How would this graphics card run with my computer.....

[sgtsn1per]

Ok so at the moment i have a HP Pavilion Elite m9370a, it was ment for dvd usage and etc when i didnt relize, i thought it was for gaming......
So the hardware i have at the moment is:

This is a website with all my computers specs/information please go to it and get the information required to answer my questions in detail

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01497975&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3758897&lang=en

Intel core 2 quad Q6600
Nvidia GeForce 9300GE
2048MB DDR2 Ram
500GB 3GB Hard Drive
Blu-ray disc/HD DVD reader/lightscribe tech etc
And i have been told that i have a 300w power supply im not to sure on that one
Stock fan
Microsoft vista home premium/soon to upgrade to windows 7 ultimate

My tower dimensions are:
38cm tall (height)
40cm long (width)

My question is I would like to upgrade my graphics card to play play new games such as mw2 crysis and you get the point
But i dont know what the best graphics card i should get, i dont want to upgrade my power supply or anything els but my graphics card
so please tell me what graphics card i should get and why, also will it be good with my quad core?? thankyou very much in advance

 

[area61]

whats your monitor resolution?

 

[bravo95]

The way you can check your power supply is by opening up the case and looking for a a box in some terms. Some times the box is black grey or what ever color. ( It stands out nicely ) Know once you located the - Box - or power supply look for a sticker. You should see something like this...

First make sure that the requirement wattage for the card is met to your power supply. Say if you were looking at a card with a recommended power supply of 400 Watts you would look at the sticker. ( lets look at this one )

This one is easy to read, this says Total Power : 600 Watts. But we only need some were around 400 so we're ok for that one.

Now to get more along the 12 volt rails here's a link to my card and go to system requirements to find the rail.
http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/graphiccards/GTSseries/250GTS.aspx#4

NVIDIA MINIMUM POWER SUPPLY REQUIREMENTS

* Minimum 400W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current rating of 26A)
* One 6-pin supplementary power connector

* I'll explain the 6-pin a little latter on *


Now this sticker has 2 rails of voltage if im right, one says +12V1 : +12V2.
You then want to see the current that each rail carries - 19A - Normally people just add them together to get a 38A rail. The sticker is more acurate then my answer so that's what we'll go off of for know. We need a 12V rail on a rating of 26A, the sticker says 35A so we pass that.

6-pin power connector is for more high end graphics cards like this one. Some cards require a bit more power so they hook up straight to the PSU ( power supply ) The 6 pin connector should look like this.

If your power supply doesn't come with on of these cables, its all right mainly the card will. But if your power supply doesn't have one of these cables there must be a reason why? So i wouldn't advice you useing the cable that they gave you if your psu doesn't have one already.

Make sure the room of the graphics card fits inside of your machine and also make sure the you have a PCIE slot is the right size for your graphics card. The size slot for the graphics card is normally on the specifications page or requirements. most cards today require a PCIE slot of x16 2.0. Don't worry about the 2.0, if you bought your computer 2 years ago your ok.

Make sure that your cpu isn't going to bottle neck your graphics card, im not sure why im saying this im having a similar problem like this. Just make your your cpu meets the gpu's requirement.

 

[wolfram23]

IMO you'll want to double your RAM (unless you're not on a 64bit OS) and for a GPU that will run without a PSU upgrade, the absolute best you can do is one that doesn't require a 6pin, I know the lower end GT 2xx series are like that (240 for certain, maybe the 250 and 260 as well but I don't know)
However, I just helped my friend upgrade his HP PC for gaming, he spent only about $260 (minus a $20 or $30 mail in rebate) for a 500W PSU and an HD 5770. Really that's not bad.

 

[sgtsn1per]

whats your monitor resolution?

1680-1050

 

[sgtsn1per]

The way you can check your power supply is by opening up the case and looking for a a box in some terms. Some times the box is black grey or what ever color. ( It stands out nicely ) Know once you located the - Box - or power supply look for a sticker. You should see something like this...
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/17-182-032-15.jpg


First make sure that the requirement wattage for the card is met to your power supply. Say if you were looking at a card with a recommended power supply of 400 Watts you would look at the sticker. ( lets look at this one )

This one is easy to read, this says Total Power : 600 Watts. But we only need some were around 400 so we're ok for that one.

Now to get more along the 12 volt rails here's a link to my card and go to system requirements to find the rail.
http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/graphiccards/GTSseries/250GTS.aspx#4

NVIDIA MINIMUM POWER SUPPLY REQUIREMENTS

* Minimum 400W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current rating of 26A)
* One 6-pin supplementary power connector

* I'll explain the 6-pin a little latter on *


Now this sticker has 2 rails of voltage if im right, one says +12V1 : +12V2.
You then want to see the current that each rail carries - 19A - Normally people just add them together to get a 38A rail. The sticker is more acurate then my answer so that's what we'll go off of for know. We need a 12V rail on a rating of 26A, the sticker says 35A so we pass that.

6-pin power connector is for more high end graphics cards like this one. Some cards require a bit more power so they hook up straight to the PSU ( power supply ) The 6 pin connector should look like this.
http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/pcie6.jpg

If your power supply doesn't come with on of these cables, its all right mainly the card will. But if your power supply doesn't have one of these cables there must be a reason why? So i wouldn't advice you useing the cable that they gave you if your psu doesn't have one already.

Make sure the room of the graphics card fits inside of your machine and also make sure the you have a PCIE slot is the right size for your graphics card. The size slot for the graphics card is normally on the specifications page or requirements. most cards today require a PCIE slot of x16 2.0. Don't worry about the 2.0, if you bought your computer 2 years ago your ok.

http://zone.ni.com/cms/images/devzone/tut/a/c05afe69124.gif

Make sure that your cpu isn't going to bottle neck your graphics card, im not sure why im saying this im having a similar problem like this. Just make your your cpu meets the gpu's requirement.

Thanks for the extremly detailed comment, taught me a fair bit mmhmm so i have been recomended a ati 5670 will this do right or.....?

 

[sgtsn1per]

IMO you'll want to double your RAM (unless you're not on a 64bit OS) and for a GPU that will run without a PSU upgrade, the absolute best you can do is one that doesn't require a 6pin, I know the lower end GT 2xx series are like that (240 for certain, maybe the 250 and 260 as well but I don't know)
However, I just helped my friend upgrade his HP PC for gaming, he spent only about $260 (minus a $20 or $30 mail in rebate) for a 500W PSU and an HD 5770. Really that's not bad.

Yeah sorry left out a bit of info there, im running 32 bit vista home prem with 2gb ddr 2 ram, i was told an ati 5670 would best suit my current setup is that correct or anything better then that or....??

 

[bravo95]

i'll take a look at the card when i come home a little latter. ( going out to eat )

 

[wa1]

What you need is a low profile card, like your GeForce 9300 GE.
Since you're not changing the 300W PSU then HD5670 2.0 low profile version would be good...

 

[sgtsn1per]

thanks heaps everyone, i would like to give you all best answers so since i cant do that.....

 

[bravo95]

I would leave it blank if you truely feel that way, that's just what i would do. I would also put everyone helped here.

 

[sgtsn1per]

I would leave it blank if you truely feel that way, that's just what i would do. I would also put everyone helped here.

yeah, so you think the 5670 would do well with my current setup?

 

[bravo95]

Just make sure you have the following.



XFX Radeon HD 5670 System Requirements

* PCI Express compliant motherboard with one X16 graphics slot
* 400 Watt or greater power supply recommended (500 Watt for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)
* Certified power supplies are recommended.
* Minimum 1GB of system memor

Also i'm looking at the card know and im seeing a few things that are questionable to me. I'm just going to pick the strongest game that is in your list there "Crysis".

This was posted Jan 14, 2010. This is a recent post on crysis bench mark for your card. Just a tip, the human eye can not detect over 62 FPS unless if your me you can tell what your playing on. They try to lock games at 62 fps so you maintane a smooth game play experience and no decrees in game play, like gears of war uses the unreal engine.

BENCH MARK CRYSIS ATI 5670
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5670,2533-8.html

Just be seeing this review i dont think its a good idea.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/01/14/ati-radeon-hd-5670-review/7

I mean if you want to play on low you could i guess but i wouldn't get that card. I would look for something that has little more umf.

Theres not to much ATI cards with a low power consumption, but have you ever tried looking at Nvidia?

If you really think thats the card you do want, i can't stop you on buying it but you can always take advice. Just try looking at a little bit of NVIDIA's cards. I have a Gts 250 and thats the best card i ever owned.

 

[sgtsn1per]

Just make sure you have the following.



XFX Radeon HD 5670 System Requirements

* PCI Express compliant motherboard with one X16 graphics slot
* 400 Watt or greater power supply recommended (500 Watt for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)
* Certified power supplies are recommended.
* Minimum 1GB of system memor

Also i'm looking at the card know and im seeing a few things that are questionable to me. I'm just going to pick the strongest game that is in your list there "Crysis".

This was posted Jan 14, 2010. This is a recent post on crysis bench mark for your card. Just a tip, the human eye can not detect over 62 FPS unless if your me you can tell what your playing on. They try to lock games at 62 fps so you maintane a smooth game play experience and no decrees in game play, like gears of war uses the unreal engine.

BENCH MARK CRYSIS ATI 5670
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5670,2533-8.html

Just be seeing this review i dont think its a good idea.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/01/14/ati-radeon-hd-5670-review/7

I mean if you want to play on low you could i guess but i wouldn't get that card. I would look for something that has little more umf.

Theres not to much ATI cards with a low power consumption, but have you ever tried looking at Nvidia?

If you really think thats the card you do want, i can't stop you on buying it but you can always take advice. Just try looking at a little bit of NVIDIA's cards. I have a Gts 250 and thats the best card i ever owned.

Yeah im all for nvidia cards, infact i dont care which brand i get as long as i can use it with my computer, run games with good fps and around high settings at 1680-1050 or a bit lower.

Here is a link to all (most) of my computers hardware please go to it and get the info u need to advise me or somthing

SYSTEM SPEC WEBSITE: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01497975&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3758897



MOTHERBOARD SPEC WEBSITE: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01357119&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3758897

 

[bravo95]

For starters you are going to need a new psu with out a doubt if you want to be playing extreme games like crysis. I'm going to need you to contact Hp and see if you can upgrade your power supply for your model. If you can tell me the dimensions of your psu and tell me what they have in stock for Wattage. If Hp says you can upgrade give me the dimensions of your psu and we will TRY to find a psu that fits your case. Thats all ways hard to do with pre built computers.

 

[sgtsn1per]

For starters you are going to need a new psu with out a doubt if you want to be playing extreme games like crysis. I'm going to need you to contact Hp and see if you can upgrade your power supply for your model. If you can tell me the dimensions of your psu and tell me what they have in stock for Wattage. If Hp says you can upgrade give me the dimensions of your psu and we will TRY to find a psu that fits your case. Thats all ways hard to do with pre built computers.

yeah, i might contact them later when i get home otherwise i might just get the best graphics card i can with the hardware i have at the moment

 

[bravo95]

With the hard ware you do have at the moment is fine. Your cpu checks out, wouldn't hurt for another gig (stick) of ram. That checks out though, its just your video card. The main problem here is your psu. With out one that's 450W or above, there's not much you can get that's worth the money.

 

[sgtsn1per]

oh ok so an ati 5670 wouldnt be alright

 

[bravo95]

Probably not. If you would like to play crysis on medium or at least try to. Your going to be having a tough time on all low settings.

 

[sgtsn1per]

Probably not. If you would like to play crysis on medium or at least try to. Your going to be having a tough time on all low settings.

i can play crysis on all low settings with around 20 frames with my current setup now

 

[bravo95]

I was looking at the card more last night. it does seem like a decent gaming card for a budget. You will be able to play some newer games out today also like call of duty modern war fare 2.

If i had to get that card with that rig, i would. I say get it!

 

[sgtsn1per]

I was looking at the card more last night. it does seem like a decent gaming card for a budget. You will be able to play some newer games out today also like call of duty modern war fare 2.

If i had to get that card with that rig, i would. I say get it!

Thanks heaps

 

[D3LTA09]

One extra tip, save yourself some money and dont bother with 7 ultimate, unless you need bitlocker, more than 16gbs of ram or xp virtual machine (the latter 2 you can get with 7 pro) then just get 7 home premium. I know it doesnt sound as fancy or cool as ULTIMATE but if you dont need the few extra features its a complete waste of money.

 

[sgtsn1per]

One extra tip, save yourself some money and dont bother with 7 ultimate, unless you need bitlocker, more than 16gbs of ram or xp virtual machine (the latter 2 you can get with 7 pro) then just get 7 home premium. I know it doesnt sound as fancy or cool as ULTIMATE but if you dont need the few extra features its a complete waste of money.

Ok good advice thanks mate

 

[D3LTA09]

no prob glad I could help!