Which best graphics card for Q57 motherboard?

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lufe

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Ok, so I have a new computer (not bought by me, no money to do that), a mini-tower with a Q57 motherboard. I know it's not the ideal motherboard for gaming, but I would like to know which is the best card possible that would fit. The idea was to play the latest games (or at least some of them), with the best performance possible, giving the constraints that exist with such a configuration. The case has the Radeon HD 6450 already, but it's not that good.

I don't mind which card manufacturer it is, only that it's a good gaming card, the best possible.

Full specs of the machine are here:

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA2-0706EEE&doctype=data%20sheet&doclang=EN_GB&searchquery=&cc=ch&lc=de

Thanks

P.S: I changed the SFF I had before for this, the SFF was very limited to expand to better graphics cards.
 
flyinfinni

flyinfinni

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Nvm- thought it was the low-profile one for a minute there sorry! Your best bet is probably the 5670 since we don't know for sure what the PSU is. If you have enough PSU power (350-400W) you can probably go up to a 5750, but I wouldn't go above that for SURE without getting a better PSU.
 
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RazberyBandit

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(See EDIT at bottom) The link is broken. It redirects me right back to this page.

If this system is inside a slim-line case (as most HP's are) which requires a low-profile card, then your upgrade options are limited. They're further limited by your Power Supply.

If it's slim-line, I'm afraid your only true upgrade options (from your HD4650) are an ATI HD5570 OR a Low-Profile version of the 9600GT. However, I'd not recommend using a 9600GT in a system with a PSU under 250W.

Here are 2 9600GT low-profile cards from Newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%20106792522%201067937365%201419531894&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False

Sparkle makes a 9800GT low-profile card, but it would seriously stress a 250W PSU. With this one, 300W or more would be a minimum. (My opinion of course.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187061

And of course, the HD5570 options:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+106793261+1067955283+1068409614&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&Subcategory=48&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=
The Gigabyte and PowerColor "Go Green" cards are full-size, so exclude them.

Once again, all these cards are low-profile form factor for slim-line cases. If in fact your case is full-sized, your options grow almost exponentially. But, I remind you, we need the PSU's wattage output and 12V amperage rating to recommend any card with true confidence that your system can handle it.

EDIT: Got the link to work, finally. Dunno why it just bounced me right back to this page. Anyway. It would seem since you have an HD4650, you have the mid-tower version which accepts full-size cards. That's going to give you far more options. However, the simple fact remains that even after reading the specs, the PSU's specs don't reveal it's power output ratings at all.

So, as I said before, "we need the PSU's wattage output and 12V amperage rating to recommend any card with true confidence that your system can handle it."
 
flyinfinni

flyinfinni

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Its a mini-tower, not a slimline, so its not low-profile. Also- if you try to open in in a new tab, it directs you back here for some reason, but if I just click and open it, it opens a PDF just fine for me.
 
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RazberyBandit

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Thanks rolli.

I'm inclined to believe it could possibly support up to a 5770, and definitely a 5750. Neither one is power-hungry at all, and this PSU's description makes it sound as though it's very high quality. I suppose support for 5700-series cards would be more dependent upon which CPU and additional components are chosen, though.
 
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lufe

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Many many thanks to you all :)

I'm going to check what is the PSU and post it here, but I believe it would be the 320W that was stated by rolli. Anyway, I would like to use the 5770 that you talked about. Let me just check and repost.

Thanks again to all for the considerations. Very enlightening!
 
flyinfinni

flyinfinni

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The 5750 only BARELY needs the external connector to power it at high loads. The 5770 uses that connector more, but it still is well within a single power connector, and should be ok with a decent 320W PSU, as long as there's not tons of HDDs and extra power pulling add-ins or tons of OCing.
 
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RazberyBandit

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The new 690-II is such an improvement, though... I've had my 690 for over 2 years, and I agree, it's nice. But damn the new one is so much nicer! Anything they could have improved was improved.
 
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lufe

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Anyway: I couldn't check the power of the unit, but I do believe it's 320W. Couldn't open the case though. Considering it's a 320W (I will check it later),

The computer is a i5 processor, there's only 1 disk on it, and based on this link http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5770-hd5750_5.html from RazberyBandit I guess it's pretty much believable that the 5770 can be used.

So I'm trying to buy one on ebay: ASUSTeK COMPUTER ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB EAH5770 and will be enjoying it (hopefully) as soon as I do check that it's 320W. Not so easy to check it, though, I couldn't find anything written on the PSU which would give how much watts it takes.

Again, thanks for all the help and no worries about the hijack :D
 
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lufe

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I'll sure post it when I get the card and install it. May take a while though since I'm in Switzerland and the card comes from the USA. But I'll surely post to let you guys know.
 
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