250W PSU, looking for a compatible graphics card

[jordanjor2]

Hey guys I have a Packard Bell imedia S3840 with a tiny 250W power supply. I currently only used the intergrated graphics but it is not really sufficient to play the games that I want to play (CS:GO, total war games, PUBG) Can I get some suggestions on a decent graphics card I can get to make these games somewhat playable.
Thanks

 

[Barty1884]

Looks to be a second Gen i series? So 95W CPU.

You likely don't have a lot of room to play with, and that PSU *may* use proprietary connectors, making a replacement difficult.

a GT1030 *might* be ok on such a low PSU..... but it might be a little underwhelming for PUBG.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Nvidia recommends a 300 watt PSU for the 1030. Nvidia does not know what your system power requirements are, so it is an estimation and they would shoot higher than you would probably need. The 1030 would probably be able to run on a 250 watt system.

I am not sure where you live, but seasonic has a pretty good deal on their PSUs right now and $30 could get rid of the problem all together if the case can support the PSU.

A 1050 would be a nice jump from your integrated graphics if you also got a new PSU.

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jHnVZ8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jHnVZ8/by_merchant/

Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1050 2GB Mini Video Card ($112.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($35.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $148.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-27 11:17 EDT-0400

 

[jordanjor2]

Nvidia recommends a 300 watt PSU for the 1030. Nvidia does not know what your system power requirements are, so it is an estimation and they would shoot higher than you would probably need. The 1030 would probably be able to run on a 250 watt system.

I am not sure where you live, but seasonic has a pretty good deal on their PSUs right now and $30 could get rid of the problem all together if the case can support the PSU.

A 1050 would be a nice jump from your integrated graphics if you also got a new PSU.

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jHnVZ8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jHnVZ8/by_merchant/

Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1050 2GB Mini Video Card ($112.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($35.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $148.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-27 11:17 EDT-0400

I dont know if its possible to replace the PSU with the current size/setup/model of the case. Would it be possible to just buy a better case and transfer the components to the new one?

 

[King_V]

Can you read the label on the power supply? It would be helpful to know the total amount of power available on the 12V rail.

That said, assuming you can get over 200W total sustained on the 12V rail, any PCIe video card that does NOT need a connector will do . . . BUT - judging by the photos I've seen of the iMedia S3840, it looks like you're limited to single-slot video cards.

There are a few options out there, though some searching for single-slot solutions might be in order.

However, we'd definitely need to know for sure how many amps are available on the 12V rail(s), and what CPU you have (the Pentium and i3 for example take 65W whereas the i5 and some i7s take 95W).