Looking for help about low-profile cards.

[Guest]

I bought an Aspire X3810 about five or six months ago and I'd really like to upgrade my video card up from the integrated graphics it came with. The computer is currently the way it came, no upgrades or anything, but I have upgraded the OS from Vista up to Win7.

Price really isn't much of an issue but I'd prefer not to spend above $150ish or so and I'd like to know if I would need to purchase anything to go along with it, ie brackets or a new power supply.

Oh, and for the computer itself: http://tinyurl.com/32xnybm

 

[jabbrun]

Can u give some more info about the pc eg CPU, mobo, RAM ?

 

[Guest]

2.50 gigahertz Intel Pentium Dual-Core
Acer WG43M mobo
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM

 

[infernox_01]

well your power supply is 220w and you do have a pci-e x16 slot.

im using a hd5570 on a 250w power supply, there are people on newegg who say they are using a 5570 on a 220w power supply but im not sure about the risk. you could try the HD5450 which uses less power then the 5570 but its not really a good gaming card but still better then the integrated graphics.

you could get a 300w tfx power supply from newegg which could allow you to get better low profile graphics card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151090

 

[jabbrun]

What kinda games are you gonna be playing & at what resolutions?

 

[Guest]

Thanks inferno, I'll look into that.

No games in specific, really. The only games I play for the time being are League of Legends and lord of the rings online. Maybe fallout 3 or something along the lines of bioshock/dead space/etc. Nothing Crysis-like but came out sometime recently-ish. Don't care too much on the graphics settings, low is always fine by me.

1600x900

 

[infernox_01]

the HD5450 should be ok in those games at the resolution but i would suggest a 5570 or maybe a 5550. a GDDR5 version would be recommended as they give an extra 5-10 fps then the ddr3 version but unfortunately as far as i know they dont come in low profile. both the 5550 and 5570 use around the same amount of power, the 5550 uses 2w less but 2w isnt much.

 

[Guest]

the HD5450 should be ok in those games at the resolution but i would suggest a 5570 or maybe a 5550. a GDDR5 version would be recommended as they give an extra 5-10 fps then the ddr3 version but unfortunately as far as i know they dont come in low profile. both the 5550 and 5570 use around the same amount of power, the 5550 uses 2w less but 2w isnt much.

Yeah, I looked into the 5570 and it seemed to be more or less exactly what I've been looking for. About the power supply though, people on newegg are saying it's 2 SATA instead of 4. >.> How do I find out how many I have?

 

[infernox_01]

how many hard drives do you have installed? they use up sata cables. there are other alternatives, like this rosewill 300w power supply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182207

or this fsp 300w 80+ efficiency power supply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104072

i would recommend an 80+ power supply like the seasonic or the fsp since they are very efficient and will save you money on your electricity bill.

 

[Guest]

Two HDD.

 

[infernox_01]

well the fsp and rosewill both only have 1 sata power connectors, so the seasonic will have to do, although according to 1 reviewer it said that it meant his dvd-rom was not powered. im curious to see how your current power supply powers your current system, like what cables it comes with.

 

[Guest]

well the fsp and rosewill both only have 1 sata power connectors, so the seasonic will have to do, although according to 1 reviewer it said that it meant his dvd-rom was not powered. im curious to see how your current power supply powers your current system, like what cables it comes with.

From what I can gather, the guy requires 4 and thought it came with 4 because of the picture and realized it only came with two.

Hm.... hard to say.

Oh, and also, is there and specific manufacturers I should look for/avoid? I know a couple of good ones but not too much about bad. For example, sapphire? good/bad?

 

[infernox_01]

sapphire are some of the best brands for graphics cards. xfx and powercolor are sometimes avoided.

 

[Guest]

Best answer selected by dougydecimate.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey