6870 going to buy, need advice

[navyseals101]

going to buy the 6870 for my p6283w hp computer so i can play battlefield 3. going to buy from frys, i guess they the card there for 130 ish.

is the 130 dollar p6870 good or would the 180 dollar one be better, and why? will the cheaper one work?

i finally have acquired enough money to upgrade my pc. would like to go with the 6870 card and then get a nicer power supply

would the installation be possible to do myself ? is there a certain power supply that I need to look at for that is more or less compatible with my case

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Well first you should check If your case will fit a full size GPU. The you should look at the wattage of your PSU. As long as your case isn't mini itx you should be able to fit a standard PSU. You probably won't need a huge PSU for it. You shouldn't need more than a 500w PSU if even that.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/10/22/ati-radeon-hd-6870-review/9
Look at the second graph. Also the more expensive one will probably has more RAM and either one is a really good price for that card the lowest price on newegg is 160. But if it doesn't have more ram I don't know why it's priced higher.

 

[JKatwyopc]

Can you list list exactly which graphics cards you are considering? We can't tell you whether the cards are any good if we don't know what they are. Is this your PC? http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=5099035&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us

Assuming it is, chances are that the 6870 won't work because your built-in PSU (1.) doesn't have enough power output to run it and (2.) doesn't have the two required 6 pin PCIe auxillary power connectors. So you will need to upgrade your PSU to something like this at minimum: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

 

[navyseals101]

radeon6870, am planning on upgrading the PSU

I think i'll get the cheaper 6870, just don't know what makes it so cheap

 

[navyseals101]

the HIS one or HIM or whatever

 

[JKatwyopc]

Can you provide links to the cards in question because I cant' find anything that matches wat you are describing at www.frys.com ?

 

[stickg1]

Is it this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161389

That card is fine, I prefer a dual fan model because it runs cooler and quieter. Something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521


You will need a power supply like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703035
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027