Graphics card for hp p6404y? Help please :)

[ladybastilla]

Hello!

A couple months ago my boyfriend bought a HP Pavillion desktop, model #p6404y. It appears to be able to have a graphics card installed since it does have a pci-e x16 slot. We were wondering whether a gtx 460 would fit? We have upgraded the power supply but do not want to buy a card and end up with complications. Thanks so much for your time!

 

[decode]

I'd say it should be able to fit most graphics cards, However it would be better if you told me what your new PSU name/model number was and your budget range, The games you play and the resolutions you play at.

 

[wa1]

We need more info here, just like decode said above...

 

[Helltech]

It might be safe to assume ladybastilla bought a good enough PSU judging on her previous posts, if so the GTX 460 should work nicely. Its a pretty hassle free card, its short, doesn't generate much heat, doesn't suck a lot of power, and is pretty powerful itself.

Just to be safe as other have said, what PSU did you buy?

 

[ladybastilla]

Apparently he did not get one yet. (I thought he had but my information was mixed up.) I intend to recommend that he get this combo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.483455

that has a Corsair hx 650w psu and a 1gb version of the gtx 460. Sorry for the lack of information; hurt my wrist last weekend and typing is still a little painful.

His budget for PSU + GPU is roughly $300 so this seems like his best bet from what I can gather. His motherboard does not support SLI and the only things currently plugged in are basic stuff like HDD, fans, etc. so I doubt he is consuming a ton of power.

I know that he does prefer to play at higher resolutions then I do. Not sure whether his current monitor does 1080p or not since he got it a couple years ago.

He is setting up his PC to play Final Fantasy XIV and the GTX 460 is actually the graphics card in Square Enix's recommended specs. If anyone knows of a better deal we'd love to hear it. Glad someone did mention the PSU because he had dropped a 400w one from an older pc in and I had to break it to him that that would not be safe.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[chuckberg]

Ok, we think we have solved the problem!!! We had run into this issues with my friends machine, and even with a new 850 power supply upgrade the issue appears to be with current Nvidia cards. Under CPUReview website they show the max wattage draw of each graphics chip. It looks like the Nvidia GTX 460 was pulling 160 watts and the next card we tried, the Nvidia GTX 470 was pulling 170 maximum watts. We tried and tried and couldn't get the system to work. Now, several months later, we gave it another try and used a Geforce 9700 GS PCI-E card and it worked just fine. The card wasn't fast enough, but it only had a max current draw of 82 watts. That got us to thinking it was the fact that the 9700 GS uses DDR3, and the newer Nvidia cards use DDR5, but after checking we found that had nothing to do with the problem. Next we dove into the voltage issue and grabbed a new ATI Radeon HD 5450 which also ran fine and had a maximum power draw of 20 watts. The card was underpowered for 3D graphics so we then jumped up to an ATI Radeon HD 6770 and again it worked just fine at 108 watts. Keep in mind we had returned all of our previous gear, but we did have a Thermaltake 500 watt PSU available so we had already put that in the machine as we thought the stock 300 watt PSU was a no-name, underpowered unit. So far he has played several games at high frame rates with no issues. Our final thought is that the Pegatron m2n78-la motherboard doesn't like the power draws of the newer Nvidia cards. Hopefully this helps you folks!! Wooohoo!! Ok, it's game time!!