 4gb ram

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: N/A

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Australia

PARTS PREFERENCES: nVidia cards only

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Eventually

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Preferably would like to avoid buying additional cooling until I purchase a 2nd card. Ideally would like full shaders and AA and shadows would be fun to turn on for once.

Also, with regards to RAM, if my system specs list the memory type as DDR2 am I restricted to that still (it's been more than 10 years since if upgraded anything inside a computer) or is it now as flexible as graphics cards seem to have become?

Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
coozie7
@Mykal Minky: Check the motherboard, I'm not sure it will support dual cards (unless you've changed it from the HP original).
The HP motherboard only supports DDR2 memory, neither DDR3 nor DDR modules will fit.
You list 3 monitor resolutions-do you have 3 monitors or use different resolutions at different times on one display?
If it's using the stock Q6600 CPU I'd say top card would be a GTX650Ti Boost/GTX660 if you want maximum eye candy with a GTX650 (non Ti) as a better match to the CPU.
Power: Not less than 450Watts and no more that 550Watts from a good maker: Antec, Corsair, Silverstone, Seasonic, OCZ or the Rosewil Capstone series.
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bryonhowley

bryonhowley

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Oct 24, 2011
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First you will need to figure in a new PSU into your budget as the PSU that comes with that system is way to small for any good GPU at 365w.

Second ram. If your system uses DDR2 that is all that you will be able to use yes. From what I could google you have 4 DDR2 slot on that motherboard so DDR2 is what you will need to use.

As for a GPU since you are looking for Nvidia only I can't give you any recommendation on that at all. I know more about AMD/ATI cards.

But what problem are you having with the system and how do you know it is only the integrated graphics that is the problem. That is something I would make sure of before spending money on a PSU GPU and ram because if it is a motherboard problem you will be out money and still not have a working system.
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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Jun 2, 2007
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@Mykal Minky: Check the motherboard, I'm not sure it will support dual cards (unless you've changed it from the HP original).
The HP motherboard only supports DDR2 memory, neither DDR3 nor DDR modules will fit.
You list 3 monitor resolutions-do you have 3 monitors or use different resolutions at different times on one display?
If it's using the stock Q6600 CPU I'd say top card would be a GTX650Ti Boost/GTX660 if you want maximum eye candy with a GTX650 (non Ti) as a better match to the CPU.
Power: Not less than 450Watts and no more that 550Watts from a good maker: Antec, Corsair, Silverstone, Seasonic, OCZ or the Rosewil Capstone series.
 
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