Can I upgrade my video card?

[Fares Naser]

Hello, first of all you need to know that I know a little about video cards, so bear with me. :biggrin:
I have an Optiplex 990,
the video card is Intel HD Graphics 2000 (integrated),
4GB of RAM,
and an Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz processor.
-
my question is: is it possible to upgrade my video card? I've heard it's impossible to upgrade an integrated video card.
And if it is, would upgrading have bad effect on my computer?
And if I can, what do you recommend? I don't care much about gaming but I watch a lot of HD movies (I wouldn't mind if it was good for gaming too), and I have a DVI monitor that I can only run on VGA (I want to make use of the DVI).
too many questions I know.

 

[abekl]

As long as you don't have the small or ultra small form factor cases, you can definitely buy a video card and install it. For your needs, an AMD based Radeon R7 270 would be good.

 

[Deders]

There seems to be quite a few Optiplex 990 models, would be handy to know which one you have exactly.

It should be possible to upgrade your video but it depends on...

1: Whether you have a free PCI Express slot
2: Whether your power supply is capable of handling the power needed.

If you take of the side you should be able to see what kind of slots you have free, and also what is written on the side of the power supply.

Photo's would be most helpful, but if not then if you could tell us the wattage for the power supply in total, as well as the wattage for each of the +12v rails (don't worry about the -12v).

It would also be good to know what kind of connectors your PSU has, whether there are any 6 or 8pin connectors that don't plug directly into the mainboard.

 

[Zardnok]

If your Opti 990 is a minitower, it has a Dell 265 Watt PSU in it with one spare PCIe X16 slot. The other form factors have smaller power supplies and require half-height cards. Optiplex is Dell's Enterprise line so the PSU aren't total crap and I have run higher current AMD cards in them.

The GTX 750Ti is the most efficient and powerful card that does not require an upgraded power supply, so I would go for it. They run about $150ish and come with a game bundle worth $150ish. You can sell the games for half price to recoup some of the cost. I would also throw another $45 at doubling up the ram with another pair of 2GB sticks.

A 750Ti and 8 GB RAM combined with your i5 would be a nice system on the cheap!

 

[Fares Naser]

As long as you don't have the small or ultra small form factor cases, you can definitely buy a video card and install it. For your needs, an AMD based Radeon R7 270 would be good.

I hope so, thank you.

 

[Fares Naser]

There seems to be quite a few Optiplex 990 models, would be handy to know which one you have exactly.

It should be possible to upgrade your video but it depends on...

1: Whether you have a free PCI Express slot
2: Whether your power supply is capable of handling the power needed.

If you take of the side you should be able to see what kind of slots you have free, and also what is written on the side of the power supply.

Photo's would be most helpful, but if not then if you could tell us the wattage for the power supply in total, as well as the wattage for each of the +12v rails (don't worry about the -12v).

It would also be good to know what kind of connectors your PSU has, whether there are any 6 or 8pin connectors that don't plug directly into the mainboard.

I hope these pictures answer for the first two questions.
About the third question, I can see the PSU connectors, just not sure how to find out what kind they are, should I unplug it and see?

 

[Deders]

It looks to me as if your best bet, like Zardnok says, is to get either a Nvidia 750 or 750TI, so long as it is a model that doesn't require a 6 pin power connector. These are the fastest that don't need a connector.

It looks to me like all your connectors are already plugged in, and a 6 or 8 pin wouldn't be on the same wires as any of the drive connectors.

The top blue slot shouyd be fine for the card.

 

[Fares Naser]

If your Opti 990 is a minitower, it has a Dell 265 Watt PSU in it with one spare PCIe X16 slot. The other form factors have smaller power supplies and require half-height cards. Optiplex is Dell's Enterprise line so the PSU aren't total crap and I have run higher current AMD cards in them.

The GTX 750Ti is the most efficient and powerful card that does not require an upgraded power supply, so I would go for it. They run about $150ish and come with a game bundle worth $150ish. You can sell the games for half price to recoup some of the cost. I would also throw another $45 at doubling up the ram with another pair of 2GB sticks.

A 750Ti and 8 GB RAM combined with your i5 would be a nice system on the cheap!

Yes mine is a minitower, and it's a relief to hear it's not a total crap lol.
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll try doubling the RAM too.

 

[Zardnok]

Definitely use the top slot for the card since it is X16 and the bottom slot is only X4.

 

[Fares Naser]

Well that's all I needed, thank you both you've been very helpful.

 

[Fares Naser]

I need to confirm something.
If the total is 265W and the Minimum System Power Requirement for GTX 750 is 300W doesn't that mean my PSU is not sufficient?

 

[Deders]

That rating is partly because power supplies under 300W can't generally bought, and mostly because there are still a lot of power supplies out there that can't actually supply their rated wattage.

The card itself shouldn't draw more than 75W when under full load, and that Dell PSU should be good enough quality to supply what it says it can.

Your CPU will draw power from the 9 amp 12v rail, which can supply up to 108W, the other 19 amp 12v rail should be good for up to about 200W, most other components won't draw very much from this rail so you should be fine with plenty of headroom.

 

[Fares Naser]

I see, thanks.

 

[Braxos]

A hint before you burn anything. Take it apart and blow the dust from every corner of the MB. Check the dust that gets blown to the Memory and PCI slot.

 

[SlickR12345]

download Speecy from http://www.piriform.com/speccy and install it, it gives you all the PC stats so when creating threads like this you can post the important information that we need in order to better help you.

As others have said I think your best bet is to go with a GTX 750TI since it doesn't require pin connectors from your PSU and if small enough that it would fit in pretty much any case.

All you need is a free PCI-E 2.0/3.0 slot. I suggest you look up your motherboard manual or have a professional install the Graphic Card for you.

 

[Wild Thing]

A hint before you burn anything. Take it apart and blow the dust from every corner of the MB. Check the dust that gets blown to the Memory and PCI slot.

This^....and especially that gunked up CPU heatsink..yikes!

 

[XiandreX]

A hint before you burn anything. Take it apart and blow the dust from every corner of the MB. Check the dust that gets blown to the Memory and PCI slot.

I cannot emphasize how true this statement is. I have built more than a 1000 systems in my life (mostly OEM) and when repairs occur, dust is a huge culprit for failure.

 

[Fares Naser]

.................

 

[Fares Naser]

Unfortunately I ended up buying the GTX 650, it doesn't matter I'm not a gamer.
Anyway, the technician ended up somehow connecting the PSU to the graphic card,
I don't know what he did, but does it look okay?

 

[Zardnok]

What he did was add in an adapter to your power supply so it would have an additional PCI power plug. What he did looks OK as it is merely an adapter added to the chain. The problem however may surface with the GTX650 ultimately needing more power than your Dell 265 watt can provide. The GTX750 is a newer and much more efficient die design that does not require additional power which is why it was recommended.

You will probably be fine, but if it were my machine I would change the 650 for a 750 and know I will be fine.

 

[Deders]

In normal circumstances I wouldn't recommend having 2 connections from the same wire leading up to a graphics card, it could be too much for the thinner wires that are generally used.

But in this case, the 650 only uses 64 watts, some of which is drawn from the slot itself, so I doubt it will use too much power and cause the wires to overheat.

Shame you couldn't get a 750.

 

[Fares Naser]

What he did was add in an adapter to your power supply so it would have an additional PCI power plug. What he did looks OK as it is merely an adapter added to the chain. The problem however may surface with the GTX650 ultimately needing more power than your Dell 265 watt can provide. The GTX750 is a newer and much more efficient die design that does not require additional power which is why it was recommended.

You will probably be fine, but if it were my machine I would change the 650 for a 750 and know I will be fine.

I see, I really should have taken the GTX 750.
I hope everything will be fine.

 

[Fares Naser]

In normal circumstances I wouldn't recommend having 2 connections from the same wire leading up to a graphics card, it could be too much for the thinner wires that are generally used.

But in this case, the 650 only uses 64 watts, some of which is drawn from the slot itself, so I doubt it will use too much power and cause the wires to overheat.

Shame you couldn't get a 750.

I see, what would happen if the wires did overheat?
I know it's a shame, I really wanted it, it was just too expensive (too expensive than it should be).

 

[Deders]

If they got too hot they could burn up like a fuse, or start a fire. Probably worth running Furmark for half an hour to see how warm the wires (before the adapter) get, just for peace of mind.

I'm mostly sure it will be ok, I'm not even sure why those cards need the 6 pin as the slot should be more than enough to supply what the card needs. But it might be the case that the card is a cut down version of a design that was based around 2 power sources.

 

[Fares Naser]

If they got too hot they could burn up like a fuse, or start a fire. Probably worth running Furmark for half an hour to see how warm the wires (before the adapter) get, just for peace of mind.

I'm mostly sure it will be ok, I'm not even sure why those cards need the 6 pin as the slot should be more than enough to supply what the card needs. But it might be the case that the card is a cut down version of a design that was based around 2 power sources.

I'm not sure what you mean by "before the adapter".
When I told the technician that I wanted the model that doesn't require a 6 pin he glanced at me and said there's no such thing, and that every graphic card needs a connector.
And I remember him mentioning something about my PCI being too old.