A gamble of the graphics (and maybe mobo + ram)

Katokato · Apr 29, 2010

ok. as youve known i recently upgraded my power supply successfully. now it is time for a graphics card upgrade.

I have this motherboard (half way down the page you will see my motherboard's diagram) (atm all of the ram slots are filled): Motherboard Specifications, M2N68-LA (Narra2) HP Pavilion a6110n Desktop PC - HP Customer Care (Canada - English)

This is the graphics card that ive been looking at: Newegg.com - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

my hunch is that it is going to bump the ram a little bit. what i want to know is that if it bumps my ram, will it still work? (all ram slots are filled). If necessary i can remove one of my ram cards.

What i want to know is is is that graphics card going to fit on my pcie X16? Its a gamble but i dont gamble 130 dollars worth of silicone, metal, and plastic (gosh i can hardly even spend 5 dollars on something).

Please help me out here(give thoughtful insight).

And no im not looking to upgrade my case/mobo soon.

THanks

Ed Canuck · Apr 30, 2010

Hi Kato,

There's no reason it shouldn't fit in your PCIE slot.

With 1GB of memory, the only effect on your RAM should be to reduce the usable RAM on your system. You've already got 4GB with 3.3 usable; that 3.3 is going to go down, probably by the difference between 1GM and the size of your current 6150 card's memory, as the video memory uses your general RAM (see The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed).

You'll have to weigh the pros and cons.

Ed

iseeuu · Apr 30, 2010

Hello Katokato;

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems your main concern is the length of the video card physically making contact with the memory sticks? Not to worry. If you look at the pictures of the video cards on Newegg, the side of the video card, the back side, is flat and has no electronics that would keep it from inserting correctly in the PCIe x16 slot. What you would have is that the thumb catch that holds the memory stick secure (plastic) might touch the back of the card (not a problem), however you would NOT be able to open that thumb catch to remove the memory stick until you first remove the video card, a minor inconvenience.

If you want to make sure you have no clearance issues, you can use the next slot, the little brown slot, PCIe x1, with a video card like this one: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,PCI Express x1

I am wondering about your choice of video card, the XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1G. Now I am not criticizing your choice, just wondering? At some time in the future are you planning to purchase a second identical video card and put the two cards in one computer and link them with the "Cross fire" feature? If so, fine. But if not, why are you paying for stuff you are not going to use? Isn't that a waste of money?

Seriously, I am not a gamer. I do not purchase the newest electronics as they are released just to have the fastest system possible. For one, I can't afford that. Second, I do not see the value of bragging rights in having bigger, or faster, or more memory etc. I am more into the fastest computer for the least amount of money, so I purchase last years best, or even two year old components because they sell for 10 cents on the dollar from when they were the latest and hottest new item.

Honestly, I don't think you can measure the difference in performance on your HP computer if your video card had 512 MB or 1 GB of memory. But I did see some other 1 GB video cards, without the "Cross Fire", for less than the Radeon 5750 but very close in specs:

$70: XFX HD-545X-ZHF2 Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16

$80: XFX HD-557X-ZHF2 Radeon HD 5570 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express

The thing about building a killer gaming computer system is to remember the performance is always limited by the weakest link. All of the components must be equally matched to use the max from each one. If I had the money ($5,000 for example) it would be a blast to research and locate the fastest matched set of components available. I would really enjoy the challenge. There are some members of Seven Forums that do that for fun full time. You could learn a lot from them.

In your case, I would suggest you start saving up your money, putting it away in a savings account until you can build yourself that killer computer. For example, both of these cards would scream in your computer:

XFX HD-545X-YNH2 Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express

XFX PVT94GYAJG GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express

and they are both about $55, allowing you to make a good start on your "Killer Gaming Computer" project savings account!

Of course in the end the decisions are yours, and if you derive pleasure from your computer after investing in your new components, you will never hear criticism from me. Been there, done that, wish I had some of that money now! <BG>

Cheers, my friend!
Robert

Katokato · Apr 30, 2010

iseeuu said:
Hello Katokato;

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems your main concern is the length of the video card physically making contact with the memory sticks? Not to worry. If you look at the pictures of the video cards on Newegg, the side of the video card, the back side, is flat and has no electronics that would keep it from inserting correctly in the PCIe x16 slot. What you would have is that the thumb catch that holds the memory stick secure (plastic) might touch the back of the card (not a problem), however you would NOT be able to open that thumb catch to remove the memory stick until you first remove the video card, a minor inconvenience.

Just because both of the discrete and integrated card have both 1gb memory (intergrated has 128 mb dedicated the rest is shared), the intergrated takes slower to access the infromation in the system RAM, than it takes to access its own memory dedicated to drawing pictures, therfore since the discrete card has 1gb of its own dedicated memory, it will be faster to retrieve the data on its own memory set/chips, because it is closer to itself and the pcie bus, than that of the ram's.

If you want to make sure you have no clearance issues, you can use the next slot, the little brown slot, PCIe x1, with a video card like this one: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,PCI Express x1

I am wondering about your choice of video card, the XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1G. Now I am not criticizing your choice, just wondering? At some time in the future are you planning to purchase a second identical video card and put the two cards in one computer and link them with the "Cross fire" feature? If so, fine. But if not, why are you paying for stuff you are not going to use? Isn't that a waste of money?

Seriously, I am not a gamer. I do not purchase the newest electronics as they are released just to have the fastest system possible. For one, I can't afford that. Second, I do not see the value of bragging rights in having bigger, or faster, or more memory etc. I am more into the fastest computer for the least amount of money, so I purchase last years best, or even two year old components because they sell for 10 cents on the dollar from when they were the latest and hottest new item.

Honestly, I don't think you can measure the difference in performance on your HP computer if your video card had 512 MB or 1 GB of memory. But I did see some other 1 GB video cards, without the "Cross Fire", for less than the Radeon 5750 but very close in specs:

$70: XFX HD-545X-ZHF2 Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16

$80: XFX HD-557X-ZHF2 Radeon HD 5570 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express

The thing about building a killer gaming computer system is to remember the performance is always limited by the weakest link. All of the components must be equally matched to use the max from each one. If I had the money ($5,000 for example) it would be a blast to research and locate the fastest matched set of components available. I would really enjoy the challenge. There are some members of Seven Forums that do that for fun full time. You could learn a lot from them.

In your case, I would suggest you start saving up your money, putting it away in a savings account until you can build yourself that killer computer. For example, both of these cards would scream in your computer:

XFX HD-545X-YNH2 Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express

XFX PVT94GYAJG GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express

and they are both about $55, allowing you to make a good start on your "Killer Gaming Computer" project savings account!

Of course in the end the decisions are yours, and if you derive pleasure from your computer after investing in your new components, you will never hear criticism from me. Been there, done that, wish I had some of that money now! <BG>

Cheers, my friend!
Robert

Thanks for your support. I got 130 dlrs to burn and i willl use it on the gpu. The thing is, is that im very very tired of having 15 frames per second on combat arms or getting 20 fps on guild wars (very choppy), and i am thinking of running it in 1248X1024 resolution, so it will play without any problems. The reason why i posted this is that i wanted you guys's thoughts on what would happen or how it would touch the memory banks. (so far 3 people told me that it should fit in the pcie correctly). And when you think about it, for the price this card is a great card! Low profile video cards wont do the job unfortunately (im looking to game with this computer). And also i think it will be a great learning experience for me (whether i fail or not). No, i am not willing to crossfire (only if i get 2 pcie x1 cards), as you can see that i have only 1 pcieX16 slot.

Im just asking (not to be mean), but how am i not going to use this card if i buy it, and sucessfully install it in my computer, disable the integrated graphics, enable the discrete one via the bios?

Even if the nvidia 6150se will play all of the games i throw at it, i dont want to reduce the graphics so much to look like that they are 5-10 years old.

Katokato · Apr 30, 2010

Ed Canuck said:
Hi Kato,

There's no reason it shouldn't fit in your PCIE slot.

With 1GB of memory, the only effect on your RAM should be to reduce the usable RAM on your system. You've already got 4GB with 3.3 usable; that 3.3 is going to go down, probably by the difference between 1GM and the size of your current 6150 card's memory, as the video memory uses your general RAM (see The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed).

You'll have to weigh the pros and cons.

Ed

Also thanks for your response, i will be disabling onboard graphics after i install my discrete graphics card. (nvidia 6150se intergraated you know it cant game). The reason why i am going to buy this card in the first place, is so i can be able to play my games without it being choppy, and no i dont plan to show off as this isnt a killer machine, even if it was showing off would reflect a negative effect on me rather than a positive one.\
But now, another thought which holds my mind back, is my processor ok to run with the hd radeon 5750?
Thanks for your thoughts, Kelvin.
Oh and is pcie 2.1 backwards compatible with pcie 1.0? <<- doesnt really relate to the issue but i couldnt find the answer in google.

Katokato · May 1, 2010

anyone?

A gamble of the graphics (and maybe mobo + ram)

Katokato

Banned

My Computer

System One

Ed Canuck

My Computer

System One

iseeuu

My Computer

System One

Katokato

Banned

My Computer

System One

Katokato

Banned

My Computer

System One

Katokato

Banned

My Computer

System One