Need a smaller fast video card.....

[Mackie2k]

Hey all,

Just picked up a HP dc7800 tower, it came with a Nvidia 8400 GS, works ok, but sucks bad at 1900x1200 I'm running it at for games.

The problem is they put the CPU too close the slot, so I can't get much bigger of card in there....6.5 inches is how big the 8400 GS is, and I dont think I could get much longer. I've circled the problems, 2 capacitors and the fan power hookup. Other than those two things, my 8800 GT fit perfectly....

Any thoughts of some cards I could go with? The website you can purchase my system says it can take a ATI 2400 XT.....looking at reviews right now to see how that compares to the 8400 GS.

ATI, nvidia, I dont care....I just want it to be as fast as possible and fit right.

Here are some pics for reference:
comp1.jpg
comp2.jpg

 

[ther00kie16]

Looks like 8600gt will fit. The new HD 3650 will also fit.
Also, not all 8800GTs have the same dimensions.
8800GT 256MB
8800GT 512MB
Those are the 2 8800GTs I can find that are shorter than the reference cards. Judging from lengths, it looks like they will just reach the cpu fan connector on your board. However, if it's not in the same line as the video card, then they will probably fit just by routing the wire around the card.
The Chaintech doesn't have any components sticking out at the bottom corner so it looks like an ok fit. The Gigabyte one looks iffy.

 

[BernardP]

If you can wait one or two months, you will be able to get a 9500GT that's going to be a bit faster than the 8600GTS and about the size of the 8600GT. No external power connector required either.

Here it is

As it is now, the model tested is not even running at the eventual default clocks of 650/1650/1800 and already exceeding 8600GT performance.

The review on PC Online has more info, but you have to use Google to translate it from chinese. The last page discusses clock speeds

 

[ajaidevsingh]

Just saw it on web somewhere ASUS will maybe launch a 3850 which has a smaller former factor...!!

 

[Mackie2k]

Originally posted by: ther00kie16
Looks like 8600gt will fit. The new HD 3650 will also fit.
Also, not all 8800GTs have the same dimensions.
8800GT 256MB
8800GT 512MB
Those are the 2 8800GTs I can find that are shorter than the reference cards. Judging from lengths, it looks like they will just reach the cpu fan connector on your board. However, if it's not in the same line as the video card, then they will probably fit just by routing the wire around the card.
The Chaintech doesn't have any components sticking out at the bottom corner so it looks like an ok fit. The Gigabyte one looks iffy.

Thanks for the info.

We took the card down to a local computer store, and found that the EVGA 8600 GT was a perfect match, exactly the same size with about 2-3x the performance.

I think the 8600GTS would've fit also, it was about 1/2-3/4 inch longer, but it required a external power supply and with the HP only being 375 watt, I wanted to be careful.

I'm installing UT3 demo right now so we'll see how it does.

Thank you all for your help