In Real confusion please help me out guys

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karthik247

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Jun 13, 2012
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HI guys, I am planning to add a Entry level graphic card to my HP pavilion a6340in PC.
Earlier I had the HD 5570 in mind but since its unavailable at my current location right now i had to switch to HD560.I have narrowed onto the ATI Raedon HD 5670 1GBDDR3 and the Nvidia GT 440 1GBDDR which comes under my budget.
My computer is 4 years old. here are its specifications:
Intel Core2DUo E4500 2.2Ghz
Windows Vista Starter 32 Bit
1GB DDR2 RAM, 160GB HDD. The problem is i cannot upgrade my 300W PSU and chose these cards as i heard they run in 300W PSU. However i just want to confirm with you guys .
Here are the PSU specifications:
HIPRO HP-D3057F3H
These were the texts written on the PSU unit:
DC output:
+5V= 25A, +12V= 19A,
+3.3V= 18A, -12V=0.8A, +5VSB= 2A.
+5V and +3.3V shall not exceed 175W.
+6V and +12V shall not exceed 268W.
in addition my Cabinet has one fan and a heat sink for the processor. Please let me know if both the GT440 and HD5670 are capable of running in my 300W PSU with the above specifications.
Also i heard that these graphic cards require PCI express16x 2.0 slot. I saw my specifications and found that it has a PCI express 16x slot but i dont know if its 1x or 2x. please let me know about it and if these graphic cards run on my system.


here is the link to my system specifications:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01310821&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=120&contentType=SupportFAQ&prodSeriesId=3644673&prodTypeId=12454
 

blade061188

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Oct 14, 2011
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Ok, You said you can't upgrade your PSU? Why is that? I am just wary of the no-name cheapo power supplies that HP puts in their cheap desktops. I have had friends whose HP PCs just stop working because the power supplies die.

I also notice you only have 1Gb of RAM? I would also look at upgrading that. Vista on less than 2Gb is pretty slow
 

bucknutty

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If you choose a gpu with out an extra power connector you should be fine. That e4500 and mother board will only draw around 100-150 watts at full load. The PSU should be able to deal with another 60-70 watts no problem. Here is what I would do. About a gpu. I would also get more ram like blade suggests. Going from 1 gig to 2 or 4 will make a world of difference in everything.

I would get a 2x4 gig kit of ram. $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231207

Budget video card. $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125431

Middle range $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131440

Best video card that would be safe in your box with out a new PSU. $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131461


So if you do the ram and the low range gpu you could give your computer a massive upgrade for around $100.
 

blade061188

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The PSU should be able to deal with another 60-70 watts no problem.

This is true, it should be able to. I am just wary of no-name power supplies. Just because it's rated at 300W doesn't mean it will survive if it actually has to supply that much power.

Also, the specification on the HP site lists maximum supported RAM as 2GB. which would still be a good improvement.

You can pop a stick in for a little over $15
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146580
 

karthik247

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Jun 13, 2012
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okay , i was also considering to upgrade my RAM guys. But considering the HD 6450 as mentioned by you and the HD5570 and HD 5670 or GT 440 which would you think would be safer to use in my PSU provided that it is of poor quality. I am not really bothered about the performance of the graphic cards but i just want to be safe ..
 

bucknutty

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Depending on what your looking to do with the computer the ram might be a better update than the gpu. So if you could only do 1 or the other you might want to consider the ram instead.

The 6450 is only like a 18 -20 watt part. It would be safest... I would go biger with the 6670 its a 50-60 watt part.

As blade stated there is the risk of the PSU dying but.. if your at the point where you need an upgrade to be happy then just be perpared for that as a possibility.

For under $100 the nvidia cards are hot, use alot of power, and dont have the same perfomance per dollar ratio as the ATI cards. I love nvidia for high end, heck i have like 6 nvidia cards, but for less than 100 I would stick to ATI. I use a 6450 that i got on sale for $25 in my HTPC it works great. I am very happy with how well it works in relation to the price.
 

bucknutty

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I dont know of any listings of specs on the lowe power state draw of the video cards. Most site list the max draw, which of course only happens when the video card is working very hard...
According to GPU reveiw the:
6450 is 18 watt
5570 is 42 watt
5670 is 61 watt
gt440 is 65 watt
6670 is 66 watt
 

karthik247

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Jun 13, 2012
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Thank you so much for your help blade and bucknutty . you guys have been great in helping me out . i am considering the HD 6450 and a RAM upgrade . Hope you guys agree with my upgrade choice :p
 

bucknutty

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Here is why i lover the new ATI 7000 series. They are real fast and cool the
7750 is listed at 55 watts, and would be as good as gaming cards from only 2 or 3 years back that were double the price and used double the energy.
 
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
My best guess is that your system is taking ~200W, you generally don't want to push more than 80% on the PSU (PSUs put out less power with age), which means that you have ~240W total load for the power supply available -200W for your current load and you get ~40W available for your GPU. You could probably go a little higher than that, but I would not push it.

(note that the following numbers are from eXtreme Power supply's numbers, and are lower than the manufacturer reccomendation. Both AMD and nVidia suggest a minimum 400W power supply for any of the mentioned cards)
You could do:
AMD 7750 (or lower 7000 series if any other budget cards are released)
AMD 6670 (or lower 6000 series)
AMD 5750 (or lower 5000 series)
... I wouldnt go any older than the 5000 series

Nvidia GTS 440 (or lower... may be able to get a 450 to work, but that would be pushing it)
nVidia GTS 240 or lower
9500GT or lower
8800GS 384MB, or lower
Don't go older than the 8000 series

Upgrading the PSU will give you a lot more GPU potential, and you ought to be able to fit a small ATX power supply of ~500W which would get you the kick you need for a real card.

Don't worry about the PCIe revision as they are backwards compatible. The larger concern is the CPU bottleneck that you would experience long before you hit a wall with your PCIe bandwidth. I had a 9800GT paired with my Core2Duo for years without issue, and that was a high end PCIe2 board in it's day, and I got the expected frame rates from my system, so it was not bottlenecked by the PCIe1 interface it was plugged into.

Best of luck!
 

karthik247

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Jun 13, 2012
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Sorry to disturb you guys again. Given my option i just searched the web and found that hd6450 is a very basic card. Hence i just wanted to know if hd 5570 will suit my system right considering its a 4yr old 300w psu. I just want to play games like bf3, gta4 in low or med settings. Pls dont suggest other cards as only 5570 comes under my budget.
 

karthik247

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Jun 13, 2012
23
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10,510
Sorry to disturb you guys again. Given my option i just searched the web and found that hd6450 is a very basic card. Hence i just wanted to know if hd 5570 will suit my system right considering its a 4yr old 300w psu. I just want to play games like bf3, gta4 in low or med settings. Pls dont suggest other cards as only 5570 comes under my budget.
 

karthik247

Honorable
Jun 13, 2012
23
0
10,510
Sorry to disturb you guys again. Given my option i just searched the web and found that hd6450 is a very basic card. Hence i just wanted to know if hd 5570 will suit my system right considering its a 4yr old 300w psu. I just want to play games like bf3, gta4 in low or med settings. Pls dont suggest other cards as only 5570 comes under my budget.
 

karthik247

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Jun 13, 2012
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10,510
Okay then , i think playing bf3 on really low resolution and low fps will not bother. But are you sure 5570 will run in my pc perfectly, cause i feel all 5570 will consume less power after 6450. Cause i am worried not to fry my pc. It has not given any trouble yet and i would like it the same.
 
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