Questions about getting a new card AMD radeon hd 5770

Plazmawolf

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This will be my first time upgrading my graphics card. My pc is a quad core 3.0 ghz (I forgot exactly what they are) and has a 512 mb radeon hd 4650 gddr3. The card is pretty good for it's price (you can get one for like 45 bucks) and I can run many of games at maximum to near maximum settings. It's not that great however with very demanding games (gta 4 for example which I think is mostly due to the cards low memory bandwidth.) With skyrim coming out soon I want to be packing heat. Sadly though the economy sucks and I'm on a budget. Around $100-$130 and the 5770 seemed like the perfect fit for me

Now my question for right now is

A: do you think the 5770 would be a good choice for me and will it have enough difference over the card I have now? (a
Amd radeon hd 6450 512mb gddr3)

B: my desktop is not made to be a gaming pc, so fitting the card into where it needs to go looks like a tight fit. I have found that xfx seems to have a much smaller version of the 5770 (the model thing or whatever is HD577XZNLC) but it doesn't seem to have anywhere for the extra express 6-pin power cable to go in. Would this mean that the HD577XZNLC model of the 5770 is less powerful than bulkier models?

C: speaking of 6 pin express power cables, my pc doesn't seem to come with a spare one. I know I can get an adapter to make two 4 pins into one 6 pin but would that be the best choice? Would it be better (or possible) to put in a 6 pin express cable into the power supply into the card?

Thanks!
 

Plazmawolf

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Thanks guys that looks great! Now I just need to worry about to 6 pin express cable because those puppys are definatly going to need extra power. Still Ned help on that

Also Im still worried if m mother board will allow a card like that
 

Plazmawolf

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I will have to check that too. As for the motherboard and stuff I can give you the model of pc I have and that should be enough to tell what motherboard it is, of corse there is probably an infinatlu exist way to do this but whatever

Also I'm not in front of my pc right now, I'm posting from my iPod I can get to my pc in a little bit
 

Plazmawolf

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I think my PSU is 300. Sounds to me like a new PSU is in order. any recommendations? how many watts do I need for the 6850 (or the 5770 for that matter, I say that's still on the table.) It's GUESSING around 450 watts
 

spp85

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A Corsair CX500 V2 is sufficient for cards upto Radeon HD 6870...... :)
 

Plazmawolf

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027
Cannot go wrong with this psu.


I'm still a little over budget. I'm finding 20 dollar PSU's on amazon. I don't know if they are quality enough to not explode but another issue is the PSU I have right now is pretty compact and there isn't too much more room to fit in anything significantly bigger (its around 4" x 5" from my guesstimation) Not sure if that is considered small or normal or whatever.

To make a long story short 60 bucks is alot of cash for just the PSU
 

60 bux is not alot of cashe for a quality psu. If you put a 20 dollar 500w psu in your system, it wont even push 500, and when it tries, it is likely to fail on you. discrete graphics takes a quality psu.
 

Plazmawolf

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Thanks. I'll probably go with one of these. If I can find a 500 watt for around 30 bucks It's get that. but I do thinl 450 SHOULD be enough. Maybe cutting it close.
 

Plazmawolf

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This would mean a total of around $200 including tax

Way over my original $130 but looks pretty worth it. I'll probably have to wait a little longer if I want this (the 550 watt and the 6850) but I'm patient