Noob wants an upgrade

The-Noob

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Oct 6, 2014
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Hey there,
I'll be honest, i'm a complete noob when it comes to computers and such ,but i would really appreciate it if someone would help me upgrade my old PC. I'm on a very small budget and all i really want to do is upgrade the graphics card.I looked around and found two i like, the problem is that i don't know if they would even fit into my motherboard, or whether or not it would even work.

MY PC:
System:
-Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit (6.1, Build 7601)
-System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
-System Model: OptiPlex 360
-BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A02
-Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7500 2.93GHz (2 CPUs)~2.9GHz
-Memory: 2048MB RAM
-DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Display:
-Name: Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family
-Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
-Chip Type: Intel(R) GMA 3100
-DAC Type: Internal
-Approx. Total Memory: 256 MB
-Current Display Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
-Monitor: Dell 51709W

The Graphics card i would like to use:

1- NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra 768 MB GDDR3
or
2- NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX oc 768 MB GDDR3

I tried to provide as much info as possible 😀

please help. thanks.

-The noob
 
Solution
255w PSU so your limited - there are 2 versions of the optiplex - a slimline or a full width model so this dictates whether you need a low profile card or not.

I would recommend a gtx 750ti personally - go from $120 to $170 depending on model - they're 75w bus powered so should run fine on your psu.
very decent little card for low power builds & entirely capable of medium setting gaming even on new titles.
Those graphics cards were the best of the best back in 2006 [ or so ] .

Today they would just be power hungry and slow .They also may be AGP [ the type of socket on old motherboards ] and if they are they will not be compatible with your system . If you did use either of them you would almost certainly have to upgrade the power supply in the computer .

What is your budget for a graphics card?
 


about 150-200 usd... 🙁 not looking for anything too fancy.
 


On eBay, you can get yourself a used R9 280x.

But if you want a brand new card, I'd go with R9 270.

Sorry, I didn't even ask about power consumption.

What kind of power supply do you have?
 


But with my CPU wouldn't this cause bottle-necking?

 


We might be able to get you something that is lower than the R9 270 to be on the safe side.

 
255w PSU so your limited - there are 2 versions of the optiplex - a slimline or a full width model so this dictates whether you need a low profile card or not.

I would recommend a gtx 750ti personally - go from $120 to $170 depending on model - they're 75w bus powered so should run fine on your psu.
very decent little card for low power builds & entirely capable of medium setting gaming even on new titles.
 
Solution

would i need to upgrade my power supply if i go with the gtx 750ti? my current power supply has a max power of 255W
 


No, your current power supply will suffice this card. It's not that power hungry anyway.
 

Wait a sec. I searched up the gforce gtx 750ti and a few sites said that the PSU requirement of it is a 300w PSU, are you sure it will work with my PSU? And there are quite a few different modles , which one should I go with?

 


your cpu is 65w,the 750ti is 60w so yes should be fine mate

what profile is your pc case? - as i said there are 2 different ones
there is a slimline one that be be used horizontal or vertical & a standard matx tower one - this has a bearing on whether you need a low profile card or not.
wher are you likely to buy from ,newegg?? amazon etc?? & will take a look for you
You would be well served throwing another 2gb of ram in there tbh though - 4gb I woudl consider bare minimum nowdays with windows 7

 

oh ok thanks 😛
The case is the matx tower one. i live outside the US. and i was planning on buying second hand, but thanks anyway. I'll be sure to add another 2gigs of ram i think i have some parts in storage from my older computers.