looking for some graphics card pointers

[Weiss Pinguin]

Okay, so I 'inherited' a HP slimline (s3020n), and now I'm wondering what I can do with it graphics-wise, and I thought I'd ask the geniuses in for advice. Specs are here

Now that I finally have a machine with a PCI-e slot I'm having an orgasm just thinking about what kind of card I can finally run... obviously whatever I do I'll have to bump up the PSU as well. Also price limit is $75. Really, now that I've calmed down again, I'm mainly looking for something that'll run a game like SH4 on medium-high settings. Also I haven't kept up with graphics cards in the last couple of years because looking at them just made me want to cut myself, so I have no idea what's going on at the moment.

Anyways

[the_tyrant]

I would say an ati 3850
don't know how much it would cost on ebay though

[JSLTIGER]

OK...good news and bad news.

Good news first: PCI-E is the bus you need to run modern graphics cards.

Bad news: Your options are EXTREMELY limited, mostly because of the form factor. Slimline computers are a PITA to get graphics cards for and you can almost never get the high end cards (they're too big for the form factor). Slimline cards also tend to be more expensive than their full size counterparts...

My ATI recommendation for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102874

My nvidia recommendation: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500177

Neither of these cards are great for gaming, but they're likely the best you're going to be able to do for the slimline form factor (and not to mention the $75 budget).

[Arclight]

You really want to stick another GB of RAM in there as well, me thinks.

[Weiss Pinguin]

Originally Posted by JSLTIGER

OK...good news and bad news.

Good news first: PCI-E is the bus you need to run modern graphics cards.

Bad news: Your options are EXTREMELY limited, mostly because of the form factor. Slimline computers are a PITA to get graphics cards for and you can almost never get the high end cards (they're too big for the form factor). Slimline cards also tend to be more expensive than their full size counterparts.

Yeah, after poking around the intertubes a little bit, my raging nerdboner kind of died. Also, I was just looking at those two cards, haha. Yeah I guess they won't be able to keep up with anything released in the next year or two, but anything is better than the GeForce 5200 I used to run. Another thing is the power supply... I hadn't thought of the tiny case when I started looking around at PSU's, any ideas on where to start looking for something that'll fit into a 4 inch wide case?

You really want to stick another GB of RAM in there as well, me thinks.

Yep, we stuck in another stick of RAM a while back. 2GB is nothing to brag about, but it's better than nothing

[Weiss Pinguin]

Okay, another (probably stupid) question: the specs on these cards state the minimum required watts and then something like 'Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 22 Amps'

What happens if you try to run a card with a PSU that gives less than the recommended amps?

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Weiss Pinguin

Okay, another (probably stupid) question: the specs on these cards state the minimum required watts and then something like 'Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 22 Amps'

What happens if you try to run a card with a PSU that gives less than the recommended amps?

Maybe CTD? Since it can not deliver the necessary

[Feuer Frei!]

Originally Posted by Weiss Pinguin

Okay, another (probably stupid) question: the specs on these cards state the minimum required watts and then something like 'Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 22 Amps'

What happens if you try to run a card with a PSU that gives less than the recommended amps?

Running on the skimpy side is dangerous,
because the system can shut down without warning, possibly corrupting data on your hard drive.
Amongst other things happening as well ofc.
There really is a reason why gpu manufacturers recommend minimum requirements!