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Upgrade my Optiplex 740 SFF Graphics Card

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  • Optiplex
  • Graphics Cards
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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September 4, 2014 11:07:03 AM

Hi guys, my first post and I apologise because I'm quite the newb.

I have just purchased a Optiplex 740 (small form factor) with the following specs:

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core Processor 5200+
2.70 GHz
4GB RAm
Windows 7

My current graphics card is a Nvidia Geforce 8400GS 256MB

I want to play some of the newer games, not necessarily in the highest of settings but good enough to play them.

I want it to work with Minecraft, Rust, Space Engineers, DayZ - games like that.

Can someone assist me with recommendations?

I'm looking to spend about £50, so I can get started and I'll upgrade to a much better one when I can afford it.

More about : upgrade optiplex 740 sff graphics card

a c 342 U Graphics card
September 4, 2014 7:11:18 PM

Check to be sure, but I believe that has a small 225W PSU with a tiny 17A (+12V) rail.
Your budget, the SFF case, and that little PSU are really going to limit your selection. This R7-240 low profile card comes with interchangeable L-P brackets to swap out. http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-R7-240-2GD3-LP/dp/B00HZLGJV...
It is less wattage as your old card, but is much faster and has 2GB of VRAM. http://www.hwcompare.com/15294/geforce-8400-gs-512mb-vs...
September 4, 2014 11:54:45 PM

clutchc said:
Check to be sure, but I believe that has a small 225W PSU with a tiny 17A (+12V) rail.
Your budget, the SFF case, and that little PSU are really going to limit your selection. This R7-240 low profile card comes with interchangeable L-P brackets to swap out. http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-R7-240-2GD3-LP/dp/B00HZLGJV...
It is less wattage as your old card, but is much faster and has 2GB of VRAM. http://www.hwcompare.com/15294/geforce-8400-gs-512mb-vs...


Would that mean it would probably be better to get a new case, transfer this across and upgrade the PSU? Is that easy enough to do?
a c 342 U Graphics card
September 5, 2014 2:48:37 PM

Normally, that would be an option. But in this case it would hardly be worth the effort. The Athlon 64 x2 5200+ is a pretty outdated and (by today's standards) weak processor. It will bottleneck just about any card more powerful then the R7-250, which is a step above the R7-240.

Upgrading the processor is an option, but if you have a AM2 or AM2+ socket, you won't find anything that is much of an improvement. What resolution is your monitor?
!