Asus M2N68-LA mobo - compatible with GeForce 9800 GT?

[hrukt]

My friend refuses to replace his motherboard and instead has his heart set on replacing just his GPU at this time. I've never been inside the HP pile, but as I understand it, the M2N68-LA comes with an NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430, which he plans to disable through BIOS. I need to know, before he goes out and buys anything and potentially wastes money, would the 9800 be compatible with this motherboard?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134091

I can't find anything specifying yes or no, perhaps I'm blind and retarded, perhaps the motherboard is just that outdated.

 

[b1gapl]

Welcome to Tech-Forums, hrukt!!!

The 9800GT is compatible because it has a PCIe x16 slot.

But you should also make sure that the computer has enough of a power supply for the graphic card, because it requires a PCIe power cable. I think the minimum power requirement for a 9800GT is a 400W power supply.

Do you have any further details/specs on his computer? Such as model of the HP?

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

The 9800 GT will need a PSU that can give it at LEAST 70-100w on the 12v rail that it's PCI-E connector is on.
(That's just for the card itself, not counting the rest of the system.)

I would look for a quality PSU that had at least 20A on the 12v rail just to make sure.
Or make sure your current PSU has 18+A on the 12v rail.

 

[hrukt]

He's using an HP Pavilion a6530f.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

OEM Power Supplies are not known for being very high quality... :\
I doubt very seriously it has the power to power a 9800 GT.
What your friend should do is scoop up a 25-30$ PSU like a Cooler Master Elite 460w or HEC 585w before he goes and buys a 9800 GT, because even if his HP CAN run the 9800 GT, it'll only be a matter of weeks before the PSU kicks the bucket.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339012

They're only $30

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171046

And they can probably run the 9800 GT.
The stock OEM PSU in that HP probably won't be able to run it, and if it can, it'll die pretty fast probably.

 

[Trotter]

Check the Power Supply Guide first to see what brands are good and what brands are garbage.

The old rule "You get what you pay for" holds true with PSUs. A cheaper one will cost you dearly when it blows and takes out half of your components to boot. Check out what is recommended and then make an informed decision.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

This guy is using an HP OEM and he's just trying to add on a 9800 GT
His power draw will most likely be less than 240W total.
I would even bet money on it being less than 200W unless he's an overclocker.

But he'd be pushing the OEM PSU pretty harshly.

The $30 HEC 585w or Cooler Master Elite 460w would more than tie him over, even if they are junk/low quality PSUs.
It's public knowledge the HEC 585w can effectively offput around 400w and the Cooler Master 460w can put out about 420w at full load, but this guy won't be pushing anywhere near that.
:3

Besides, that PSU guide is GOD AWFUL LONG.
I wouldn't read that if someone forced me to.
No offense, but I think it should be summed up into a much shorter guide.
Remove the long boring list of brands, and just give the need to know information.

(P.S. Sorry for the way I worded this post earlier)

 

[hrukt]

Thank you all for the information and taking the time to respond. I've managed to convince him not to be retarded and to just custom build the same system I have now, because I know it works incredibly well for our uses. He'd wind up having to do it over time anyway and that HP he has was atrocious and he's well aware of it.

I learned quite a few things from this thread, so once again thank you all and this was not all for naught.