Best card for under $100 that doesn't use PSU

[LarryJones1]

I recently got a Lenovo H430 pc. The one with an i5-3330. It has 8 gigs of ram and integrated Intel graphics. I don't know what PSU it has, but I'm assuming it's a really crappy PSU.

I've heard there are video cards that can get all the power they need from the PCI e slot or what have you... I'm guessing I should stick with a card like that for this crappy Lenovo.

By the way, speaking of the Lenovo, it's not a full size tower. I'm not sure what size vid card can fit in there. The PC is stilled sealed in it's retail box (it's a Christmas gift)

 

[Sunius]

What do you think the PCIe slot gets power from ? Even the weakest cards need a power supply unit that can support them. So you better check that power supply unit out. I cannot give you any recommendations before you do that.

 

[Guest]

You could probably get away with a GT 640 since it draws the power it needs from the PCIE slot itself (and if I am not mistaken, per the PCIE spec they supply up to 75 W alone.) The 640's spec'd to pull 65 W of that, so it's pretty much as good as your going to get (at least from Nvidia. I don't know about AMD.)

 

[LarryJones1]

What do you think the PCIe slot gets power from ? Even the weakest cards need a power supply unit that can support them. So you better check that power supply unit out. I cannot give you any recommendations before you do that.[/quietest]


yeah, what I mean is that I've heard that video cards that can get all their power from a PCI-e slot, usually can survive with weak sauce PSU

 

[Sunius]

You heard wrong. PCIe slot gets power from the power supply unit as well. If it's something like 220 watts, it will not support any discrete graphics card.

 

[forsaken2011]

For $99 you can get the 7750. It only uses power from the PCIe slot and it has Amazing graphics, I game with it and I don't regret a thing.

 

[LarryJones1]

You heard wrong. PCIe slot gets power from the power supply unit as well. If it's something like 220 watts, it will not support any discrete graphics card.

I see, I guess I'll have to open up the box, and open up the PC and examine things. It's a Christmas gift for the family. I didn't want to open it all up and everything. I'll have to see if I get some time with the family out of the house to open everything up and then put everything back, etc..

 

[LarryJones1]

Ok, I opened up the tower, and got the Power Supply model #

It has a HuntKey HK380 12GP S2 power supply. It's a 280 watt PSU.


Here is a picture of the motheboard:

If you look at that picture, you'll notice that the video card slot is really close to the two memory stick slots. I'm wondering if I could safely put a video card in there, or if it will end up bumping into the memory sticks.

Here is anoher pic of the inside of the tower:

I know that the PSU is a really crappy PSU, but the thing is, I was examining it, and it seems like it would be a SERIOUS pita to get that thing out of there, and put another PSU in there. It's like it's built onto the case, and not made to be removable.

 

[popatim]

280w is fine for a low power gpu.

 

[LarryJones1]

280w is fine for a low power gpu.

So, what are some examples of a low power gpu besides the 7750 ?

 

[mohit9206]

GT 640

 

[starcraftgod]

Best card for under $100 that doesn't use PSU are GT640 and HD7750:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125433
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125453

 

[mohit9206]

but 7750 is much better than 640

 

[LarryJones1]

but 7750 is much better than 640

I think I've heard that it uses slightly less power than a 640, so it's probably better from that aspect as well.


Is there a specific version of the 7750 that I should be looking for? Can I buy whichever 7750 Fry's ends up having a sale on in the near future, or do I need to make sure it's a specific brand ?

 

[popatim]

if you have a low profile or slimline pc, I think I remember yours was available as a slimline, then you need to make sure it is a low profile card.

 

[mohit9206]

I think I've heard that it uses slightly less power than a 640, so it's probably better from that aspect as well.


Is there a specific version of the 7750 that I should be looking for? Can I buy whichever 7750 Fry's ends up having a sale on in the near future, or do I need to make sure it's a specific brand ?

also make sure to not mistakenly get the 7750 ddr3 version . get only gddr5 version only coz ddr3 is much slower than gddr5.
get either sapphire or xfx or gigabyte

 

[LarryJones1]

Best answer selected by LarryJones1.