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need advice: power supply/ gfx card

baphametbaphamet Member RarePosts: 3,311

so my old gaming PC burnt up on me and i was given a new PC as a gift. i want to be bale to upgrade the graphics but i am not sure what kind of power supply i need and what kind of card will fit or that is good for the money.

ive never installed a power supply before so i was hoping to get some advice on a good cheap one that's easy to install as well as a graphics card that will fit that isn't too expensive.

i want to stay in the $300 range for both combined. here is a link to my PC's specifications.

http://www.asus.com/Desktops/M51AC/specifications/

here is a PS ive been kind of looking at but i honestly don't know what to look for.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438017

thanks in advance for any tips and let me know if i need to provide any other info, thanks! :)

:edit: M51AC is the model number is the link doesn't take you directly to the specification page.

Comments

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    So basically, you have a computer, and you want to upgrade it, but you haven't the slightest clue what's in it.  The link that you gave doesn't offer much additional information, either.  For example, here's what it says about graphics:

    Intel® HD Graphics 
    NVIDIA® GeForce GT620 1GB/2GB 
    NVIDIA® GeForce GT625 2GB 
    NVIDIA® GeForce GT630 2GB 
    NVIDIA® GeForce GT640 3GB/4GB 
    NVIDIA® GeForce GTX650 1GB 
    NVIDIA® GeForce GTX660 3GB 
    NVIDIA® GeForce GTX760 3GB 
    AMD® Radeon HD8350 1GB 
    AMD® Radeon HD8570 2GB 
    AMD® Radeon HD8760 1GB 
    AMD® Radeon R7 240 2GB/3GB

    Depending on distinguishing specs that aren't specified, that could be any one of about 30 substantially different things.  That does guarantee that your GPU isn't more than five years old.  But it could be more than four years old and be consistent with those claims.

    For memory, it says that you have somewhere between 2 GB and 32 GB of memory--which is true of nearly every recently built desktop.

    Buying a random desktop that isn't what you want and then hoping to upgrade it later is nearly always a bad idea.  But if it's a gift, then returning it for money that you can spend more appropriately to get a system suitable for your needs may not be socially acceptable.

    So let's at least find out what you have before deciding what to do.  Make a list of all of the parts in the machine and post it here.  You can find a lot of stuff in DxDiag.  For some things, you'll probably have to open up the case and read labels.  That's certainly true of the power supply.  You'll also have to open up the case to see how many case fans you have, how big they are, and where they're positioned.

    The parts I want to see listed:

    Processor (easy to find in DxDiag)

    Video card (also easy to find in DxDiag; you may have integrated graphics only)

    Motherboard (may or may not be in DxDiag; opening it up and reading the label will certainly find it)

    Memory (really only care about capacity, which is in DxDiag, and the number of modules, which you'll have to find by a visual inspection)

    Hard drive (probably in DxDiag, but a ways down; the model won't be human readable, but a Google search can find it)

    Power supply (have to open up the case and read the label--be sure to give the exact brand name and model, not just the nominal wattage)

    Case fans (number, placement, and size; 80 mm and 120 mm are the most common sizes.  Internal fans such as a power supply fan or a CPU fan don't count here.  Also look for fan mounts that don't have a fan in them, but where you could add one.)

    -----

    Depending on what you've got, the upgrade you want to do might be practical but merely not optimal, or it might just constitute throwing good money after bad--money that you're better off saving up for a viable replacement computer.

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