Graphics Card Upgrade - Not Sure If Card Will Fit/Is Compatible... Please Help!

[hamwich]

Hi there, this is my first post, so sorry if some of this seems silly. Basically I bought a Fabro i5 4430 (almost identical to this bundle except I upgraded the sound card to an ASUS Xonar DGX and installed a wireless PCI-E card) from DinoPC a couple of years ago and I'm looking to upgrade the graphics card because the GT610 is pretty bad (most games chug like hell on even the lowest settings).

Was thinking about either getting a GTX 650ti, or a GTX 760 - only issue is, I have no idea if these will a) be compatible with my motherboard and b) will even fit physically inside the case (I don't know how my case would be classified size-wise). Will either of these cards be an option given my setup? Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.

My exact specs (incase they are slightly different from the link above) are as follows:

Motherboard - Gigabyte H81M-S2PV
CPU - Intel Core i5-4430 @ 3.00GHz (4 CPUs)
Video Card - NVIDIA GeForce GT 610
Power Supply - ATX 12V 2.0V 500W
RAM - 8GB DDR3, single stick
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Major thanks in advance for any advice you can give me!

 

[escrow4]

You'll need to upgrade the PSU if you get a new GPU, you have the equivalent of a firecracker. I'd say 970 (Gigabyte Gaming G1) and an Antec Neo Eco 520C would do it. You'll need to measure you case to see if it will fit. Cheapo PSUs usually go with cheapo cases.

 

[Ken g6]

First, motherboard compatibility is no problem. If it can use a GT610 it can use any video card.

Second, for case size, see if you can measure the available space inside the case from the end of the card where the video ports are, parallel to the PCIe slot. Most video cards list this dimension in centimeters (You're in England, right?) and/or inches.

The third thing to be concerned about is your power supply. It should have a sticker on it describing how powerful it is. If so, how many rails does it have, and what are the amp ratings on those rails?

Fourth, what's your budget? (In GBP if you're in England, please.) The GTX 650ti and the GTX 760 are very different cards that should have very different prices. (Did you mean to compare a GTX 750ti to a GTX 660?)

 

[hamwich]

Thanks guys! Like I say, I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Ken, I'm actually in Scotland! I'll open up my case and measure everything, then check to see if any decent graphics cards will fit. My budget is around £150 - I'm aware the 650ti and the 760 differ in price by about £50, they just seemed to be achievable in terms of budget and my main concern was if I should put in the extra money for the 760 without knowing if it'd fit inside my PC.

As for my PSU, it's 500W, so I'm aware I would need to upgrade - what kind of wattage would you guys recommend for the cards I mentioned? Also, any brands I should go for? If it could be as close to £50 (or about $80) as possible, then that'd be brilliant.

Again, thank you so much for your help!

 

[Ken g6]

Ken, I'm actually in Scotland!

Eh, it's still the same country, right?

The simple and cheap option would be to get a 750ti. No new power supply needed, and many of them are short. I just ordered this one myself.

If you want to spend a little more for a little more performance, would you be willing to look at AMD GPUs? Here's a nice R9 280 for £137.71. 268mm - I hope it would fit. And this EVGA is the only halfway-decent power supply I see for under £50.

Edit: If I lower my power level sights a bit, this 550W XFX is good too.

 

[evilspoons]

If you pop the side off the case and take a couple pictures of the power supply, it might have a sticker explaining the ratings on the various "rails" (different voltages with current ratings). You might actually be just fine if they put an OK supply in there and you don't get too crazy with your upgraded card.

Pictures of the inside of the case would also help identify any weird problems with upgrading the video card and power supply, like odd cable routing.

Getting a second stick of RAM - not really to go from 8 GB to 16 GB, but to enable dual-channel mode - would also be a worthy upgrade after you've taken care of the previous two things.