I bought a decent refurbished PC That I really enjoy using. It runs nice and quiet for such a big machine.
But now I would like to upgrade to a more powerful graphics card that could handle some of the newer PC games.
In a foolish attempt to save money I bought a used graphics card [GT 220]. The graphics card works okay, but it is so loud! I uninstalled it, then ran the PC and it was quiet again. Then repeated the process to make sure it was the card making the loud noise.
Question....Would a NEW one make just as much noise?
And if I were to buy a new one to replace the used one does anyone have a suggestion as to what kind or make would fit my system best?
SPECIFICATIONS:
Operating System – Windows 7 Professional 64Bit.
CPU – Superfast Intel Core 2 Quad Q9505 Processor with 4 Cores at 2.83Ghz/core
Hard Disk - Huge 1Tb SATA Fast 7200rpm Drive
Memory - 8Gb DDR3 RAM
Optical Drive – DVDRW - Plays and burns all (DVD, Data and Music)
Graphics - Integrated Intel GMA 4500 Video/Graphics Controller
Sound - Integrated Sound Max Digital High Definition Audio
Ethernet - Integrated Intel 82567LM Gigabit Adapter (for your Cable/DSL needs)
USB Ports – 8 Ports Total (2 in front for easy access)
Open Internal Bays - 1x 3.5" (for adding hard drives)
Open Expansion Slots – 2x PCI + 1x PCI-e (for adding expansion cards)
Other Ports - 1x 15Pin VGA + 1x Parallel + 1x 9Pin Serial + 1x eSATA + Audio In & Out.
Backup Drivers – Included (in C:\drivers folder)
Speakers - Built-in wave speaker (Audio output also available for fancy speakers
Included - Power Cord, Window 7 COA, Original Dell Windows 7 Pro Restore CD
Hello Myles
Many of the newer cards are so quiet you barely notice them and are designed so that the fan only kicks in when the temperature reaches a certain point.
in other words, at idle you won't even hear it.MSI's cards are designed like this.
Budget is a major consideration of course and for about US$200 you can pick up an MSI GTX 960 4Gb on Amazon, to give you an idea or about US$400 for a GTX 970, which is a fantastic card. I have one and it blows you away.
You will need to check your power supply unit too as, although they may say 450 watts is enough, it usually isn't and you should consider 650w at the very least to power a decent GPU today and all the other peripherals
Both the cards I mentioned are Nvidia based, but for more economical choice you could look at AMD based cards such as an R9 380 by numerous manufacturers.
This card, an R7 370 will run on a 500w psu, but it will be tight.>
ie=UTF8&qid=1473805246&sr=1-2&keywords=amd+r9+370
Let us know what you think Myles.
Moderators
Hi Myles
When I am shopping for a new graphics card there are three things that I look at very closely. One, is power supply requirements, 650W should be minimum for any gaming graphics card. Two, is size of the graphics card and the case You are using, some of the newer cards can take up a lot of space. Three is price, all I can say is that graphic cards have surely gotten expenses
Okay fellas, thank you for all your great advice concerning my video card question but after considering that I can't really afford [retired and living on fixed income] to upgrade my Graphics Card to the point of also having to upgrade the PSU, and since I am not a "gamer". I have decided to just try to get a "good" graphics card that my weak 330 PSU computer can handle and yet would do a little more.
Sooo, with that in mind....I have done some research and found 3 cards that I believe will serve the purpose of a slight upgrade. But I would like to ask for your expert opinions as to which card you guys think would be a better fit. And don't laugh at me because I shop at walmart for computer parts...lol
psc=1&refRID=STRWCYYH3PZRB7D6Q0NK
Moderators
I do believe I would go with the GT720. Go to the Nvidia website and download the latest driver, I always have the latest driver on hand before I even install a new card.
Your 300W PSU should handle this card but it is marginal, no way I would run the Sapphire-Radeon, It would probably handle the Zotac card, but I personally have never used this brand. The GT720 would definitely be better than onboard graphics. Remember the GT720 and the Zotac card is only PCI express 2.0, if your mobo is PCI express 3.0 then this is backward compatible to 2.0 but you will not be utilizing your full bandwidth. Like you say you get what you can afford.
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