A question about upgrading a PC

[amycus]

So, my 7-year old computer recently broke, and I was forced to get a new one relatively fast. Problem is, the graphic card is a bit mediocre (a NVIDIA GeForce GT 640), and it doesn't have an SSD drive, which is why I thought I would add new ones myself afterwards. Unfortunately, I have never done this before (except one failed attempt several years ago, when I was quite young), which is why I would like to ask the following, before I order something that turns out to just be a waste of money:

 

How do I know that these new items will actually "fit" physically inside the computer? Reason I ask this is because I remember that the last time I attempted something like this (as mentioned above), the new graphics card turned out to be far too large to actually fit inside. Is this just my memory being wrong, or is there something you need to look at?

 

For example, I'm currently looking at this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130794

But how do I know that it works on my HP ENVY h8-1444eo?

[myrimsarestock]

That PC is a midsize ATX and uses the Pegatron IPMMB-FM (Formosa) Motherboard. Some of the other HP PC's say that they ship with this motherboard and graphics card combo. Specifically the HP Envy H8-1560JP.

 

I personally think it is going to hit your ram slots and won't fit. the card is 10" long. you could measure from the back of the PC to the ram slots and see if there is clearance. I just can't see it fitting there.

 

Also your PC has a 460W power supply, but the recommended PS rating for the GTX 680 is 550W.

[amycus]

That PC is a midsize ATX and uses the Pegatron IPMMB-FM (Formosa) Motherboard. Some of the other HP PC's say that they ship with this motherboard and graphics card combo. Specifically the HP Envy H8-1560JP.

 

I personally think it is going to hit your ram slots and won't fit. the card is 10" long. you could measure from the back of the PC to the ram slots and see if there is clearance. I just can't see it fitting there.

 

Also your PC has a 460W power supply, but the recommended PS rating for the GTX 680 is 550W.

I see... So if I get this correctly, what I need to look at is

1) The physical size (didn't see that they DID mention the size of it in the description before), and

2) The power supply.

Is there anything else than that I need to take into account?

 

Also, I might as well ask then: Is there any graphics card you would recomment that DOES fit in this computer that doesn't cost more than 750 dollars? I'm looking at the "advanced search" options, but can't find anything regarding size, aside from "slot width".

 

Another question is, can I excange the power supply too, if that seems to limit my options? (as you might have noticed, I have barely touched the inside of a computer for anything else than using a hoover for the dust from time to time).

[amycus]

Ok, opened the case and looked how much space I actually have for it. It doesn't look too bad spacewise, although the card I linked earlier would probably still be too big. I might very well be able to fit it in there, but then it would squeeze some black, thin cable. I have no idea what it does, but somehow I think that I would rather leave it alone. Especially since I read somewhere in another forum that this particular card I linked earler is in fact 11 inches long, not 10.5.

9.5 inches should be ok though (It would have to go through a loop of smaller cables bundled together, but thankfully it's a pretty wide space there, so I don't think it would be a problem then, even if it might manage to slightly touch eachother?). Currently thinking about this card now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127675 , 9.53 inches in length (It's hard to find any good cards that aren't larger than that apparenty. If someone know of any other alternative I'm all ears though).

I would then also change the powersupply to 600 W.

Might this be doable, or am I completely lost?

 

Edit: You can ignore this topic. It still works better than my old one, if only slightly (and I can still run everything on ultra, except the witcher 2 where I need to run on "high" instead, so I will wait until it's actually needed to upgrade. Hopefully the price has lowered a bit by then too.

[kalikka]

GTX640 runs smoothly? :blink: The usual joke for that card is "have fun playing solitaire".

The PSUs that come with HP/etc. PCs are usually so bad that they barely handle 60% of what they promise in the label (500W is more like 300W).

 

It is pretty hard to upgrade OEM-PCs (not sure if its the right term for the HP/acer/etc. crap). A good 450W PSU is more than enough for any of the high-end single-card setups. And By good PSU I mean seasonics/super flower/rosewill with gold/platinum-label.

My OC'd 3570k@4,5ghz and HD7950@1,2ghz draws around 400W in full load, so thats why I bought 600W PSU. Without OC its barely 300W.

Edited April 29, 2013 by kalikka