Decision on card/PSU

techangel

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Sep 30, 2009
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I have an HP Pavilion a6720y http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9249495&st=a6720y&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1218068107386, with a second tb hard drive installed. I'm currently running the Windows 7 RC on it. I play World of Warcraft exclusively, for now.

It comes with a vga and dvi onboard, but due to... something..., I can't plug anything into the dvi port. So, I'm taking that as a sign that I need a new video card. I happily took off to bestbuy.com and started looking at the video cards. That's when I noticed a little thing called wattage on the PSU. Of which, I only have 300... on a brand new machine.. grr.

So.

I'm looking at two cards. An NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9182859&type=product&id=1218049410617 and or a XFX - ATI RADEON HD 4350http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9270969&type=product&id=1218072892035

The Nvidia would require me to replace my psu. Of which, I'm look at replacing it with http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9175698&type=product&id=1218045946501.

Since it already has a Geforce 9100, one person I talked to was afraid there could be IRQ resource conflicts with my onboard.

I'm not married to any of these, if someone thinks a different card/psu would work better. My only constraint is that everything must come from Best Buy. I'd love to support Newegg, but they don't take BB credit cards. 😉

Thank you, everyone, for reading this, and any help you may be able to give!
 
Solution
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102854
The 4670 has the distinction of being the strongest card available that does not require an extra power connector, it is fairly cheap and definitely the best option. If you look here you will see that the 4670 is 5 tiers above even the 9500GT
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2404-7.html
Get a temporary credit card number from your bank that is tied to one of your bank accounts so you can buy it online, it will save you quite a bit and best buy has a really crappy selection all of which are overpriced.

If it really must come from best buy you can get either of these
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8992593&type=product&id=1218007083797...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102854
The 4670 has the distinction of being the strongest card available that does not require an extra power connector, it is fairly cheap and definitely the best option. If you look here you will see that the 4670 is 5 tiers above even the 9500GT
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2404-7.html
Get a temporary credit card number from your bank that is tied to one of your bank accounts so you can buy it online, it will save you quite a bit and best buy has a really crappy selection all of which are overpriced.

If it really must come from best buy you can get either of these
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8992593&type=product&id=1218007083797
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9254585&type=product&id=1218069451494
The 4650 is slightly slower but significantly cheaper in this case so i would go for that one.

Just make sure you disable your onboard GPU when you add in the video card.
 
Solution
The Best Buy PSU link you provided doesn't come up with anything, but I went to the site and looked at the PSUs, and it looks like it is an older BFG. That is not a good one; see the little red voltage switch? Also to be avoided are any Dynex or Rocketfish. Both have been tested at a couple of different sites (jonnyguru and hardwaresecrets) and found to be overrated pieces of fecal matter, especially the Dynex. Any of the Antec or Corsair units would be good; even the 400W Corsair would have no trouble with a 4670 or 9600GT (or anything less).
 
1. 1GB on a 4670 is useless even at higher resolutions since the card isn't nearly powerful enough to use it

2. Newegg > BestBuy...I suggest you save that BB card for something else...Best buy has a high markup on video cards. Save that gift card for flashdrives or movies or such...