Looking to upgrade. Don't know if everything will work together.

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Puffballx

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Jul 9, 2014
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I am looking to buy a new sound card and a new video card for my computer. I am looking at two different options for my video card right now. 1. Geforce GTX 760 if my current power supply is sufficient or 2. Geforce GTX 660 because i know that my power supply is good enough. So would a 475W power supply be enough, SAFELY, to run a 760 even though it recommends a 500W?
Second, I am looking at a couple different options for my sound card:

I don't really want to spend $75 on a sound card so if one of the other two works well I would prefer those, or if there is a better one that you know about for less than ~$50 that would be great too. help here would be great.
The purpose of these is to be able to play games on max settings. I dont generally play graphic intensive games but for games like Wildstar i have to turn my settings down to low/medium to be able to run smoothly. Thank you in advance!!!
Current specs for my comp:
CPU: Intel Xeon W3565
RAM: 8gb (4x2gb)
PSU: 475W delta electronics
GPU: NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Motherboard: HP Z400 motherboard, Intel X58/ICH10R Chipset, LGA 1366
on board audio (dont know what that is)
 
Solution
jimmyjammywho
To be honest when I tried to install my 650 ti i had a generic 500 watt psu but it wouldn't run because i only had about 18 amps on the 12v rail which is where the gpu takes its power from and the 650ti needs at least 22amps so i ended cheaping out and bought a 750w generic power supply which had enough amperage (just) so since you have a 475 watt budget power supply i would say you will need a new power supply, if you get something like a evga 500 watt because they are cheap and very good quality and could run even the 760 with ease. although you can try the 660 with your power supply but i doubt it would work when the gpu needs more juice yet alone just booting.
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junkeymonkey

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Nov 11, 2013
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heres the deal on this

some models of store bought computers [dell.hp,acer,ect..] may come with a ''locked or fixed'' bios and may not allow you to change certain hardware as a video card.. this is done to protect them from undue warranty claims and refunds .this is not done to hurt you but to protect them. you really need to see if that upgrade has been proven to work in your model first before you invest money in it .. there are a lot of these threads here at toms to look at some models will allow upgrades and some dont.. and a lot of guys here say ya ya ya when is really no no no...it would be sad you spent $200 on a card that wount post after you installed it as most find out. then get told its your psu and you spend more and end up right back where you are now, but its up to you good luck..


you got to know the the boards in these computers are not like the ones we use to do custom builds witch are open to upgrading with in the boards compatibly . the bios is custom made for there design and just for the parts they authorize to be used on there computers there only guaranteed to work as is out of the box as you bought it ,..

now you may be good in seeing it came with that card from hp..

but you look at this review and see statements like this in it you got to wonder ....

Since the Z400 uses its own HP-sourced motherboard [so now its a proprietary board ]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/hp-z400-workstation,2718-10.html
 
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jimmyjammywho

jimmyjammywho

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Jan 1, 2014
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From looking at your system It seems its processor is around the performance of a fx6300 which is a good budget gaming CPU so your motherboard/CPU is good yet nvidia states that you need a 500 watt power supply this only applies if you have a generic power supply yet if you have a reputable brand such as evga then you would be fine. However your power supply looks generic and is under 500 watts, so i would recommend a new power supply if you are thinking of either the 760 or 660 since generic power supplies are ticking time bombs, and if they go they will possibly take the rest of your system as well. otherwise the rest of your system looks good enough and sorry I don't really know alot about sound cards.
 
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Puffballx

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Jul 9, 2014
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Ok, so i figured out that the 760 won't work anyway because it takes 2 6pin connectors and that power supply only has 1 so I am going to have to go with the 660 which has minimum requirements of a 450w psu so I should be fine there as long as what junkeymonkey isnt true. Any idea how to find that out? Now i just need to figure out my best option for a sound card.
 
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jimmyjammywho

jimmyjammywho

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Jan 1, 2014
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To be honest when I tried to install my 650 ti i had a generic 500 watt psu but it wouldn't run because i only had about 18 amps on the 12v rail which is where the gpu takes its power from and the 650ti needs at least 22amps so i ended cheaping out and bought a 750w generic power supply which had enough amperage (just) so since you have a 475 watt budget power supply i would say you will need a new power supply, if you get something like a evga 500 watt because they are cheap and very good quality and could run even the 760 with ease. although you can try the 660 with your power supply but i doubt it would work when the gpu needs more juice yet alone just booting.
 
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junkeymonkey

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seeing that the Quadro FX 1800 card that came on this takes Maximum Power Consumption59 W according to NVidia I do think you may be safe on the pci-e slot to be at its full 75w on that hp board -- most times its the ones that come with out a card or come with a low end oem card built for hp use liek a Radeon HD 8490 and may be also fixed to run at low pci-e power but then you got to wonder if the hp bios will except some out side of hp card .. look at your board then look at a custom board like we get from asus or gigabyte from newegg .. now look at the hp board and see the boards vrm's and all does the hp board eaven look like it can take high power parts and hold up to them ?? and if the high end part works then how long will it last ? its not like you got quality vrm's and sinks to cool them during high stress gaming loads .. remember the hp board is the cheapest oem thing they could get by with and sell it to you

its like this, if a prebuilt was good and easy to upgrade we would not have the need to do custom builds . why spend 1000's to build one up when you could just go get a prebuilt with everything and extra on it for a lot less and then just go put a card in it ??? why?? cause that's not how it works .. as I said there designed to work as is as you bought it and hp did this the cheapest way and fixed things so when it falls short they don't want you to upgrade it thay want you to buy there newest latest better computer .. that's how they make there money , not having you keep fixing it up . your upgrades may work fine then they may not .. all you can do is buy what you want put it in and fire it up if it works your good if it don't then you know better next time
good luck
 
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