Need new grahpics card for old system

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baldinie

baldinie

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Hi,

My dad's been running my old Acer Aspire m3640 with a Q660, 3gb ram, nforce630i mobo and 8600GS card in a PCIe 1.0X16 slot. But it seems the card has failed (no image on screen, no post and mobo beeps indicate VGA card failure). So it needs a new one. But what do i get? something I can buy new preferably, and will work in the slot (and in a small case) and can run from the mobo power, since the PSU is only 250W and has no addition PCIe power cables.
Also, i do have an old 450W PSU with the later ATX v2 standards and PCIe slots, will i need to salvage this from my old gaming rig to put in anything to replace the 8600gs? Budget is flexible, but really less than £50 other wise it's not worth the cost, since a new laptop will be just as good.

Cheats
 
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K
1) 7450 and a gtx 630/640 can easily watch YT videos on 1080p
If he goes for a 1920x1080 screen then I would stick with the cards that I advised otherwise I would go a little lower but not too low of course
2) Depends on your mobo, but regularly your mobo already uses their integrated graphics card/chip for extra visual power (there are programs that allow you to switch between mobo graphics and your GPU *switching does require a restart* but usually your mobo already uses it's integrated graphics card/chip)
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baldinie

baldinie

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Thanks for the quick reply. Is there nothing from nVidia? really want to avois as many issues as possible (drivers).
Also, I should note, I've been away and not actually seen the PC yet, but how do I get it to switch back to the onboard graphics (7100 on mobo), do I just unplug the card? or do I have to reset the bios? never used onboard graphics.
 
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baldinie

baldinie

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ok, I'll look at 630/640 depending on what he wants to spend. it's just a light work PC, no gaming or anything, onboard might cope I just like it to have some spare power.
On to the mobo graphics, just to check it is just the card, how do I get it to switch to the mobo graphics, just unplug the card and plug the monitor on the mobo? or do i need a reset?
 
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Kirosaka

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1) 7450 and a gtx 630/640 can easily watch YT videos on 1080p
If he goes for a 1920x1080 screen then I would stick with the cards that I advised otherwise I would go a little lower but not too low of course
2) Depends on your mobo, but regularly your mobo already uses their integrated graphics card/chip for extra visual power (there are programs that allow you to switch between mobo graphics and your GPU *switching does require a restart* but usually your mobo already uses it's integrated graphics card/chip)
 
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baldinie

baldinie

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the monitor is 1080 and hdmi. I take it either a 630 or 640 will be more powerful than the 8600gs? will the 7100 oboard cope with internet and stuff? or is it really low (running win 7 pro btw)
also, I'd like to get the onboard working before doing anything(buying anything) to make sure its just the graphics card. If i unplug the battery, it won't affect anything else (data on HDD) and it will get the onboard working?
or will the video feed come out of the onboard chip if i just unplug the card?
 
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Kirosaka

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1) Yes the 630, 640 and the 7450 are better then the 8600gs
2) Not sure if the 7100 will cope neither is it really important since you're not making it a gaming PC, buying a 630/640 or a 7450 is more then enough
 
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baldinie

baldinie

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on the tech side, since the graphics card isn't displaying anything I cant get to/see the BIOS, if I unplug the card and plug the monitor into the onboard chip will it burst into life, or do I have to reset? just curious if i plug into the onboard chip if that'll let me see the bios without a reset.
 
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Kirosaka

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Hmm. I never really deepened myself into things like that, but from what it looks like, it probably won't need a reset.
Just don't attach or deattach anything inside of your PC when it's still plugged in
 
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baldinie

baldinie

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neah I know that much. My dad's tried plugging the monitor into the mobo but nothing changed, I'm hoping it just needs the card pulled out.
Anyway, cheers for your help.
 
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baldinie

baldinie

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ok, so I got back, had a look, reseated the card no change. took it out, plugged in the onboard card, works fine, installed new drivers, all good.
Had a look at the card, blew two capacitors, so question, can these be repaired?
 
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