Upgrading a eMachines

[Puddle Jumper]

So no matter what bus it is it's going to be not as good as the GeForce 2 series?

Yes.

Well if so will the ATI Radeon 7200 32mb PCI card work on my machine? I can afford that one since it's around $20. Does my system meet what it needs to somehow run it?

It should work but to be blunt I'm not sure that card is even worth $20. Most hardware has a 10 year lifespan at best and that card was released a decade ago. Not to mention the power supplies used by companies like eMachines tend to start going down hill before that.

 

[Dustin_Broke]

So with the power supply I have it should work fine? Will anything better than the ATI Radeon 7000 series cards work like the Radeon 9250? Or with the power supply I have I can only use the ATI Radeon 7200 for the best?



Btw I can't find a place to add my custom avatar so a pic will show when I post. I usualy add my own but it seems I can't find where it says to upload your custom avatar.

 

[95BlackGA]

So with the power supply I have it should work fine? Will anything better than the ATI Radeon 7000 series cards work like the Radeon 9250? Or with the power supply I have I can only use the ATI Radeon 7200 for the best?



Btw I can't find a place to add my custom avatar so a pic will show when I post. I usualy add my own but it seems I can't find where it says to upload your custom avatar.

You'd be lucky to get an external card to work on that system with the PSU you have currently. Upgrade the PSU and add a graphics card. You can get both for around $60.

 

[Dustin_Broke]

So even lower ends cards like the Radeon 7200 might not work on this system just because of the power supply? I thought that the Radeon 7200 won't use much power since it's an older card.

What would happen if I add the Radeon 7200 video card and if the power supply doesn't have enough power? Is there a way to tell if the video card is using too much power? just wondering


I found a power supply on Ebay for $20 with shipping and it's 250 watts and will this one work?


It is 100 watts more than my current one since my current one is 150 watts.



Before anything I need to know how can you tell when you are using too much power when adding a new video card? Like will the system now power up or something like that? If so then probley forsure I need a power supply and maybe the 250 watt one will work.

 

[95BlackGA]

Before anything I need to know how can you tell when you are using too much power when adding a new video card? Like will the system now power up or something like that? If so then probley forsure I need a power supply and maybe the 250 watt one will work.

There's several ways to tell it wouldn't work. Either right of the bat, it won't power up. It could shut down after a few minutes. You could hear a loud pop, meaning your PSU fried. You could completely ruin the video card/motherboard for not feeding it/them enough amperage.

As a rule of thumb, get as many amps on the 12V that your budget will allow.

This doesn't mean buy a PSU that claims 30+ amps on a 12V rail for $20 new. This means, buying a REPUTABLE brand that your budget will allow. A lot of low-end manufacturers test their equipment in simulations/tests that can not be produced in real world applications. Be VERY wary of those, "too good to be true" PSU's.

 

[Dustin_Broke]

This is the power supply I saw on Ebay for $20 will this be at least good enough to add a video card like GeForce FX or something like that? Of cource if I can have the cheaper one that will work that would be great.


MICRO ATX Power Supply MP4ATX25 P4 KY-350ATX 250W - eBay (item 230472884635 end time Jun-09-10 01:30:59 PDT)



Heres one that cost few $ more but will this be better?

http://cgi.ebay.com/GREEN-450W-Micr...9?cmd=ViewItem&pt=PCA_UPS&hash=item19b49e7e69

 

[Demalii]

Just saying, in high school we had a computer lab full of emachines, 75% were constantly crashing, or being repaired. I agree with the go mow a couple lawns statement..

Wow, beyond suprised to even see emachines still in business.. I'm beyond baffled. Guess so many people invest in their $200 pc's and figure out later what kind of company it is.

 

[kmote]

If you're changing out the PSU on a computer like that, you first need to check what type of connector is used for the motherboard. It'll either be 12 pin or 20 pin.

EDIT: I would leave that computer exactly as it is, clearly it has lasted you a long time, what's the need to upgrade it now?

 

[Dustin_Broke]

Well on a different forums someone said as long as it is a Micro ATX type power supply it will work. Also there is 250 watts power supply for $20 and it has 100 watts more power so that should you know. The reason why I wanted to upgrade the power supply is since everyone is saying that my current power supply is not powerfuly enough to have a new video card added. If my current one was powerful enough then there is no need to upgrade. Also the main reason why I want to upgrade is since I think it's about time to have a better graphics card so I can play UT 2004 and The Sims 2 better than before. Also I want to add max ram upto 512mb and I found two new 256mb rams for $29.70 so $14.85 each with free shipping.


Also according to the pic for the 250 watt power supply for $20 I see the plug for where you connect the motherboard and it looks the same as the one I currently have.

 

[tom1650]

I'm in a similar situation. Im going to basically throw out my Dell Dimension 2400 ionce I find something that can play Halo, maybe a few other popular games and perhaps be reasonably priced..... is the nettop trotter posted usable with those I wonder? Newegg.com - Acer Aspire Revo AR1600-U910H Intel Atom 230(1.6GHz) 1GB DDR2 160GB NVIDIA ION LE graphics Windows XP Home