What graphics card is right for me?

[YROC]

Upgrading my HP Pavilion a1710n. Not sure what I need, since I don't have much experience. As it is right now, it's able to run WoW okay. I don't know if that means anything as the game doesn't look that spectacular.

Here are the default specs. Click

I've already got 3gb of ram on the way, so i'm good in that department. I just don't know which cards are right and compatible and which ones aren't. I'm wanting to run some new-ish games.

Help me please. :O

Edit: Prices aren't a concern.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Oh lawd, you don't even have a graphics card. It's integrated. Well, that link says you have one x16 pcie slot, so that's a good start.

PRICE IS NO CONCERN?

RADEON 5970

 

[VirusType2]

That's the card I'm getting. But I'll wait until it's half that at least.


Like in two years.



Hokey, what are your expectations? If you want to run WoW full spec, you can get a $80 video card to do that.

 

[Maestro]

I'd go with Nvidia if price is no issue, if you want budget power get an ATI.

 

[VirusType2]

What the **** does that have to do with anything, bro

Budget power my ****ing ass.

 

[Maestro]

What the **** does that have to do with anything, bro

Budget power my ****ing ass.

Budget power my ****ing budget isn't unlimited. Some of us have to stay within limits on spending.

All I'm saying is if he wants a lower cost card that runs modern shit, ATI, if he wants performance at any cost then Nvidia.

 

[Acepilotf14]

I think you might have it backwards.

 

[Krynn72]

Budget power my ****ing budget isn't unlimited. Some of us have to stay within limits on spending.

All I'm saying is if he wants a lower cost card that runs modern shit, ATI, if he wants performance at any cost then Nvidia.

FYI Nvidia cards are not more powerful than ATI Cards. The top end cards from each company perform about the same as each other.

That said, go with a 5870 or a 5850. Nvidia's GTX4** series runs too hot and uses to much power to be worth it at the moment. I'd say just go with the 5850. Your processor will probably already be bottlenecking your pc at that point, so no point in going much higher.

 

[Quixoticism]

I wouldn't buy anything more expensive that a 5770 for that comp. The older processor isn't really going to be fast enough to take advantage of the 5800 series power.

 

[YROC]

Ok, to answer some questions, I want something powerful, but is compatible with the innards of my pc. About the WoW thing, I was just using it as an example. I'd like to run games way better looking than that. And yes, i've got enough money for any card (thank you tax refund), but I would only like to pay for what I can use (something about cards not being able to be taken full advantage of because of my processor).

 

[Asus]

I would say an ATI 5750.

You might be able to go to a 5850 and not have much of a bottleneck depending which speed your X2 is but I think your PSU only has 19amps on the +12v rail. Not a lot of power for a GPU today.

And the low power on the PSU is another reason I recommend an ATI 5000 card since older cards of the same performance use a lot more power. You can see the 5770 and 5750 in this review compared to other cards. The GTS 250 delivered similar performance but uses 50 more watts. And the 8800GT (a couple years old) uses similar power to the 5770 but at worse performance. Another link.

 

[YROC]

Uh, newegg gave me a whole list of cards when I searched "ati 5750". I had assumed "ati" was a brand name. Which one of these do you suggest?

Er, nvm, I guess the manufacturer's name is ati.

 

[Asus]

This one might be a good bet since the cooler blows the hot air right out of the case. Free shipping and $10 MIR help too.

XFX is also very good.

 

[YROC]

From the second review on that first card. "yes it does need extra power" - Does he mean it needs a power supply?

 

[Asus]

I'm pretty sure he is just saying the 5700 needs a little more juice than the 5500/5600 cards he mentions above that line (which is true). But those are much less for gaming and for playing video files which is what he is doing (HTPC = Home Theater PC).

 

[YROC]

Do you think I should pass on that one then? Since I plan on using it for games, mostly.

 

[Acepilotf14]

He's talking about the 55/600's. The 5750 is slightly more powerful than a comparable 4870, and perfect for games.

 

[YROC]

Mkay, and since my original video stuff was integrated, I wont need to unplug anything? Just slip that thing in and install some software?

 

[Krynn72]

Your bios should automatically disable the integrated card when it sees a new one plugged in. If you think it isnt auto-disabling, you can make sure by going into the Bios (hit the key it says when its booting up, usually something like "Hit DEL to enter Setup") and go to the "integrated peripherals" and make sure onboard video is either on Auto or Disabled.

 

[YROC]

Gonna go ahead and throw in a HDD question so I dont have to make a new thread. There are only two types of HDD's right? Sata and ... I think it's called "IDE"? And how do I know which one I have? I think all newer ones have sata, maybe. Just need some confirmation.

 

[VirusType2]

If it's a microATX HP, I'd guess you have 2 SATA slots - 4 if you are lucky. This is not a confirmation, obviously. The HDD that came with your computer will use one of them, and so it's possible that your DVD drive takes up the only remaining available slot. So you need to find out.

 

[YROC]

There's alot of empty space in the front, but there are wires going through them. I can't really tell what would be considered open. Would you say external HDD's are reliable? I was looking at this one. Looks nice, small and sleek and doesn't need another power supply.

 

[VirusType2]

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00757531&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3340227〈=en

That wasn't so hard was it.[/URL]

Would you say external HDD's are reliable?

No.

I've never seen nor heard of a case with less than 2 HDD bays so you've surely got 1 free HDD bay in your case. Assuming you've got only 1 HDD in there already.

 

[YROC]

Yeah, I guess there are more connectors, but where do I actually place them in the tower?

 

[VirusType2]

-You'll need to buy a SATA HDD and a SATA cable.

Some drives come with the SATA cable, but OEM drives (like most of the ones at newegg) do not. An 8" cable should be plenty.

-Then you'll need to open your tower and put the drive in.

HP uses a unique drive lock mechanism. Here are the instructions for installing a HDD in your case: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00639788&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=3340227.

Your motherboard. These are your 4 SATA slots (circled in red)

It does not matter which empty SATA port you plug your new drive into.

-Finally, you'll need to format and initialize your drive before you can use it.

We'll help you with that once you get the drive installed, or you can easily find the information yourself using a search engine.

 

[YROC]

Oh neat. I just opened my case today and I can confirm that it's the one pictured.

 

[YROC]

Excuse my double post, but I needed to bump this. On that video above, he just talks about replacing the drive, not installing a second one, which is what I would like to do. There are 4 ports, but I don't see any empty bays to hold the HDD. confus.jpg

 

[VirusType2]

OK, so they have an I/O front panel installed above the stock HDD, so maybe you can't put your new drive there.

However, the shaky red lines I drew point to [what I believe to be] knock out plates. It looks like they have a screwdriver symbol etched into the plate. So it seems like you must slide a flat-head screwdriver into those small rectangle holes and pry one of those metal covers off. It should pop out. You can put the drive in one of those slots.

Install it just like it describes for the other drives.

There are 8 extra mounting screws in this circled area. They do nothing, they are screwed in there as extras for you to use. Take 4 of them and screw them into the new HDD. These screws will be used to latch the new drive into place, using the special green plastic, (pictured above) drive latch mechanism.

Take a look at the original HDD if you need a reference on where to put the 4 screws.

 

[Asus]

If you don't have a spare 3.5" drive bay (for HDDs) you can install them in the 5.25" bays with a mount adapter. I would not recommend putting a drive in the Floppy spot as it is likely to be open from the front of the case and dust will build up on the drive.