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Upgrade to Geforce GT 640 2GB OC

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  • Graphics Cards
  • Geforce
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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a b U Graphics card
March 12, 2014 12:07:36 PM

Hey there,

I'm thinking of upgrading the graphics card on my little brother's old gaming desktop.
The current system specs are:
CPU: INTEL E4600 2.4GHZ
MB: Intel 945GC chipset
RAM: 2x1GB KINGSTON 667MHZ (MB's maximum)
HDD: 1xHITACHI 160GB SATAII + 1xWD BLUE 500GB SATAIII
GC: Geforce 9400GT 512MB
PSU: 280W ATX Power Supply; Robust; WW

I found an used GeForce GT 640 2GB OC (Clocked at 1050MHZ) for about 80USD including shipping in eBay. I saw some game-play videos in YouTube with this card and they were impressive.. But before I go on and buy that card I have some questions:
1. Will this graphics card work with the installed PSU (280W)?
2. The installed CPU and RAM are the best supported by the motherboard so I'm kind of limited by the CPU and RAM. If I install the mentioned graphics card, will I suffer from RAM, CPU bottlenecking? If yes, What is the best card I can buy which suites the current system so I don't have to pay for something that I can't really use it's full power.
3. Any suggestions for other equal/better/more suitable graphics cards? This is an old desktop, I don't want to put too much money on this upgrade.. My budget for this upgrade is 80USD..

Thanks guys in advance :) 

More about : upgrade geforce 640 2gb

March 14, 2014 2:32:08 PM

Try to go for at least a GTX 650 1gb GPU for moderate gaming experience. it will be worth less upgrade and waste of money if you try GT 640 2 GB( it is a weak card for 2 gb vram) used.
A new GTX 650 1 gb cost you around 150USD, but if your budget is only 80 USD then go for this used GTX 650 1 gb in amazon.com: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 1024MB GDDR5

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00966IU4M in priduct description it says it is like almost new.
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a b U Graphics card
March 15, 2014 4:36:30 AM

Ankur Jyoti said:
Try to go for at least a GTX 650 1gb GPU for moderate gaming experience. it will be worth less upgrade and waste of money if you try GT 640 2 GB( it is a weak card for 2 gb vram) used.
A new GTX 650 1 gb cost you around 150USD, but if your budget is only 80 USD then go for this used GTX 650 1 gb in amazon.com: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 1024MB GDDR5

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00966IU4M in priduct description it says it is like almost new.


Will my stock PSU of 280W be able to handle this card?
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Related resources
March 15, 2014 2:39:38 PM

Anyway don't buy 2gb vram version of a low profile GPU, it is worthless, really. Good luck.
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 12:15:43 AM

Ankur Jyoti said:
Anyway don't buy 2gb vram version of a low profile GPU, it is worthless, really. Good luck.

Thank you for your reply.
I thought that games like GTA IV will use easily 1024MB+ when set at medium settings.. That's why I was looking for 2GB graphics cards.
Anyway, The upgrade to GTX 650 isn't cost effective.. I'll have to upgrade the PSU (Additional 70$) and maybe my display monitor (Since it has VGA cable and not HDMI).. That being said, we didn't talk about the fact that this system will SURELY bottleneck a card like GTX 650.
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 8:39:43 AM

Ankur Jyoti said:
oh! it will need a 400w PSU. Sorry.

Try this link: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/347782-33-looking-vid...

Or, you can go for a cheap cabinet which has inbuilt 400w or 450w SMPS.


Please don't suggest such bad quality upgrades. The PSU inbuilt on that cabinet is probably worse than his inbuilt one.

@OP What PSU do you have?
The 2008 PC I bought and yours has such remarkable similarity that I was amazed.
For a 280W PSU you would want to go with a GTX 750. It consumes 55W only, and is one of the newest cards. However, it's $119.99 on newegg.
A GPU not using its full power is not really a problem. If you're getting it at an acceptable price and it's compatible with your system. A AMD HD7750 consumes 55W too, but I'm not sure it'll work with your system as it could be a PCI-e 2.1 x16 card, which will not work.

I personally got a Corsair cx430 and a GTX 650 for my own PC.
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 8:46:31 AM

Ankur Jyoti said:
Do some more research before you decide, also don't let anybody misguide you.

you can try this link:
http://www.playtool.com/pages/vramwidth/width.html


That link explains memory bandwidth and not memory usage.

Talking about memory bandwidth, that is another reason not to go with a 640. It has DDR3 memory and only provides a memory bandwidth of 28 GB/s, whereas a 750 has GDDR5 provides a bandwidth of 86 GB/s. It is one of the most significant factors in deciding actual performance.
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March 16, 2014 8:51:43 AM

Khaleal said:
Ankur Jyoti said:
Anyway don't buy 2gb vram version of a low profile GPU, it is worthless, really. Good luck.

Thank you for your reply.
I thought that games like GTA IV will use easily 1024MB+ when set at medium settings.. That's why I was looking for 2GB graphics cards.
Anyway, The upgrade to GTX 650 isn't cost effective.. I'll have to upgrade the PSU (Additional 70$) and maybe my display monitor (Since it has VGA cable and not HDMI).. That being said, we didn't talk about the fact that this system will SURELY bottleneck a card like GTX 650.


Tell me the maximum possible total up-gradation budget, and I'll help you to choose the highest possible combination..
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 9:01:27 AM

Ankur Jyoti said:


Tell me the maximum possible total up-gradation budget, and I'll help you to choose the highest possible combination..



+1 to that.
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 9:14:39 AM

Ankur Jyoti said:

Tell me the maximum possible total up-gradation budget, and I'll help you to choose the highest possible combination..


Let's say 120$. I found that ASUS GTX750-PHOC-1GD5 power consumption is 75W max (And according the nvidia website the minimum psu for the gtx750ti is 300w) so I don't have to upgrade the psu. Also this card from asus has a VGA connector so I won't have to upgrade the monitor. This way, all the 120$ investment will be dedicated to the graphics upgrade and not to other components.
My concern about the upgrade to this card is that this card may be bottle-necked by this old system, in fact, that's why i was looking for entry-moderate level cards.. the other concern is that 1gb is not future proof as games nowadays are graphics memory demanding.
I would be glade to hear your thoughts/suggestions.
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March 16, 2014 9:16:45 AM

cst1992 said:
Ankur Jyoti said:
oh! it will need a 400w PSU. Sorry.

Try this link: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/347782-33-looking-vid...

Or, you can go for a cheap cabinet which has inbuilt 400w or 450w SMPS.


Please don't suggest such bad quality upgrades. The PSU inbuilt on that cabinet is probably worse than his inbuilt one.

@OP What PSU do you have?
The 2008 PC I bought and yours has such remarkable similarity that I was amazed.
For a 280W PSU you would want to go with a GTX 750. It consumes 55W only, and is one of the newest cards. However, it's $119.99 on newegg.
A GPU not using its full power is not really a problem. If you're getting it at an acceptable price and it's compatible with your system. A AMD HD7750 consumes 55W too, but I'm not sure it'll work with your system as it could be a PCI-e 2.1 x16 card, which will not work.

I personally got a Corsair cx430 and a GTX 650 for my own PC.


Bad upgrade suggestion????? I trying to give a economic solution as possible. A high end system needs high end wallet too.
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March 16, 2014 9:25:26 AM

Khaleal said:
Ankur Jyoti said:
Khaleal said:
12890708,0,1581863 said:
Anyway don't buy 2gb vram version of a low profile GPU, it is worthless, really. Good luck.
said:

Thank you for your reply.
I thought that games like GTA IV will use easily 1024MB+ when set at medium settings.. That's why I was looking for 2GB graphics cards.GTX 750 and you

Tell me the maximum possible total up-gradation budget, and I'll help you to choose the highest possible combination..
said:


cst1992 said:
Ankur Jyoti said:


Tell me the maximum possible total up-gradation budget, and I'll help you to choose the highest possible combination..



+1 to that.


Let's say 120$. I found that ASUS GTX750-PHOC-1GD5 power consumption is 75W max (And according the nvidia website the minimum psu for the gtx750ti is 300w) so I don't have to upgrade the psu. Also this card from asus has a VGA connector so I won't have to upgrade the monitor. This way, all the 120$ investment will be dedicated to the graphics upgrade and not to other components.
My concern about the upgrade to this card is that this card may be bottle-necked by this old system, in fact, that's why i was looking for entry-moderate level cards.. the other concern is that 1gb is not future proof as games nowadays are graphics memory demanding.
I would be glade to hear your thoughts/suggestions.
said:


Go for the GTX 750 upgrade and you will be fine. Your processor is not a future proof CPU too. GTX 750 1gb is certainly a worth upgrade for moderate gaming.
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 9:33:27 AM

Will this PC be able to run GTA IV, Battlefield 3,4, Crysis 2,3 on medium settings (Resolution: 1280x1024) smoothly after the GTX750 1GB upgrade?
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 9:35:17 AM

Khaleal said:

Let's say 120$. I found that ASUS GTX750-PHOC-1GD5 power consumption is 75W max


I'd advise you to go for a non-overclocked card. The ASUS card is a good choice, but it's a OC card, which means a pre-overclocked card, which will increase power consumption. You're going to be on the edge with this upgrade, and so you want to keep the power consumption low.
Khaleal said:

(And according the nvidia website the minimum psu for the gtx750ti is 300w) so I don't have to upgrade the psu.


Not really true.
The power supply wattage is not a perfect indicator. Current is more important than wattage.
The GPU runs at a voltage of 12 V and so we need to look at the current provided by the 12V rail of the power supply. The 750Ti is a 55W card(say 60W max) so it needs 5A from the 12V rail. Adding the CPU and small other components such as fans, you'll need 15-20A on the 12V rail in general.
That's why tell which model your power supply is.
Best way, take a picture of your power supply sticker and post it here.
Khaleal said:
Also this card from asus has a VGA connector so I won't have to upgrade the monitor.

It's not really a problem if you don't have a VGA card. If you have a DVI-I port on your card like this one:
http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/dual-dvi.jpg
you'll be able to use a DVI-to-VGA adapter to be able to connect to a VGA monitor cable. Doesn't work for HDMI or DVI-D though.
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 9:43:02 AM

Khaleal said:
Will this PC be able to run GTA IV, Battlefield 3,4, Crysis 2,3 on medium settings (Resolution: 1280x1024) smoothly after the GTX750 1GB upgrade?


GTAIV: depends on what you consider playable. I personally get 8-13FPS with my processor and card, and you should get same results. The GTX650 is not a bottleneck.
That game has very poor CPU optimization. Would have helped greatly if you even had the core 2 quads, but the 945GC does not support them. In fact, it doesn't support anything above Core 2 duo e4700.

Crysis 2: You'll get around 40 FPS with that one. I have Crysis 1, and 650 is a bottleneck at highest settings. However, Crysis 2 promises better performance on the same hardware.

Crysis 3: No.

Battlefield 3: Maybe.
Battlefield 4: Definitely not.
Ankur Jyoti said:

Bad upgrade suggestion????? I trying to give a economic solution as possible. A high end system needs high end wallet too.

The last component a person should cheap out on is the power supply. Cheap power supplies fail often, and take other components with them.
I personally spent $50 on a new PSU before getting a new GPU, and I had to wait 3 months to get the $120 to buy the GPU. I don't regret my decision one bit.
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 9:43:52 AM

I'd urge people to edit out unnecessary quotes from their posts, they make the thread difficult to read.
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 10:06:20 AM

cst1992 said:
Khaleal said:
Will this PC be able to run GTA IV, Battlefield 3,4, Crysis 2,3 on medium settings (Resolution: 1280x1024) smoothly after the GTX750 1GB upgrade?


GTAIV: depends on what you consider playable. I personally get 8-13FPS with my processor and card, and you should get same results. The GTX650 is not a bottleneck.
That game has very poor CPU optimization. Would have helped greatly if you even had the core 2 quads, but the 945GC does not support them. In fact, it doesn't support anything above Core 2 duo e4700.

Crysis 2: You'll get around 40 FPS with that one. I have Crysis 1, and 650 is a bottleneck at highest settings. However, Crysis 2 promises better performance on the same hardware.

Crysis 3: No.

Battlefield 3: Maybe.
Battlefield 4: Definitely not.
Ankur Jyoti said:

Bad upgrade suggestion????? I trying to give a economic solution as possible. A high end system needs high end wallet too.

The last component a person should cheap out on is the power supply. Cheap power supplies fail often, and take other components with them.
I personally spent $50 on a new PSU before getting a new GPU, and I had to wait 3 months to get the $120 to buy the GPU. I don't regret my decision one bit.


What are your system specs?
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a b U Graphics card
March 16, 2014 10:13:27 AM

e4600, Acer e945GCZ, 2 GB RAM,Gainward GTX650, corsair CX430 PSU, Hitachi 160GB HDD, Kingston 60GB SSD and 24x dvd writer.
If you get yourself to upgrade your power supply, get the cx430. It's the cheapest good quality power supply you'll be able to find, and it's around $45.
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a b U Graphics card
March 17, 2014 3:17:17 AM

cst1992 said:
e4600, Acer e945GCZ, 2 GB RAM,Gainward GTX650, corsair CX430 PSU, Hitachi 160GB HDD, Kingston 60GB SSD and 24x dvd writer.
If you get yourself to upgrade your power supply, get the cx430. It's the cheapest good quality power supply you'll be able to find, and it's around $45.

Mine is a 2007 Lenovo 3000 J200 9691 34G that was later upgraded to E4600 and 2GB of RAM. Intel 945GC is pain in the ass! It won't allow me to upgrade the CPU to Core2Quad or at least to a better Core2Duo processor.. And it limits the memory to 2GB.. It won't either allow me to OC the E4600.. It's almost a dead system..
BTW, It's strange that it won't run Battlefield 4.. I've got it running smoothly (Low settings and 1366x768) on my HP Pavilion laptop (Core i5-560M 2.67GHZ (3.2GHZ with TB), 8GB 1333MHZ DDR3, 512GB SANDISK X210 SSD, ATI HD 5470 512MB).. It was more than playable..
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a b U Graphics card
March 17, 2014 5:51:06 AM

BF4 is one of the if not 'the' - CPU intensive games. No way it'll run on a dual core processor like ours.
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a b U Graphics card
March 17, 2014 8:01:15 AM

cst1992 said:

Best way, take a picture of your power supply sticker and post it here.


I've got a picture of the PSU

I'd be glade if you take a look..
BTW, I was surprised to find that it has a 6 pin PCI-E cable..
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a b U Graphics card
March 17, 2014 11:05:46 AM

18A at 12V.
You could go for a 50W card max.
I don't know why they'd include a PCI-E cable; that cable is meant to allow TDP of 75-150W. No way your power supply allows that much to be drawn.
The processor draws 65 W for itself. That leaves 151W. Other components such as fans, hard drives, lights would easily draw 70-80W. You could put a stock 750 in there, but not the OC version. That too, however, is at the edge.
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a b U Graphics card
March 17, 2014 1:02:56 PM

cst1992 said:
18A at 12V.
You could go for a 50W card max.
I don't know why they'd include a PCI-E cable; that cable is meant to allow TDP of 75-150W. No way your power supply allows that much to be drawn.
The processor draws 65 W for itself. That leaves 151W. Other components such as fans, hard drives, lights would easily draw 70-80W. You could put a stock 750 in there, but not the OC version. That too, however, is at the edge.

Correct me if I'm wrong.. The CPU takes 65W from the 280W leaving about 215W for other components.. fans, hard drives, memory, etc.. takes about 80W leaving 135W.. the GTX750 takes 65W leaving about 70W..
If I'm left with 70W extra power why shouldn't I go with the OC version which takes only 10W more?
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a b U Graphics card
March 18, 2014 12:50:58 AM

Yes, you're wrong. You're assuming the wattage of the power supply on the +12V rail which is not correct. The 280W is the total power of the 5 rails: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, +5Vsb, and -12V.
The wattage available for the +12V rail is not 280W but 216W as it's 18A. (18x12 = 216)
So that makes our calculation 65W + 55W + 80W = 200W.

Another thing is that you're not supposed to push your power supply right to the limit.
The values I've given you are theoretical. The minor components may require more power depending on what you have in your system.
Ah, since you have almost the same system as mine, I can say this:

There is a PSU calculator on the web(or was, the site doesn't load anymore) known as extreme power supply calculator. It listed the rough estimate of the power supply you'll need if you're planning to get one. I put my system in without the GPU and it said 236W.

That is without the GPU. With a 650Ti GPU which takes 110W power for itself, it recommended the wattage as 364W. That's 131W more than without GPU.
PSU wattage decreases with time and usage, and since you have an old system and if this power supply is its original one, you should not assume full wattage.

I'm still saying this, go for the stock one. It's already pretty powerful, and you can always overclock it yourself if you feel like it.
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a b U Graphics card
March 18, 2014 4:35:37 AM

cst1992 said:
Yes, you're wrong. You're assuming the wattage of the power supply on the +12V rail which is not correct. The 280W is the total power of the 5 rails: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, +5Vsb, and -12V.
The wattage available for the +12V rail is not 280W but 216W as it's 18A. (18x12 = 216)
So that makes our calculation 65W + 55W + 80W = 200W.

Another thing is that you're not supposed to push your power supply right to the limit.
The values I've given you are theoretical. The minor components may require more power depending on what you have in your system.
Ah, since you have almost the same system as mine, I can say this:

There is a PSU calculator on the web(or was, the site doesn't load anymore) known as extreme power supply calculator. It listed the rough estimate of the power supply you'll need if you're planning to get one. I put my system in without the GPU and it said 236W.

That is without the GPU. With a 650Ti GPU which takes 110W power for itself, it recommended the wattage as 364W. That's 131W more than without GPU.
PSU wattage decreases with time and usage, and since you have an old system and if this power supply is its original one, you should not assume full wattage.

I'm still saying this, go for the stock one. It's already pretty powerful, and you can always overclock it yourself if you feel like it.


Thank you for your reply.
I ended up going for an used AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 for 50$ from Amazon (core clock: 880MHZ and memory clock: 5000MHZ) . It's a 55W TDP card and many guys were reporting to run it smoothly with their 280-300W stock PSUs without having to upgrade it..
If we want to compare it to nVidia card, Well.. it's equivalent to the GTX650 and way better than the GT640 that I was trying to upgrade to..
It's my first AMD desktop graphics card.. We'll see.. Anyway, 50$ is not a huge investment.. If I run into power issues I'll see if I can get a 450W Zalman PSU to replace the current one.
BTW, extreme power supply calculator is loading fine.. just use Internet Explorer..
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a b U Graphics card
March 18, 2014 7:44:40 AM

Hmm. The 7750 is a good card, actually the best one in terms of performance/watt before the 750Ti came along.
It's slightly slower than the GTX650, but it's good enough for this system.
Let me know how it goes.. I was also suggested a 7750 but I decided to stick to NVidia, especially since I'd just gotten a new power supply(as the old one had a broken fan).
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a b U Graphics card
March 30, 2014 10:14:45 AM

Update: I got my HD 7750 today.
When I replace my old 9400GT with the new HD 7750 I get no output on the screen although the computer is booting normally (I can hear Windows sounds).. I can see the fan is working on the graphics card.. What could be the problem?
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a b U Graphics card
March 30, 2014 11:08:50 AM

If windows is booting normally, it may happen you haven't connected the cable properly.
Have you installed any drivers? Uninstalled old drivers?
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a b U Graphics card
March 30, 2014 11:13:43 AM

I have uninstalled previous drivers (nvidia drivers). I don't get any output at all (Including BIOS POST operations).. No beeps at all..
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a b U Graphics card
April 1, 2014 8:50:35 AM

cst1992 said:
If windows is booting normally, it may happen you haven't connected the cable properly.
Have you installed any drivers? Uninstalled old drivers?


If I switch my monitor cable to integrated graphics (while HD 7750 is still connected) I am able to get output through the integrated graphics..
I made sure the BIOS is set to PEG/PCI.. No success to have output through the dedicated graphics card.. your help is appreciated..
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a b U Graphics card
April 1, 2014 10:09:28 AM

Any other card works? Integrated graphics shouldn't work if the graphics card is inserted.
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a b U Graphics card
April 1, 2014 10:12:47 AM

cst1992 said:
Any other card works? Integrated graphics shouldn't work if the graphics card is inserted.


Yes. My previous Nvidia 9400GT is working perfectly.. I tested the integrated graphics thing
I connected my old 9400GT and then switched to the integrated graphics and it didn't work.
I connected my new HD 7750 and then switched to the integrated graphics and it works (integrated graphics).

What could be causing this?
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a b U Graphics card
April 2, 2014 2:16:04 PM

cst1992 said:
Any other card works? Integrated graphics shouldn't work if the graphics card is inserted.


I've tested this card in another system and it worked well! What could be causing this issue? Motherboard or PSU or any other component?
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April 22, 2014 3:17:57 PM

Khaleal said:
cst1992 said:
Any other card works? Integrated graphics shouldn't work if the graphics card is inserted.


I've tested this card in another system and it worked well! What could be causing this issue? Motherboard or PSU or any other component?


Slow processor - Quad Core necessary
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