Budget graphics card

Ghostsong

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I wanted to buy something that would give me an HDMI out and maybe a little graphics boost. Everything else in the computer is staying stock so keep that in mind. I have this...

HP Pavilion p6510f Desktop PC Product Specifications HP Pavilion p6510f Desktop PC | HP® Support

and was looking at this...

Amazon.com : EVGA GeForce 8400 GS 1 GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 DVI/HDMI/VGA Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1302-LR : Computer Graphics Cards : Electronics

Thoughts? Should it cover my needs? I was hoping to be able to play the first Witcher game and some of the stuff that came with the humble Origin bundle. I wouldn't be against spending a little more if needed. Thanks.
 
You're going to need to spend a little more cash to be able to pull off those games, while maintaining within a certain power envelope. That's not going to be easy, because that PC has a 250w PSU.

The minimum I would be looking at is a GT 640, 6670, or 7750 only with GDDR5. The problem is, the GT640 requires a minimum 300w PSU, and the AMD cards require a minimum 400w PSU.

When I sold my PC in May all I had left for video was an 8400GS. They aren't worth even putting video on a screen IMO.

That being said, so we're clear, to lay out the real numbers here. Technically this will work within the PSU, but it will be using half utilization during gaming which I wouldn't take my chances with.
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-N640D5-1GL GeForce GT 640 1GB 64-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card

It consumes 49w load, while the CPU will consume roughly 80w.
 
No, not at all. These GPUs I'm speaking of aren't really all that powerful. I mean, they are miles ahead of the 8400GS, but in terms of real performance for higher settings you would need something like a GTX 770 to really be bottlenecked by your setup. For the RAM, just make sure you close out of everything in the background before playing a game.

The best cheapest PSU you can get really.
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

With that you could get this if you wanted.
HIS iCooler H775FN1G Radeon HD 7750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Newegg.com
 
I'll give this a shot. Is installation easy enough? Will I have to manually disable the intergrated graphics? The other purpose for this upgrade is so my wife can watch the internet only stuff from Hulu on our tv.
 
I'm not expecting miracles. I'll boot it up, and if BF3 runs okay I'll play. The parts will be here Thursday so we'll see how it goes. I probably won't get to play until my wife catches up on her So You Think You Can Dance show which is the only reason I was able to sell the idea of an upgrade. Though I did tell her it was going to be around $40 and I just spent more like $140. I'll just blame PP for that one.
 
I bought the psu and 7750 card. I figured since you recommended them together they would be a better fit. I'll revive this thread when I start to install. I can't overstate how inexperienced I am with hardware.
 
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