Best gaming graphics card for this prebuilt?

[jorgegonzalez]

Hi guys! Hope you intelligent folks can help me out. First section is me describing what I'm thinking about buying. Bottom section is the format you guys recommend.

My budget is less than $599 for the whole computer.

I am thinking about buying this:

HP Pro 3500 C9J96UT#ABA Desktop PC - Intel Pentium G870 3.1GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, Keyboard & Mouse
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5291962&csid=_61
That is $399.

I was thinking about buying a SAPPHIRE 100354OCL Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202010&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL122612&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL122612-_-EMC-122612-Index-_-DesktopGraphicsVideoCards-_-14202010-L011B
Which is a bit less than $200.

However, I might need to buy another power supply to support the graphics card, which would put me over budget, and there might be bottle-necking issues.

Is there a graphics card that is reasonably like the 7870, that maybe wouldn't require a new power supply, or that would cost 200 or less with a power supply?

Side note: Not going to build it from scratch, but will add a graphics card/PSU if needed -- I have a low frustration tolerance and I had a nightmare experience trying to install Windows 7 on a new hard drive a few years ago.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: 599 After Rebates; After Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, streaming video, surfing the internet

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: All

Do you need to buy OS: Yes (Win7 preferred)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I can get a Newegg discount of I think 10 percent

Location: New York, NY or Los Angeles, CA

Parts Preferences: AMD because it's cheaper, Sapphire because it came recommended

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: Not sure (I'm not at home, so I can't check)

Additional Comments: Would like to play games like Guild Wars 2, LOTRO, X-Com -- doesn't have to be top of the line -- recommended requirements are fine:
http://support.2k.com/entries/22160943-xcom-enemy-unknown-pc-system-requirements

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I'm having trouble running games like Civ IV (!) and LOTRO

 

[iam2thecrowe]

with your requirements, forget a prebuilt system. you will need to build it yourself. your going to have to swap the psu anyway. and the cpu in the pc you have chosen is not great for gaming. windows is a breeze to install, i dont know what problem you had..........

 

[AndreCoetzee]

I have a HP Pro 3500, Intel i3, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD. I added a 450 W PSU (Power Supply Unit) to accept the nVidia GeForce GTX 750 card in PCI-Express 16x slot on the motherboard. It is working 100%. The "secret" was to change the BIOS settings BEFORE you add the new video card. Do the following:

1. Press F10 as soon as you start the machine up to get into the BIOS setup.
2. Go to the Security menu then select Secure Boot .
3. Bypass the red security warning message by pressing F10.
4. Set the 2nd item, Secure Boot, to Disabled. (Use the left and right arrow keys for this.)
5. Set the 1st item, Legacy Support, to On. (You wont be able to change this if Secure Boot is enabled.)
6. Set the last item Fast Boot to Disabled.
7. Confirm the setting with F10.
8. Leave UEFI Boot Sources enabled
9. Save the settings and exit.

Shut down the PC, Unplug the power, add the new video card and presto! all should now be working.

 

[Nikos Grammatopoulos]

I have a HP Pro 3500, Intel i3, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD. I added a 450 W PSU (Power Supply Unit) to accept the nVidia GeForce GTX 750 card in PCI-Express 16x slot on the motherboard. It is working 100%. The "secret" was to change the BIOS settings BEFORE you add the new video card. Do the following:

1. Press F10 as soon as you start the machine up to get into the BIOS setup.
2. Go to the Security menu then select Secure Boot .
3. Bypass the red security warning message by pressing F10.
4. Set the 2nd item, Secure Boot, to Disabled. (Use the left and right arrow keys for this.)
5. Set the 1st item, Legacy Support, to On. (You wont be able to change this if Secure Boot is enabled.)
6. Set the last item Fast Boot to Disabled.
7. Confirm the setting with F10.
8. Leave UEFI Boot Sources enabled
9. Save the settings and exit.

Shut down the PC, Unplug the power, add the new video card and presto! all should now be working.

Arent 300w enough? beceuase im thinking to buy this card but i have 300w