Motherboard compatible with graphic card?

[moonshire]

hi ok so i wana upgrade my graphic card from a nvidia geforce 8600GS to a XFX HD-489A-ZDEC Radeon HD 4890 Xtreme 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card.

It can be seen here http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150360

yes so the only problem is that, i am not sure if my motherboard will support that new graphic card. I dont want to spend 200 dollars only to find that my motherboard is not compatible
with the graphics card.


soo... perhaps you people can advise? I am using the Acer Aspire M5630.
Motherboard is ACER EG31M
power supply? umm im not sure how to check.
ive tried googling my motherboard, googling the graphcis card, i still cant find whether they are compatible or not. Any help would be appreciated! thanks

 

[WildW]

No real reason why it shouldn't work in the motherboard. PCI Express 2 cards will work on an older motherboard, and the extra bandwidth isn't really neccessary for many cards yet.

The PSU is more likely to be an issue. I'd doubt Acer put great PSUs in their machines, but it's hard to say without more information. Somewhere printed on the side of the PSU itself should be a table of numbers. If you can see this and tell us what's there, particularly the figures next to 12V (possibly split into more than one figure, e.g. 12V1 and 12V2), we may be able to help. It is more likely than not that you'd need a new PSU though, at least for such a high-end card.

What's the rest of your system (specifically Processor), and what resolution do you plan to play games at? 4890 from 8600GS is a huge leap, and may be overkill.

 

[moonshire]

umm sorry for late reply ah i havent got around to opening up the casing yet cuz ive never done it b4 and i need to be under the supervision of my father b4 he lets me. ummm i changed my mind about the Radeon graphic card as it is too expensive.
im thinking of getting a Nvidia GTS 250

so which is better? This ?

EVGA 512-P3-1151-TR GeForce GTS 250 Superclocked Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported ... - Retail

* Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
* Core Clock: 771MHz
* Stream Processors: 128
* Memory Clock: 2246MHz
* DirectX: DirectX 10
* OpenGL: OpenGL 2.1
* DVI: 2
* TV-Out: HDTV Out
* Model #: 512-P3-1151-TR
* Item #: N82E16814130467

OR THIS?

XFX GS250XZDFC GeForce GTS 250 1GB Core Edition 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

* Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
* Core Clock: 738MHz
* Memory Clock: 2200MHz
* DirectX: DirectX 10
* OpenGL: OpenGL 2.1
* DVI: 2
* TV-Out: HDTV Out
* RAMDAC: 400 MHz
* Model #: GS250XZDFC
* Item #: N82E16814150356

( 2 out of the many cards shown in this website
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...ion=GTS+250&x=20&y=29)

Oh yeah and the specs for my com.

Motherboard: Acer EG31M R01-A3
Ram: 2GB DDR2
Processor: Q6600 2.4Ghz Quad Core
PSU: havent check yet but should be able to run GTS 250 ( assumption that most average acer computers come wif 300-350 watt PSU)

OS: vista home premium 32bit

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: moonshire
umm sorry for late reply ah i havent got around to opening up the casing yet cuz ive never done it b4 and i need to be under the supervision of my father b4 he lets me. ummm i changed my mind about the Radeon graphic card as it is too expensive.
im thinking of getting a Nvidia GTS 250

so which is better? This ?

EVGA 512-P3-1151-TR GeForce GTS 250 Superclocked Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported ... - Retail

* Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
* Core Clock: 771MHz
* Stream Processors: 128
* Memory Clock: 2246MHz
* DirectX: DirectX 10
* OpenGL: OpenGL 2.1
* DVI: 2
* TV-Out: HDTV Out
* Model #: 512-P3-1151-TR
* Item #: N82E16814130467

OR THIS?

XFX GS250XZDFC GeForce GTS 250 1GB Core Edition 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

* Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
* Core Clock: 738MHz
* Memory Clock: 2200MHz
* DirectX: DirectX 10
* OpenGL: OpenGL 2.1
* DVI: 2
* TV-Out: HDTV Out
* RAMDAC: 400 MHz
* Model #: GS250XZDFC
* Item #: N82E16814150356

( 2 out of the many cards shown in this website
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...ion=GTS+250&x=20&y=29)

Oh yeah and the specs for my com.

Motherboard: Acer EG31M R01-A3
Ram: 2GB DDR2
Processor: Q6600 2.4Ghz Quad Core
PSU: havent check yet but should be able to run GTS 250 ( assumption that most average acer computers come wif 300-350 watt PSU)

OS: vista home premium 32bit

Just because it's 300+W doesn't mean it'll be able to handle a GTS250. Open your case when you get the chance and see what the 12V rail rating is on the PSU (like WildW said). A safer bet would be a 4770 (same performance, lower power consumption), but I'm not guaranteeing that'd work either.

Oh, and I'd strongly consider getting another 2x1 or 2x2GB RAM; your total RAM consumption while playing certain games in Vista may surpass 2GB.

 

[Barfo]

Also check that the case has enough space to fit the new card.

 

[faxon]

he will need a 64bit OS to take advantage of any extra ram unfortunately, especially with a 1GB gfx card. i would look into more ram and a 64bit OS before spending more than the cost of a 4770 on a graphics card

 

[moonshire]

why would i need more ram especially wif a 1GB gfx card? u mean the ram affects the graphics card?

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: moonshire
why would i need more ram especially wif a 1GB gfx card? u mean the ram affects the graphics card?

Na you'll be fine. Just grab yourself another 2 gigs of ram for now.

gts 250's are $104.00 and 89.00$ after rebate now? And free Call of Duty WAW? Wow! Thats better then the 4770 (which are all out of stock) and faster too.

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: moonshire
why would i need more ram especially wif a 1GB gfx card? u mean the ram affects the graphics card?

Na you'll be fine. Just grab yourself another 2 gigs of ram for now.

gts 250's are $104.00 and 89.00$ after rebate now? And free Call of Duty WAW? Wow! Thats better then the 4770 (which are all out of stock) and faster too.

If the PSU is powerful enough to run a GTS250, I'd probably get this HIS ICEQ 4850 instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161244

$85 shipped AR, and has a really good cooler.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: vj8usa

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: moonshire
why would i need more ram especially wif a 1GB gfx card? u mean the ram affects the graphics card?

Na you'll be fine. Just grab yourself another 2 gigs of ram for now.

gts 250's are $104.00 and 89.00$ after rebate now? And free Call of Duty WAW? Wow! Thats better then the 4770 (which are all out of stock) and faster too.

If the PSU is powerful enough to run a GTS250, I'd probably get this HIS ICEQ 4850 instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161244

$85 shipped AR, and has a really good cooler.

I don't understand why you would recommend a card thats the same price ,runs hotter,needs more power ,and dosen't come with a free game.
And last I looked a gts 250 is faster also.

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: happy medium
I don't understand why you would recommend a card thats the same price ,runs hotter,needs more power ,and dosen't come with a free game.
And last I looked a gts 250 is faster also.

They're not the same price. The cheapest GTS250 on Newegg is about 15% more expensive than the 4850 I linked to, thanks to shipping (shipping came up as $7.91 for me, plus the base price after rebate is $5 more).

It doesn't run hotter. The card I linked to has an extremely nice non reference cooler, significantly better than the reference 4850 cooler and almost certainly superior to the GTS250's reference cooler as well.

The GTS250 does use less power, but the difference between it and the 4850 under load honestly isn't that great. If his PSU can't handle a 4850, odds are it won't handle a GTS250 either. That's why my first recommendation was the 4770, since it uses quite a bit less power than either the 250 or the 4850.

The game would certainly sweeten the 250 deal assuming you want it. If you're planning on getting the game regardless, the 250 may end up being the better purchase.

Also, I don't know what led you to believe the GTS250 is faster than the 4850. Go look up some benchmarks and get informed (and keep in mind the GTS250 and 9800GTX+ are interchangeable if you're looking at an older review). The cards are generally even in performance.

edit: I just noticed that that specific GTS250 takes an 8 pin power connector instead of a 6 pin. Does that mean it draws more power than the 6 pin ones?

 

[moonshire]

hey guys i appreciate all the help and information you have given me. Lol it made me realise that there is alot more than just making sure the motherboard is compatible with the graphics card.

Well.... i tried to open my pc casing with the help of my brother and... we just couldn't remove it. We unscrewed all the screws for the casing, but it just wouldnt come off! its like stuck there! maybe acer does this so that if you want to upgrade something, you would have to bring it to the acer shop or something. *sigh* its too troublesome. Perhaps a few years from now when i build up my own pc then ill have more freedom haha. and it will be cheaper than buying it from HP or dell or acer or something haha