[SOLVED] I want to game smoothly.

Aug 14, 2020
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I got this refurbished PC pretty cheaply on amazon and its been doing its job, however I recently picked up PC gaming as well, FPS games to boot. My computer seems to have decent processing power and RAM (3.1GHz & 8GB) however my computer severely struggles with the frames per second. I believe it is because I have the Intel(R) HD Graphics 2000 (integrated) I am thinking of buying a new graphics card but I am not knowledgeable enough to know which to buy for my specific computer or how to place it in, although I believe I can manage the second half.
My PC: HP Compaq 6200 Pro Small Form Factor
 
Solution
Make sure the card fits for sure, I looked up specifications for your model of PC:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/5...phone output, and a microphone/headphone jack

The main thing I noticed was "Low profile expansion slots" and when googling that got this:

A slim or low profile computer case is narrower in dimension or has lesser width and can accommodate only mini-ITX or up to micro-ATX motherboards. These slim cases also have limited expansion slots and generally, you can only fit low profile expansion cards in them whether it is a graphics card, sound card or any other card.

What...
I got this refurbished PC pretty cheaply on amazon and its been doing its job, however I recently picked up PC gaming as well, FPS games to boot. My computer seems to have decent processing power and RAM (3.1GHz & 8GB) however my computer severely struggles with the frames per second. I believe it is because I have the Intel(R) HD Graphics 2000 (integrated) I am thinking of buying a new graphics card but I am not knowledgeable enough to know which to buy for my specific computer or how to place it in, although I believe I can manage the second half.
My PC: HP Compaq 6200 Pro Small Form Factor

Need to know the actual model of 6200.

Odds are there's not much you can do as far as upgrades on that machine.
 
Aug 14, 2020
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Maybe you can find a rx 580 8gb for 140 on the used market. If ur lucky maybe even a 1060 6gb, but all this depends on where you live. I would recommend buying a used card though, since you can't get a 'good' card new at this pricepoint.
you sure it wont be too many watts? I dont know too much but I wanna know if you considered the watts and if it fits in my computer please
 
Aug 11, 2020
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you sure it wont be too many watts? I dont know too much but I wanna know if you considered the watts and if it fits in my computer please
Yeah kinda forgot about that:sweatsmile: Maybe you can find a 970 or similar used and buy a 550-650 watt psu for around $50.

It is kinda hard since upgrading low-end pre-builds isn't really worth it.
 
Aug 14, 2020
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Yeah kinda forgot about that:sweatsmile: Maybe you can find a 970 or similar used and buy a 550-650 watt psu for around $50.

It is kinda hard since upgrading low-end pre-builds isn't really worth it.
Yeah I don't wanna revamp the pc (or am confident enough to) however I still game on here with this dumb intel card so a decent upgrade that will make it so that I dont have to resize the window into small just to experience 30fps goodness, I want to play at fullscreen at 30 fps also I found a card but I dont know if it will fit
AMD Radeon R7 240 2gb
 
Aug 11, 2020
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Yeah I don't wanna revamp the pc (or am confident enough to) however I still game on here with this dumb intel card so a decent upgrade that will make it so that I dont have to resize the window into small just to experience 30fps goodness, I want to play at fullscreen at 30 fps also I found a card but I dont know if it will fit
AMD Radeon R7 240 2gb
I would only buy that gpu if it is really cheap, so how much does it cost?
 
Aug 14, 2020
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I would only buy that gpu if it is really cheap, so how much does it cost?
Seems to be an average of $60-80, I just want the best thing my computer can handle, also it seems there are different versions of it like ASUS Radeon R7 240 2GB or XFX Radeon R7 240 2GB would this affect me being able to use them?
 
Small form factor model of your pc severely limits upgrade options.
The pc has non-standard PSU. So you can not upgrade that easily.
Current PSU is only 240W. You're limited to low power graphics cards.
GT1030 - would be ok.
May be even GTX 1050ti can be used there. But nothing more power hungry than that.
 
Aug 14, 2020
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Small form factor model of your pc severely limits upgrade options.
The pc has non-standard PSU. So you can not upgrade that easily.
Current PSU is only 240W. You're limited to low power graphics cards.
GT1030 - would be ok.
May be even GTX 1050ti can be used there. But nothing more power hungry than that.
It seems great, idk if you read the other threads but im faring well playing on a small window to get 30 fps, being able to play at 30 fps at full screen is very good to me. I just want to know if youre sure if it can fit and where (would I replace the Intel HD or add it alongside somehow) the comparison on game debate shows that your former reccomendation is overall 10x better than my integrated graphics and the power usage seems to be similar so im very interested.
 
Aug 11, 2020
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Small form factor model of your pc severely limits upgrade options.
The pc has non-standard PSU. So you can not upgrade that easily.
Current PSU is only 240W. You're limited to low power graphics cards.
GT1030 - would be ok.
May be even GTX 1050ti can be used there. But nothing more power hungry than that.
I'm going to agree with this saying that you should be looking to get a 1050 and maybe even a 1050ti if that fits in your budget. Also the fact that ur fine with 30fps is okay at your price range, it's just that with a better gpu you can be a little more future proof and get way more value out of your money.
 
Aug 14, 2020
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I'm going to agree with this saying that you should be looking to get a 1050 and maybe even a 1050ti if that fits in your budget. Also the fact that ur fine with 30fps is okay at your price range, it's just that with a better gpu you can be a little more future proof and get way more value out of your money.
If it can fit and not overload my computer with watts, its all bang for buck suggestions. should I take off the lid so you can tell me where or how a new graphics card would go
 
Jun 29, 2020
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Make sure the card fits for sure, I looked up specifications for your model of PC:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/5...phone output, and a microphone/headphone jack

The main thing I noticed was "Low profile expansion slots" and when googling that got this:

A slim or low profile computer case is narrower in dimension or has lesser width and can accommodate only mini-ITX or up to micro-ATX motherboards. These slim cases also have limited expansion slots and generally, you can only fit low profile expansion cards in them whether it is a graphics card, sound card or any other card.

What is a low profile PCI slot?

Low Profile: Bracket height of 79.2 mm (3.118 inches). Card alone has a maximum height of 64.41 mm (2.536 inches) including the edge connector. The low-profile specification assumes a 3.3 volt PCI slot. The retention screw has also been moved 1.35 mm closer to the fold in the bracket.

So I guess just make sure your graphics card you are wanting to purchase is within those measurements.
 
Solution
Aug 14, 2020
14
0
10
Make sure the card fits for sure, I looked up specifications for your model of PC:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/575260/Hp-Compaq-6200-Pro-Sff.html#:~:text=Page 1 HP Compaq 6200 Pro Series Overview,ports, dedicated headphone output, and a microphone/headphone jack

The main thing I noticed was "Low profile expansion slots" and when googling that got this:

A slim or low profile computer case is narrower in dimension or has lesser width and can accommodate only mini-ITX or up to micro-ATX motherboards. These slim cases also have limited expansion slots and generally, you can only fit low profile expansion cards in them whether it is a graphics card, sound card or any other card.

What is a low profile PCI slot?

Low Profile: Bracket height of 79.2 mm (3.118 inches). Card alone has a maximum height of 64.41 mm (2.536 inches) including the edge connector. The low-profile specification assumes a 3.3 volt PCI slot. The retention screw has also been moved 1.35 mm closer to the fold in the bracket.

So I guess just make sure your graphics card you are wanting to purchase is within those measurements.
This will help alot, now I have a size standard for which to look for the item, and it seems that 300 watts is my no fry zone. Do you know if I should replace my original card or add the new one alongside.
 
Jun 29, 2020
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This will help alot, now I have a size standard for which to look for the item, and it seems that 300 watts is my no fry zone. Do you know if I should replace my original card or add the new one alongside.

Add the new one alongside, the way it works is integrated graphics like the Intel one you have is built directly into the motherboard and is generally for low-use stuff like web browsing, running older games etc, I'm not even sure if it supports newer shader models or directx versions to be honest so it's just pretty much a last resort option if you don't have anything else to use.

Take a photo of your motherboard from a birds eye view straight down, so we can see all the components, then take one from behind your PC looking directly at all the plugs and what else is on the back of the PC, the main thing we're interested in is the expansion slots that are by the back of the case, they're at the back because obviously much like your integrated card it will need to be able to be accessed from the back of the PC for the video output.
 
Aug 14, 2020
14
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10
Add the new one alongside, the way it works is integrated graphics like the Intel one you have is built directly into the motherboard and is generally for low-use stuff like web browsing, running older games etc, I'm not even sure if it supports newer shader models or directx versions to be honest so it's just pretty much a last resort option if you don't have anything else to use.

Take a photo of your motherboard from a birds eye view straight down, so we can see all the components, then take one from behind your PC looking directly at all the plugs and what else is on the back of the PC, the main thing we're interested in is the expansion slots that are by the back of the case, they're at the back because obviously much like your integrated card it will need to be able to be accessed from the back of the PC for the video output.
https://ibb.co/kyL19H3
https://ibb.co/1L0bPCy
 
Jun 29, 2020
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Okay, so for your 2nd picture I'm more interested in seeing these:

mobo_pcie.jpg


You want the PCIe x16 slots as shown above, I think yours will be black in color, each expansion slot will be marked as you can see in the picture, it's actually written on the motherboard itself so you will be able to find it the same way.

Looking at the back of your case, on the left side of your photo you can see the metal brackets that are removeable so you can have the video output, etc, of your graphics card come through the back of the case, seems one of them has already been removed previously.

Another thing, do you have the original monitor that came with it? Because most graphics cards you buy nowadays will not have a VGA output which that setup came with natively, what does your video cable look like?

OIP.EJjhnE8FTXDtmhvynEG2ZAHaE8


If it's VGA, you will need to find a VGA-DVI adapter for your monitor unless the monitor itself also has DVI/Display Port support.