Upgrading to a new GFX card on my Hp Pavilion a6700f

My parents bought this computer for me last year from Circuit City for $600. At first I was like "YES!!!! I can finally play good games on this computer. We were surprised by how "good" it was and the price compared to that. Well, last year my definition of good games had to do with low graphics. Now that I'm older and games have gotten better, I need a new graphics card. Now that Black Friday is coming up, I have a great chance at low prices. I need a new PSU (Power Processing Unit) to accommodate the greater power I need for a new card. What PSU should I get? Then I need the card itself, which needs to be able to fit into the right port in the computer. What is a good but not too expensive graphics card? Some more help I could use is knowing what ports for video cards does an a6700f have? PCI, PCI express, AGP, and/or etc.? Another thing could be a picture of the internals in the tower. I want to know what I will see before I open up the cover. Somebody please help, I need to find out all these things fast before Black Friday sneaks up on me. Thanks!

You first need to determine if your motherboard supports PCIe, AGP or PCI.

Use this picture to figure that out.




Once you have gone that far, what is your budget?

Hello Endrane,
Even if you upgrade your GPU, you still have 1.8 GHz CPU, so you are still going to have a problem, these new games want that as a minimum, (if not more) and with a 300W PSU, it's not looking good.

Here are your full specs.

General

• Platform Technology AMD LIVE!
• Type Personal computer
• Recommended Use Home use
• Product Form Factor Tower
• Width 6.9 in
• Depth 16.3 in
• Height 15.2 in
• Weight 21.2 lbs
• Localization English / United States
• Desktop type Budget desktop system

Processor

• Type AMD Phenom X4 9150e / 1.8 GHz
• Multi-Core processor technology Quad-Core
• 64-bit processor Yes
• Installed Qty 1
• Max processors supported 1

Mainboard

• Mainboard processor socket Socket AM2+
• Chipset type NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE / nForce 430
• Data bus speed 1000 MHz

RAM

• Installed Size 4 GB / 8 GB (max)
• Technology DDR2 SDRAM
• Memory Speed 800 MHz
• Memory Specification Compliance PC2-6400
• Form Factor DIMM 240-pin
• Configuration Features 4 x 1 GB

Storage Controller

• Type 1 x Serial ATA - Integrated

Storage Controller (2nd)

• Type None

Storage

• Floppy drive type None
• Hard Drive 1 x 500 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm
• Hard Drive (2nd) None

Optical Storage

• Type DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - Serial ATA
• CD / DVD read speed 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD)
• CD / DVD write speed 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 8x (DVD±R DL)
• CD / DVD rewrite speed 32x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 12x (DVD-RAM)
• Disc Labeling Technology LightScribe Technology

Optical Storage (2nd)

• Type None

Storage Removable

• Type None

Monitor

• Monitor Type None.

Graphics Controller

• Type Integrated
• Graphics Processor / Vendor NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Shared video memory (UMA)
• Total Available Graphics Memory 1343 MB

Audio Output

• Type Sound card - Integrated
• Sound output mode 7.1 channel surround
• Audio output compliant standards High Definition Audio
• Speaker(s) None

Input Device

• Type Mouse , Keyboard

Mouse

• Mouse technology Optical
• Mouse interface PS/2

Telecom

• Modem None

Audio Input

• Type None

Networking

• Networking Network adapter - Integrated
• Data Link Protocol Ethernet , IEEE 802.11b , IEEE 802.11g , Fast Ethernet
• Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11b , IEEE 802.11g

Expansion / Connectivity

• Expansion Bays Total (Free) 2 ( 1 ) x Front accessible - 5.25" x 1/2H , 2 ( 1 ) x Internal - 3.5" x 1/3H , 1 ( 1 ) x Front accessible - 3.5" x 1/3H , 1 ( 1 ) x Pocket Media Drive bay , 1 ( 1 ) x Personal Media Drive bay
• Expansion Slots Total (Free) 1 ( 1 ) x PCI , 1 ( 0 ) x Processor , 4 ( 0 ) x Memory - DIMM 240-pin , 2 ( 2 ) x PCI Express x1 , 1 ( 0 ) x PCI Express x16
• Interfaces 6 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A ( 2 in front ) , 2 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) ( 1 in front ) , 1 x Display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) , 1 x Keyboard - Generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) , 1 x Mouse - Generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) , 1 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 , 1 x Headphones - Output - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ) , 2 x Microphone - Input - Mini-phone 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ) , 2 x Audio - Line-in - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ) , 1 x Audio - Line-out - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm , 1 x Audio - SPDIF output - RCA

Printer

• Type None

Power

• Power device type Power supply
• Power devices installed 1
• Power provided 300 Watt

Operating System / Software

• OS Provided Microsoft Windows Vista , Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
• Software My HP Games , Muvee Reveal , Microsoft Works , HP MediaSmart DVD , CyberLink DVD Suite , HP MediaSmart Suite , HP Recovery Manager , HP Total Care Advisor , HP Help and Support Center , Microsoft Internet Explorer , Microsoft Windows DVD Maker , Microsoft Windows Movie Maker , Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 (Trial) , Norton Internet Security 2009 (60 days subscription)

Card Reader

• Card reader 15 in 1 card reader
• Supported flash memory cards RS-MMC , miniSD , Microdrive , Memory Stick , MultiMediaCard , SD Memory Card , SmartMedia Card , xD-Picture Card , Memory Stick Duo , Memory Stick Pro , MultiMediaCardplus , Memory Stick PRO Duo , MultiMediaCardmobile , CompactFlash Card type I , CompactFlash Card type II

hm... for some reason it says he doesn't have any free..... and yes it is a 1.8..... but its also a quad.... so yes it will hold it back... but... it should let something along the lines of a 9800 run at its peak.... i would think

I suppose he could overclock it, if the Bios isn't locked. 2.3GHz at least.

Would a GeForce 9400 work out well with my comp? It was only $50 on Newegg, maybe less on Black Friday! If 300W wouldn't cut the minimum power supply for it, what is the best GeForce that would work with 300W, I really want to avoid buying a new PSU. It uses the PCI x16, and reading from stony's specs he provided (big thanks), I have one of those available. This site is a HUGE help, thanks all I will use it forever :D Please give feedback for the 9400 or the highest one that 300W can power. I'm really looking forward to a new card. Thanks again for all the help! Oh yeah hopefully my BIOs aren't locked (I have no idea how to check)

i think the 9400 will..... never used one myself though...

We can talk you through the Bios,
I think you should seriously think about upgrading your PSU. You can get some cheap PSU's at the moment, i would say, to be on the safe side, a 450W minimum.
At some stage in the future, you may want to add more upgrades, so if your going to change the PSU, get a good one.

BFG 450-Watt ATX Black Power Supply at TigerDirect.com
Is that a good Power Supply? Its 450W.
Wait, scratch that, look at this.
Newegg.com - XFX PVT95GZAFG GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
People with 250W PSUs are using it fine, no problems. Thats because I read on the Nvidia site that it uses thermal energy, it only needs about 75W for extra power. I have a 300W, that should be good! Maybe I don't need a PSU, I won't be upgrading it much more. The next thing I'll do is just get a new computer. This is great, please review this option.

hm......... should work........

You have to remember that it is a budget card, so don't expect too much from it.

I don't want to really play games like Crysis in Maxed settings, just maybe Battlestations: Pacific on low, Battlefield Heroes on Maxed :D, and maybe stuff like COD4 and Battlefield 1942/3. I checked its benchmarks with those games, it works fine. Yayyy

Can you add that big a power supply to a HP factory unit I wanted a sparrow in mine but could not get it to run the tech said it was probably my power supply but I might have a hard time upgradeing.Also heard that 350 was about max for HP.I'd keep my reciept.