How do I know if a PC is compatible with a graphics card?

PianoDude

Reputable
Feb 16, 2014
10
0
4,510
Hi,
I've been looking to upgrade my PC for some time now, and I think I've found a decent one within my price range. But the graphics card is poor, so I'm thinking of upgrading that too. I don't know what I'm meant to look for though to see if it's compatible, so could anyone please tell me what I'm meant to check? I just don't want to fork out for a PC and then find it isn't compatible with the graphics card I want to buy. The PC I was thinking of buying was an HP Pavilion, and I was going to upgrade the graphics card to a GeForce GTX660Ti.
Any help would be great!
Many thanks! :wahoo:
 

Jfrag

Honorable
Feb 12, 2014
60
0
10,640
You need to check if the wattage is enough for the card and you need to check that your motherboard PCIE x16 slot. And you also need to check if the case in big enough.
 

PianoDude

Reputable
Feb 16, 2014
10
0
4,510
Excellent! Thank you! :D I think that the motherboard does have a x16 slot. If the wattage is not big enough would I then need to buy a new PSU? And if I bought a new PSU, would I also need to buy a new adapter/power cable?