Upgrading Graphics Card on HP

[dat_monkey]

So a couple months ago a bought a new HP PC (build your own.. yes i know i know but im lazy and it was a good deal) Heres the stats:

Athlon X2 4200+
2GB Ram
300GB HDD
some sort of a lightscribe DVD burner
DVD ROM

The problem is it has integrated graphics. I bought the PC mainly for video editing, so not having a dedicated card hasn't been a problem... but its summer, and ive been bored lately so im starting to get back into PC gaming. I want to spend about $150-$200 on a new graphics card... Dunno which one to get. I saw a 7600 something or other for about $170... the benchmarks were pretty kickass. Now heres the problem. My computer only has a 300w mini ATX power supply. Will this be a problem in upgrading my graphics card? A lot of the cards i see (like the 7600) say they require a 350w power supply... which i lack. I dunno what to do.

 

[wiouxev]

Get this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130283

No questions.

 

[dat_monkey]

Thats the one i was looking it. I guess it relaly blows everything else in its pricerange away benchmarks wise. But what about the 350w power supply thing... mines only 300. Would it be able to handle it?

 

[wiouxev]

yeah. but it would be slightly gimped i think is how it works.

 

[Running]

i think it would be underpowered by a little bit, i forgot if you can replace HP's psu's

 

[dat_monkey]

it uses at mini ATX power supply... ive looked and i cant seem to find one over 300w

 

[Jorsoft]

I think you should be okay as long as you don't have a lot of other expansion cards in your machine, other than what it originally came with.

 

[dat_monkey]

i have a wireless access point, and a capture card... so i guess im good to go.

 

[gurusan]

Well you will definitely need to upgrade your PSU...and you need to find out if the motherboard accepts AGP or PCI-Express.

Then you will probably have to disable onboard video in the BIOS once you get the card installed...I'm not sure exactly how that works.

And I'm having trouble finding any decent name brand powersupplies over 300watts also for miniATX.

 

[AnthraX]

Make sure it has a video card expansion slot. IE: AGP or PCIe x16. OEM manufacturers sometimes skimp on this detail so it's hard for you to upgrade later on.

Honestly, I recommend getting a new case and psu if your small psu becomes a problem.