Are there any low profile cards worth a crap for gaming?

[SAWYER]

I have an emachines that has a very small tower and only a low sitting card would fit. I don't play any pc games but I thought I might pick up a card if I could play some games every once in awhile that wouldn't cost to much and would fit in my case.

 

[lsv]

6850 low profile but I think only in Japan.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/AFOX...file-AMD-Radeon-HD-6850-in-Japan-215631.shtml

 

[notty22]

Give the exact emachine model, so members can look up your configuration.
Is it a slim-line case ?
This is slim

This is a normal width pc case.

 

[fralexandr]

what resolution are you gaming at?
i'm assuming you need a PCI-E gpu?
what CPU do you have?
also what's your budget?

the gts 450 might be the best low profile card, but it's difficult to find
the 5670 is somewhat common and should play most games medium to high at 1280x1024 or 1366x768 ok

the 6570 might be your best bet though, as it's available from amazon for $80 and performs just slightly worse than the 5670
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Profile-PC.../dp/B004X69MWE

edit: cheaper at newegg after mail-in-rebate ($15) $67, weird how the 6570 doesn't show up on newegg with a low profile filter (the AMD free gift seems worthless)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127585

 

[Red Hawk]

A Radeon HD 6570 is the best low-profile reference design. Anything better will be non-reference designs, meaning they will be more expensive than normal sized cards. A 6570 should be just fine for light gaming every now and then.

 

[SAWYER]

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-EL185..._fb_revshr_001

What would be the best cpu my mobo could take?

 

[notty22]

http://i.walmart.com/i/rb/0088448309990.pdf
Is that your PC.
You would not want to start changing your cpu.
That model has a 220 watt psu.
Its a slim case.
Probably a very basic motherboard.
It's worth the most the way it is, is my point.
If you want a more powerful PC, look to build or buy a better base PC.
Upgrading to a very basic graphic card, will give you a little gaming power.

 

[fralexandr]

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/mainstream-chipsets/g41-express-chipset.html
the intel g41 mobo in the emachine supports Core 2 Duo & Quad cpus with up to 1333 fsb

the celeron 3400 is a dual core 2.6
http://ark.intel.com/products/42772...r-E3400-%281M-Cache-2_60-GHz-800-MHz-FSB)

you will be fine with that PSU
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4278/amds-radeon-hd-6670-radeon-hd-6570/15
that is with a core i7 920 @ 3.33GHz
the celeron 3400 i'm pretty sure uses less power at load than the i7 920

http://www.behardware.com/art/imprimer/778/
there are some rough numbers for power consumption

 

[lehtv]

How do you suppose the power supply in that cheap thing will not blow up when you install a discrete GPU or upgrade your CPU? It's a 220W unit they put into those.

Do yourself a favor and build a custom computer with some longevity in it. Or have it built. If I went for the absolute cheapest components it'd still be light years better than the Acer.

The 1 year warranty they offer for the Acer is ridiculously short, if you build a custom PC you will have at least 2-3 years for all components except up to lifetime warranty on memory and 5 year warranty on PSU.

Also, something funny:

The eMachines EL1850G-42 home computer gives you plenty of power to meet intense multimedia and multitasking needs with HD brilliance.

Resolution: 1366 x 768

 

[fralexandr]

the complete system w/ 6570 + celeron e3400 will use something like 150w load... as long as the PSU isn't crazy overrated it should be fine...

one of the reviewers states that the emachine uses a liteon 220w 80 plus bronze PSU

some other person w/ an emachine w/ 220w PSU and Athlon IIx3 ran a 5750 off theirs
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/296987-28-upgrade-dual-core
i'm assuming that person did not die in a horrible explosion, and that it worked fine and he never reported back

so the OP should be fine upgrading to a 6570
also like notty suggested, i wouldn't recommend upgrading the CPU, the only upgrade worth it would be a core 2 quad, and it'd cost a lot, wouldn't be worth the hassle (likely buying used) (remove hsf, remove CPU, place CPU, thermal paste, place HSF), and would likely bring you over or at least close to the wattage limit

 

[Red Hawk]

Yeah, anything more than a Radeon HD 6570 will be overkill on that PC. I really wouldn't recommend even getting that, a Radeon HD 5570 will be cheaper and won't have that much of a performance difference on that PC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102874

$60.00, $50.00 after mail-in rebate.

I wouldn't worry about the power supply for the graphics card, low-end Radeon cards are very power efficient. I wouldn't recommend upgrading to a quad-core processor or anything, but you could upgrade to a better dual core. Unfortunately, inexpensive pre-built PCs like this often support very few processor upgrades, and without documentation from the PC manufacturer there's no way of knowing what will work. You most certainly won't be able to buy a recent processor and expect it to work; you'll have to buy a processor that is at least as old (but better) than your current one.

 

[fralexandr]

heh, the 6570 can be anywhere from 10-50% faster than the 5570
i'm not sure if the celeron will CPU limit or not, although i don't think it will, it's basically a wolfdale w/ 1mb L2 cache
10%
50%

 

[Red Hawk]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116385

This, the Pentium E5800, is probably the best processor you can find that will work with your (SAWYER) mobo. $73.99. You can probably get cheaper somewhere like eBay. It boosts both the clock speed and the L2 cache, so there should be a significant improvement in games. I would recommend buying a graphics card first and figuring out if you really need a processor upgrade though.

 

[SAWYER]

That must not be the right link, I am at 1920x1080 right now

Anyway thanks all, it seems it isn't worth the effort of money since I dont play games anyway.

edit:well after reading those newegg reviews and for the price, I may buy that card

 

[StrangerGuy]

OP current system is too crippled to make any meaningful upgrades.
Build a new system.