Have Lenovo 410 w/integrated intel core I5 graphics card, power supply 280w.

Tennis97

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Have a Lenovo Ideacentre K410 with 280 W PSU.

What is the best graphics card I can run on it. I am currently running an Intel HD 3000 chipset. Which I have heard is equal to a 5450.

Are there any better options that I purchase?

Was thinking along the lines of a 6670 or 7750
 
Solution


Only the 550 ti is available for purchase for end users. The 545 and 555 are OEM cards.

For a quick summary of performance, see this chart from Tom's newest review on the newly released GTX650 and 660:

AVG%20Perf%20LOW.png

Maxx_Power

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7750 will run fine on your computer. See from Toms review:

load%20power.png


From HardwareCanucks:

HD7770-58.jpg


Your computer is way less power hungry than the Tomshardware/HardwareCanucks default benchmark configuration, so I suspect your absolute full load while gaming wattage is <200 watts.

Also, the 7750 has roughly a 10-15 watt less TDP than the 6670, and nearly 1.5-2x the performance.
 

Tennis97

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Which of these two models would you suggest?

HIS - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161403

or

XFX core - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150612


just for referance. would either of these be fine?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150611

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150598

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102967

from what I could tell, they cant, but its always nice to know.


EDIT: almost forgot, in terms of 6670's, what would you reccomend
 

Maxx_Power

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I would suggest the Asus 7750:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121633

If only because I know the fan is very quiet (and Techpowerup concurs), and the fan is a 4 pin, PWM controlled fan, the GPU is shock mounted (not necessary, but nice to have), and the PCB is well cleaned before it left the factory. Mostly small subtle details, but since the cost is nearly the same...

Otherwise, if you prefer non-ASUS, then stay away from the Core edition by XFX. That one has the least warranty of all the cards you listed.

Of the 7770s you listed (you listed 3 7750s and 2 7770s), they MIGHT work in your computer, since the TDP is only about 20 watts higher on the 7770 compared to the 7750. But I don't recommend a 7770 for <300 W PSU. I'm almost certain you'll get away with a 7770 with your PSU, but you'll probably want to not load the PSU too close to its maximum when CPU+GPU are stressed, and you inadvertently plug in a USB hard drive or something. Plus, leaving the PSU not fully loaded should lower its temperatures and lengthen its life span.

At this point of time, I will NOT recommend a 6670. But if you HAVE to get a 6670 (although I'm not sure why), be absolutely sure to get one with GDDR5. The DDR3 version has less than half the memory bandwidth of the GDDR5 (full-fat) version.
 

Tennis97

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Sep 12, 2012
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Does the ASUS require a direct hookup to the PSU? or does it get its power from the motherboard?

And what kind of increase will a 7750 have versus the HD 3000
 

Maxx_Power

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The ASUS 7750 doesn't require a 6 pin PCI-E power connector. None of the currently on market 7750s require one. All the 7770s require one.

The performance over the HD 3000 is HUGE. At least several folds in performance. For reference, the HD3000 is about as fast as a HD5450 (nearly as fast), which by hierarchy:

HD3000 (intel)<HD5450<HD5550<HD5570<HD5670<HD6670<HD7750<HD7770

That's several tiers of cards in between.
 

Tennis97

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So all of them get their power through the motherboard?

and i had guessed as much, but wasnt sure exactly how much it was by
 

jtenorj

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Whoa, whoa, whoa. That psu may be rated at 280w, but how many amps(A) are on the +12v rail(if you don't know,
open the case and look at the label on the psu). The amperage on a power supplie's 12 volt rail is one of it's most
important specs nowadays since almost all components use it for power either directly or indirectly(the cpu and gpu
are by far the biggest culprits). If you overload your +12v rail, you risk your build going up in flames(not kidding).

I did a quick google search of your pc and the first thing that popped up was laptops. I limited the search to
desktops and got a few hits. Let me take a look at some results to try and figure out your options. Depending on
the form factor of your case, you may even require that a new gpu be low profile(half as wide as normal. Sit tight.
 

jtenorj

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Also, some power supplies cant even deliver 50-67% of their rated wattage without catching fire. Keep that in mind.

Edit: Are those power usage charts showing current pulled from the wall, or what the leads were delivering?
 

Tennis97

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the size is plenty large enough, i made sure of that. As for Ampreage, i believe its either 16 or 18 amps
 

jtenorj

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Sorry. didn't mean to freak you out. just got to think not only of your pc, but your house/apartment and neighbor-
hood/apartment building as well. 16-18A is 192-216w. is your cpu a sandy i5 at 95w or an ivy i5 with 77w?
hd7750 is 55w(unless you overclock), but none of them should get close to the maximum tdp, even if you ran
prime 95 and furmark at the same time. i had to get a quick bite and am headed to church shortly, but wont be
gone long and this is the first thing I'll check when I get back. Just don't rush into a buying decision without all
the available info you can get(maybe you and/or some other posters will beat me to it).
 

Maxx_Power

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The Lenovo the OP has is a brand name box, and the PSU will deliver that wattage. I have never seen a brand name box where the brand decided to allow mis-labelling to occur on their components. This isn't like Diablotek. Lenovo as well as Dell, HP, so on, will never be caught dead installing crap PSUs that deliver half rated power. Lenovo PSUs are usually made by Delta or LiteON as well, which makes them fairly good PSUs.

The power usage charts are at the WALL, so actual power pulled from PSU is even less (typically 80% of WALL, for 80% efficient PSUs).

I'm currently powering a HD4670 on a 250 watt PSU with a C2D system that pulls maximally about 150 watts from the wall as measured with maximal OCCT load.
 

Maxx_Power

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It is the same as all the other generic 7750+brand name heatsink combinations. The MAIN selling point of MOST XFX cards is the lifetime warranty. You pay about 10% more upfront, for a life time of coverage. They reduced the terms somewhat lately, so you don't get it on all XFX cards, and when you do, it is nolonger transferrable to a 2nd owner.

So it depends if you want that lifetime warranty or not. If you do, then XFX.
 

jtenorj

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Hi there. me again. what is the model of your cpu? how many +12v rails on your psu? how many amps on those
rails? what is the combined max +12v output of your psu? It is best to have a single high amperage +12 rail vs
several lower amperage +12v rails that need to be properly balanced. hd7770 is 80w and needs a 6pin pcie lead.
hd6670 is 65w and gets all the power it needs from the mobo's peg slot. hd7750 is only 55w.

I would save some money and get the HIS 7750. The cooler looks kinda puny, but reviewers say it does a good job
of keeping the gpu cool while staying quiet, even when OCed.

I don't know about gtx555, but hd7750 should be between gt545 and gtx550ti as far as perfomance is concerned
(potentially faster than gtx550ti when OCed). It of course uses far less power and doesn't require a pcie 6pin lead.
 

Maxx_Power

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Only the 550 ti is available for purchase for end users. The 545 and 555 are OEM cards.

For a quick summary of performance, see this chart from Tom's newest review on the newly released GTX650 and 660:

AVG%20Perf%20LOW.png
 
Solution

Maxx_Power

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I know, and the GTX 650 has a PCi-E 6 pin power even though it doesn't need it... AND, the GTX 650 is really, really late to compete with the 7750, plus there are low profile 7750s with full performance out there. I don't even get the point of the GT640.
 

Maxx_Power

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Both cards were reviewed at Techpowerup, and noise wise the HIS is 2db's quieter, but thermals wise, the ASUS is far ahead, see below:

ASUS:

temp.gif


HIS:

temp.gif


Since OP has a Lenovo K410 (which doesn't have a lot of fans), I would suspect that the ASUS should be better temperature wise in his computer.
 

Maxx_Power

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Oh, and I thought I'd mention that ASUS is in the top tier (and gets first dibs on silicon) in terms of graphics and mobo. So their engineering is top notch. Intel even said so about ASUS's engineering capabilities in their recent interview here on Toms.