Upgradeing a M2N78-LA

[catchtwenty2]

I am trying to find out what is the best gaming graphics card I can get for the Pegatron M2N78-LA mobo. I currently am running a ATI Radeon HD 4350 and I know from experience that it is not a very good card when it comes to running games on anything but low or none settings. So my question is, what card series can I actually put into the motherboard? Price is not an issue. I also know that i am going to need to get a new power supply. It is 250watt max. The card should be aimed at getting me to higher detail levels in game. Also, is there anyway for me to upgrade the processor? I know very little about computers. I've been doing a lot of research but I'm stuck on a few spots. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Added motherboard ID in actual thread.

 

[mosox]

It's that one?
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=ca&lc=en&docname=c01635734

What's your CPU/RAM?

 

[catchtwenty2]

I have a AMD Antholon II x2 15 with 6 GB of RAM. I have a Nvidia Nforce 720a chipset. The model of the mobo listed from CPUID is called violet but the M2N78-LA is printed on the board.

It's that one?
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc [...] =c01635734 Yes that is it.

 

[catchtwenty2]

That's a pretty sweet page. I'm glad you showed me that. Guess I'm going to have to do some better research before I go asking any more questions. Also though, its the same board but not the same chips or much of anything else from the list on the site. I'm going to see if I can find the manufacturing date and see how old it is and if that might be the reason why.

 

[mosox]

You can get a hd 5670 which is way faster and it should run on your PSU (it consumes only 40 watts more) but you should get a new PSU and a better card if you play at bigger resolutions, what's your monitor's resolution?

http://www.hwcompare.com/141/radeon-hd-4350-vs-radeon-hd-5670/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102871&cm_re=hd_5670-_-14-102-871-_-Product


For 1680x1050, a HD 5770/6770 would be nice and for 1920x1080 a HD 6850. Both will require a new PSU (think $55-65 for the PSU).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030&cm_re=antec_neo_eco-_-17-371-030-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102941&cm_re=hd_6770-_-14-102-941-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150515&cm_re=hd_6850-_-14-150-515-_-Product

 

[catchtwenty2]

I run a native 1920 X 1080. Now that I've learned so much more then I knew before, about computers in general. I can finally buy a new graphics card. Think I'm going to upgrade the processor too now that I know what I actually have. A Radeon HD 6970 looks pretty good to me. I'll continue my research. Thanks for the great responses.

 

[catchtwenty2]

Best answer selected by catchtwenty2.

 

[mosox]

A HD 6970 will be seriously bottlenecked by that CPU, so first make sure that your board has support for a Phenom II X4. Better ask in here:
http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact_us.html

 

[catchtwenty2]

It appears that the best processor I can get is a Phenom x4 9850 95 watt and most of the prices I've seen aren't even worth it. Think I'll just wait and build my own.

 

[mosox]

A new mobo/CPU/RAM will cost you some $300 but you can get a PSU and a video card now (6850/6870) and use your current CPU. Then you will reuse the video card and the PSU in your next rig.

 

[zzfaugc]

I have the same motherboard and I'm trying to figure out what I can physically fit for a new graphics card. I already own an XFX Radeon 5570 HD 1 GB DDR3 128 bit PCI Express 2.0 card.
I'd like to run something in the 6000 HD series with 2 GB DDR5, but I'm trying to get the measurements correct.
I already have an upgraded power supply (Antec 650W) and the Phenom II X4 910 processor.
Any ideas?