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Upgrade video card for I7 HP replace Radeon 5770

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  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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October 30, 2013 1:49:48 PM

Can I use a gen 3.0 card with this win 7 pro machine?

It's an HP Pavilion Elite HPE 350t

500 w power supply has only 1 6 lead connector for video card. I've looked at Best Graphics Cards for Money and Radeon 7870 looks like best I can get with one 6 connector power supply.

More about : upgrade video card replace radeon 5770

October 30, 2013 3:19:37 PM

you could always upgrade the PSU to a 600w Corsair or similar and that would give you many more options.
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October 30, 2013 6:46:18 PM

RobCrezz said:
you could always upgrade the PSU to a 600w Corsair or similar and that would give you many more options.


I see one company's package of Radeon 7870 (Sapphire?) that shows pictures of two adapters, which are 2 molex connectors wired together to one 6 pin connector as being in the box. It has two of those in the package. So if my 500 W PS has free molex connector lines, then that could work. I do not know how many free lines are on the PS that was put in a year ago: the computer is 80 miles away at Ohio State right now.

I think a real problem is I don't understand the various connectors as listed on various power supplies and what the various graphic cards need.

And in the write up here for October in one place the HD 7870 states 1 6-pin connector and another place states it needs 2 6-pin connectors.

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October 31, 2013 2:22:08 AM

The connectors arent the problem - as you say, there are adapters to convert molex connectors. Its the amount of amps on the 12v rail that your PSU can supply.
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October 31, 2013 8:00:54 AM

RobCrezz said:
The connectors arent the problem - as you say, there are adapters to convert molex connectors. Its the amount of amps on the 12v rail that your PSU can supply.


Is there a tutorial or article that explains the variations in connectors and the circuits in various power supplies?

The Radeon 7870 is rated as 175 W. That would be 14 amp at 12V. What else in the computer runs on the 12V line? Hard drive. DVD.

Still need to find the exact power supply brand that's in the computer. The receipt is with the computer as well.

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October 31, 2013 8:27:01 AM

imidazol97 said:
RobCrezz said:
The connectors arent the problem - as you say, there are adapters to convert molex connectors. Its the amount of amps on the 12v rail that your PSU can supply.


Is there a tutorial or article that explains the variations in connectors and the circuits in various power supplies?

The Radeon 7870 is rated as 175 W. That would be 14 amp at 12V. What else in the computer runs on the 12V line? Hard drive. DVD.

Still need to find the exact power supply brand that's in the computer. The receipt is with the computer as well.



Have a look on the PSU, they usually show how many amps on the 12v.

You dont want to run it at 100%, so make sure you have more capacity than what is needed.
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October 31, 2013 7:25:14 PM

RobCrezz said:
Have a look on the PSU, they usually show how many amps on the 12v.
You dont want to run it at 100%, so make sure you have more capacity than what is needed.


Now I'm understanding what I can do. The original HP 460W. power supply had Va=18 A., Vb=15A., Vc=8A. That totals to 41 A x 12 V = 492 W. What are Va,Vb, and Vc?


Here's a link to the data label. http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k110/imidazol97/HP460...

Which of those V's is meaningful. The original PS powered a Radeon 5770 which ATI rated at 108 W.
at 108 W.

The replacement PS in the computer now is a 500W and I don't know the data for it until I can check on Saturday--it's at Ohio State U.

The new graphics card is rated 175W. So that's 5.6 more amps on the 12 V circuit needed.
The 500W replacement in the computer is 40W more or 3.5 amp maybe for 12 v circuit.

And does the new PS have open connectors for power besides the 6 pin connector?

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November 1, 2013 4:11:56 AM

So you have roughly 40amps available on 12v, but I would go for a GPU that requires no more than 30, so you have enough capacity for other devices.

I would say you would be fine to use your existing psu with that GpU, and using a molex to PCI-E power converter.
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November 3, 2013 8:44:03 AM

RobCrezz said:
So you have roughly 40amps available on 12v,.


Thanks for your earlier comment about the power supply and it comes down to inspecting just what I have that replaced the HP original.

Forgot to take picture, but inspected the computer on Saturday and found the current PS to be 500 W Antec Basiq. It has two Molex connectors unused; 4-pin style used 15 years ago on hard drives.. But couldn't see the info card because it was on the backside of the open case. So looked up Antec and found a study of it, with picture of the cables, a statement that it has two rails with 18A that cut at 20A, and a comment that one rail operates the ATX12v/EPS12v cables and the other rail powers everything else. I note it even has two 6-pin cables but both are on the end of the same cable. Article notes that can drop voltage at high draw.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/imageview.php?image=1856...
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Antec-Basiq-BP50...

It would be nice if the Molex cables were on the on the other rail from the 6-pin for GPU: that would share the load between the two separate 12V rails. Experts at a Columbus computer store believed the Antec 500 would be very capable of handling the graphics cards with two 6-pin connectors that I'm looking at, Radeon 7870 or 7950.

I am looking at upgrading rather than replacing the I-7 computer. it has 8 GB memory and otherwise meets requirements for Battlefield 4 with a 4-core I-7, although 3 years old. The I-7 can't be upgraded to a faster processor due to different base on newer CPU.

For anyone wanting to learn about power supplies, Tom's Hardware has a great, thorough 11 page study on the topic.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-specif...



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November 20, 2013 8:42:21 AM

Results:
Found the Antec power supply in a review shows 18 amps easily on each of the two V12 rails, and went to 20 before cutting one.

Bought the Gigabyte 7950 card with a 6-pin and 8-pin connector for power. Used the adapter for 2 molex to one 8-pin and used the existing 6-pin connector for the 6-pin. Card rated at 225 watts IIRC. No problems. One rail of the Antec V12 goes to the motherboard and the other 20 max amp rail goes to the video card. The Antec PS also has 2 6-pins connectors but on the same lead from the PS, but I decided to use a separate line to get the most power to the card even though they both come from the same rail.




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