I actually bought the Sparkle 9800 GT card from Newegg, as well as the SeaSonic SS-300TFX 300W PSU to upgrade my little Gateway SX 2800. Bad mistake, but with a happy ending.
First off, the graphics card fits lengthwise, but since the slot is the furthest on the upper right hand corner, the fan on the card and its casing just won't fit. It's about half an inch off. There's enough space under the PCI slot, but the genius who designed the PC case fitted the motherboard so that the graphics card's bottom faces up and hits against the top of the case.
Secondly, the Seasonic PSU didn't fit. After removing the stock PSU, and trying to maneuver the new one in, I was basically covering the holes where the screws go on the case to hold the motherboard in place -- and the PSU still wouldn't fit in the tiny case. The original PSU was definitely designed specifically for the case.
I was pissed. The card cannot be returned unless it has something wrong with it. Newegg has this item listed as not eligible for refunds (I'm wondering about the quality right about now). So I was stuck.
I took everything out of the case, motherboard, PSU and all, and connected the graphics card and larger PSU just to try everything out. I fell in love. This little card is a beast. Runs Crysis at HIGH settings and 1680 x 1050 at about 30 fps. Runs everything else I've thrown at it on highest settings at or about 55 to 60 fps (Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty 4, Fallout).
I ended up replacing the internals of the old PSU with the internals of the new PSU, "gerrymandering" the circuitry and wires (not recommended). I also used a dremel and cut a hole the size of the card right so it would fit. The new PSU has a bunch of wires, more than the old, so just getting everything arranged was tricky. The fan of the new PSU had to fit outside the casing, but I made sure there was proper ventilation (again not recommended).
Once I made sure everything was fit and snug and working fine, I put it all together and was actually pretty impressed with the result. Instead of looking like some maniacal hack job, it looks like a mod I meant to do, really nice and slick. The graphics card doesn't jut out, it's flush with the plastic on top of the case. Everything fits nicely inside, and I can lug it around wherever I want very easily. I'm very happy.
Again, I do not recommend the PSU mod, since if you're not careful, you can expose the internal circuitry and open yourself up to a nasty shock.
To sum it all up, this PC is NOT graphics card friendly. Even if a card fits, you're still cutting all the ventilation with the case being so close. Unless you're willing to go the lengths I have, it took me about five hours to do everything (I measured five times and cut once, lol) you're better off with a larger case. Or at least a slimline that has been proven to be easily upgradeable. Just wanted to make sure all my other SX 2800 buddies knew what they were getting themselves into before they tried upgrading.
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