What Graphics card would be best?

[CookzEvermore]

I want to purchase a graphics card for my desktop.
My computer system is

Windows Vista
Model: s5150t
Rating: 4.0
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7500 @ 2.93GHz 2.94GHz
Memory (RAM): 8.00 GB
System Type: 64-Bit Operating System

What card would be best with my system?

[Frawmusl]

Pro tip: When asking for graphics cards also post your mobo info. So we don't have to go look up the model then look up your mobo 

 

Er

Model doesn't have enough watts to power something that will make a noticeable difference in gaming

Upgrade your PSU and then you can maybe fit a radeon 5500 series, Bit of a tight fit, possible airflow issue? Anyhow just a quick gander

[Madelaine McMasters]

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CookzEvermore wrote:

I want to purchase a graphics card for my desktop.

My computer system is

 

Windows Vista

Model: s5150t

Rating: 4.0

Processor: Intel® Core2 Duo CPU E7500 @ 2.93GHz 2.94GHz

Memory (RAM): 8.00 GB

System Type: 64-Bit Operating System

 

What card would be best with my system?

---

Hi Cookz!

Welcome to the forums. The concensus seems to be that nVIDIA cards are better than ATI for use with SL. Another forumite recently selected an EVGA nVidia GTX 660, 2GB, Superclocked. You can read through the thread here...

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Video-Card-Question/m-p/2052725

I don't think we've heard back from Czari about its performance yet, but for the money, forumites seemed to think it was a good value. There may be little reason to get 2GB of graphics memory on the card, as SL uses only 512M, but if you run other graphics intensive programs alongside SL, that might come in handy.

Good luck!

ETA: As Frawmusl mentioned, it'll be important to know more about your motherboard and PSU to be certain that any card you pick will actually work in your PC.

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

I wouldn't buy a 600 or 700 series nvidia card for that computer.

Those two series use PCI 3 slots and although they are backwards compatible with your PCI 2 slots, you'd lose a lot of their potential. I'd go with an NVidia GTX550 or GTX560 (or their Ti versions). Not the fastest cards, but available for around 75-100 bucks and a much better match for what you have. The 650 has a lower bandwidth than the 550 btw, I wouldn't be surprised if the older 550 outperforms the 650 in SL.

Do make sure your power supply can handle the new card. If you go for something more powerful like a GTX570 or GTX580, you will need a 600W PS.

 

[Theresa Tennyson]

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CookzEvermore wrote:

I want to purchase a graphics card for my desktop.

My computer system is

 

Windows Vista

Model: s5150t

Rating: 4.0

Processor: Intel® Core2 Duo CPU E7500 @ 2.93GHz 2.94GHz

Memory (RAM): 8.00 GB

System Type: 64-Bit Operating System

 

What card would be best with my system?

---

I wouldn't spend a lot of money for a card for that system. It looks like you've got a slimline case which probably doesn't have a very strong power supply and may not be able to take most off-the-shelf upgraded power supplies - you'll need a "TFX" sized power supply. It's going to be difficult to get the juice necessary to run much more than a Nvidia GT 640, which is a decent mid-range card (I own one).

[CookzEvermore]

Yes it's a HP Pavilion Slimline - s5150t. SO I will have to upgrade my Power Supply. How many watts would be best?

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

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CookzEvermore wrote:

How many watts would be best?

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That depends on the graphics card you choose. If you're going to buy an NVidia card, you can look on their site. Under "specifications" you can find the minimum power and size, since that seems to be a factor too.

Edit...

Looks like those slim case power supplies are available up to 400W. That narrows down your choice of graphics cards to:

GTS450, GTX550, GTX550 Ti, GT640 DDR3, GT640 DDR5 (Which would only require 300W which you probably already have in your case), GTX650 and GTX650 Ti.

If you don't mind spending the extra 50-60 bucks on a new power supply, I would say: go for the 550 or 550 Ti. With a bit of luck you should be able to pick one up on ebay for $50-$75. The slower GT640 would only be $50 or so.

Also make sure the card will fit your case, most of the current video cards are double height.

[WolfBaginski Bearsfoot]

The Preferences option for graphics card memory is for the amount used to cache textures, so that 512M limit is something of an illusion. Getting the right balance for a card with a more limited amount of RAM can be a bit tricky.

In some ways my own system is a comparable with the OP's. I use an nVidia GTX650 with 1GB of RAM. The motherboard memory is now my bottleneck.

[dd Temin]

That slim line PC only has a 220 watt power supply.  the original installed  video card was a nvidia Gforce 210 or  intel motherboard graphics.  You may have only on board or may have both.

This PC is  not very suitable  for present day SL requiriments......will only  work in lower graphic settings.

To up grade requires a new nvidia card  and a bigger power supply of 400 or 500 watts  which may be hard to find in a slimline size. Nvidia 550Ti  is a good choice IF...it will fit inside your PC and you can find a 400+ watt power supply to fit.

 

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

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dd Temin wrote:

To up grade requires a new nvidia card  and a bigger power supply of 400 or 500 watts  which may be hard to find in a slimline size.

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On Amazon there are two 400W ones for sale. This one and this one. Pointtek sells a 500W one for $100 and there's one on ebay for $90, strangely enough I couldn't find those yesterday. That opens up new possibilities for a choice in video card, although you have to consider if mid range cards are worth over $200.

If a normal height video card won't fit, it might be hard to find the 5-series cards, but slim ones do exist. Maybe the GT640 isn't such a bad choice afterall.

[CookzEvermore]

Yea I emailed the seller of Pointtek. He gave me this link to this 5oow. He says it will fit perfectly in my system. So thinking of getting it. I was also told that a Radeon Graphics card might be best for the system I have. 

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

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CookzEvermore wrote:

I was also told that a Radeon Graphics card might be best for the system I have. 

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That's probably because there are more single slot Radeon cards around, so it's still worth the efford to compare those to the NVidia cards mentioned. The HD6850 and GTX560 are similair in performance it seems, but that Radeon card not readily available by the looks of it. The HD7750 is, but also has a PCI 3 bus. It's a lot slower than all the other cards too, about the same as the GT640.

Whatever you choose (and whatever you can find), good luck!

[CookzEvermore]

Which you think would be best with the 500W PSU?

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

As I said earlier, if you can find one, go for a GTX560 Ti.

If not available, a 560, then 550 Ti, 550, then the HD8650. But these are all very hard to find in slim versions I'm afraid.

The GT640 and HD7750 are much easier to find and without a doubt much cheaper and don't need the 500W.

I know I sound like a broken record, but absolutely make sure the card will fit, some are labelled "low profile" but might not be low enough.

[Qie Niangao]

Seems to me that you're going to end up spending a lot to upgrade a system that will still be pretty old and crappy after the upgrade. It may be more cost-effective to save-up another month or so and replace the whole machine.