Old Computer Graphics Card Upgrade

[trachr]

Hey so I have a very old computer... 9 years or so old so I know I need to replace it, which is the plan but till then my video card getting very screwy... So for now I need to replace it, it will need to run games like wow and stuff for my kid and sometimes even for me

anyway this is the computer I have now:

HP Pavilion Elite HPE-580t PC
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-950 quad-core [3.06GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
• 8GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs] (Upgraded awhile back to the max the motherboard could handle)
• 1GB DDR5 NVIDIA GeForce 460 [2 DVI, mini-HDMI, VGA adapter]

Im looking at about $100 or less preferably... Do you have any recommendations?

With it so old I am worried about compatibility so I figured I should ask before I buy.

I was considering:

MSI GAMING GeForce GT 710 2GB GDRR3 64-bit HDCP Support DirectX 12 OpenGL 4.5 Single Fan Low Profile Graphics Card (GT 710 2GD3 LP)

Its about 50 dollars on amazon but I really am not married to the idea I just want one that will work and preferably an upgrade from the old one... But most importantly it works

Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[trachr]

There is also this option:

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Geforce-GDDR5-Graphic-GV-N1050OC-2GD/dp/B01MG0733A/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EAFMQWRWVPZTZ9A9Z6RB

a little over 100 but Id be fine with that price... also I think its better than the first one

 

[DSzymborski]

The 1050 would be far better; your old GTX 460 was 2-3 times more powerful than GT 710, which is a non-gaming GPU that's only useful in supplying basic functionality.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI - Radeon RX 560 - 1024 4GB LP OC Video Card ($109.99 @ Newegg Business)
Total: $109.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-26 03:43 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 2GB Video Card ($120.33 @ B&H)
Total: $120.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-26 03:44 EDT-0400

 

[trachr]

would the 4gb on the radeon be noticeable vs the 2gb on the 1050? While I know thats not the endall and be all but is that 2gb difference enough to make the radeon a lot better?

Thanks again

 

[alan francis jose]

I would recommend gtx 1050 it's worth the money but if you wanna stick to 100$ less GT 1030 is also Worth considering.but please don't go for the GT 710 it's worst than the GPU you have now

 

[trachr]

you would recommend the GTX 1050 over the RX 560 that DSzymbroski mentioned earlier?

I was looking up both a little more closely and seems like the 560 scores a lil higher than the 1050... but have no worries I wont be buyig the 710, you guys convinced me of that.

I'll buy one of the 2 mentioned earlier as either would solve my problem and give me a video card that works, and either should be an improvement over my original card as well which is nice

 

[alan francis jose]

you would recommend the GTX 1050 over the RX 560 that DSzymbroski mentioned earlier?

I was looking up both a little more closely and seems like the 560 scores a lil higher than the 1050... but have no worries I wont be buyig the 710, you guys convinced me of that.

I'll buy one of the 2 mentioned earlier as either would solve my problem and give me a video card that works, and either should be an improvement over my original card as well which is nice

I agree the rx560 is little better than gtx 1050 .if you get the RX 560 in the same price as that of gtx 1050 that would be great

 

[DSzymborski]

would the 4gb on the radeon be noticeable vs the 2gb on the 1050? While I know thats not the endall and be all but is that 2gb difference enough to make the radeon a lot better?

Thanks again

At this level of card, it really doesn't make that much of a difference; in games that you really need the extra VRAM typically, you're likely going to have to turn down settings a bit anyway. The cards are in the same tier, so I'd go based on price and cooling solution. They're both significantly faster than your old GTX 460.

Note that if you go for an RX 560 and don't use PCPartPicker, you want to make sure to get one of the ones with 1024 shader units rather than 896, the latter essentially a rebadged 460 (both are to a degree, but 560's config was pushed a little forward). Both AMD and Nvidia do this sometimes, have a slightly weaker version of the same card and keep the same number, which is completely obnoxious.

 

[Obakasama]

Depending on sources but felt I'd add that with some older prebuilts there could be problems with graphics card upgrades. AMD ones seem to be affected more than Nvidia's, though no tech site I'm familiar with seems to have an explanation.

A quick Google search also lacks any confirmation of an RX 560 upgrade for the particular HP computer model you have. Be a bit wary.

 

[trachr]

Well with luck it will work, Im gonna try the 560.

So if it works any guesses how much time that will add to the life of my computer lol it still amazes me that my 9ish year old computer seems faster than a lot of newer comps... granted they are mostly i5s and such but you would think anything new would be better than a 9 year old comp. although to be fair I do have most my stuff on a SSD so that speeds things up a lot.

When I finally get around to replacing it I'll be damn sure everything is an upgrade and I dont end up with a comp slower than my current one lol.

Thanks

 

[trachr]

So I got it installed and 90% of the time it works great, but occasionally my comp will lock up and random colors will show up on my 2 monitors....

Is that a sign of a faulty vid card or the computer rejecting the vid card?

 

[Obakasama]

If it was a motherboard rejecting the card (as I was fearful of) then you wouldn't even get to Windows desktop. As is it could be a graphics card issue or PSU. Others may have additional thoughts.

Any chance of checking what your PSU's wattage? (The RX 560 shouldn't be that power hungry, but let's try and rule out a PSU issue.)

 

[trachr]

460 So i had thought I would be okay there... but I can always upgrade it if needed

 

[Obakasama]

In either case, the RX 460/560 isn't that power hungry. A 500W PSU should suffice. But quality can be a factor.

Graphics card drivers all up to date?

 

[trachr]

Yeah drivers are fine, it seems to happen most when my computer just gets going... I'll see a flicker or 2 then my screens go solid colors and I'll hear a buzzing out of the speakers...

No crash screens or anything just colors... I can go 6-7 hours with no issues at all after it gets going, its really rather strange

 

[Obakasama]

Consider using MSI Afterburner to monitor components while in game to see if there are established patterns. Would also suggest HWiNFO to check the voltages to see if there's a possibility the PSU isn't quite performing as required (not as ideal as proper electrical testing but it's a start).

If feeling adventurous I would also suggest having a look in Event Viewer to see if there are any particular error reports at the time of those 'crashes'. Might give an indication what occurred.

 

[trachr]

So todays stuff... I turned on my comp saw your post so I turned on the benchmarking stuff for my GPU first I did a stresstest and it went fine, then I did a benchmark and my comp crashed

I rebooted and looked at the event viewer and the only critical event I saw was Power Event 41 which is to say I improperly shut it down so no surprise there...

I ran a second stresstest followed by benchmark... repeating the exact steps.... nothing everything ran smoothly I even made sure to have a browser up like last time....

flippin confusing

 

[trachr]

if it matters I got 5703 points with 95fps in my benchmark

 

[Obakasama]

Unfortunately I don't benchmark so can't provide insight. If you search for the test and your CPU/GPU then you should have figures to compare relative performance which can give an indication if things are working correctly. Or if someone is familiar perhaps they can chime in...

It does seem confusing. Nothing obvious seems to stand out. Do consider using HWiNFO to check on the PSU's voltage rails; while not the best method to check a PSU's performance it should at least indicate if things are bad.

I wouldn't expect RAM to be an issue, but perhaps run MemTest to see if there are any issues there. At this point we'll just try to eliminate as many potential causes as possible.

 

[trachr]

Where does HWinfo show PSU results?

Also I got to thinking, if it only happens when I first get things going as has been the case so far... the only thing that would improve when it "warmed up" would be the PSU right?

Unfortunately I only have a run of the mill meter so I can't test what I need to test to check if the PSU performance fluctuates... as for the memtest they look fine.

I'm tempted to call support and have them replace the Vid card to be safe, and if the same thing happens after just get a cheapish 5-600W PSU I have never replaced a PSU before though so not sure how much work is involved there.

 

[Obakasama]

In HWiNFO click on 'Motherboard' then 'Sensors' at the top. This should open up the voltage readings for the motherboard. Of particular interest are the voltages shown for the motherboard itself, particularly the 3V, 5V and 12V rails. The values for those shouldn't be too different.

 

[trachr]

all I am seeing on the motherboard for voltages are as follows:

VCC3V Current: 3.232V Min: 3.216 Max: 3.248 Average: 3.232
VSB3V Current: 3.296V Min: 3.296 Max: 3.312 Average: 3.298
VBAT3V Current: 3.248V Min: 3.248 Max: 3.248 Average: 3.248

 

[Obakasama]

That seems okay. See if you can find the other info. Window should look something like this:

As is I'm guessing the PSU isn't an issue.

 

[trachr]

Maybe cause I have an old MB that doesn't have all the sensors it should? all I know is my MB sensor list is a LOT shorter than your list.

Another question on the sensors in the GPU Core Current Should there be a large difference between min and max current? as well as Core Power, And GPU Chip Power

I'm looking at max values around 5 times larger than the min values.

 

[Corwin65]

Well with luck it will work, Im gonna try the 560.

So if it works any guesses how much time that will add to the life of my computer lol it still amazes me that my 9ish year old computer seems faster than a lot of newer comps... granted they are mostly i5s and such but you would think anything new would be better than a 9 year old comp. although to be fair I do have most my stuff on a SSD so that speeds things up a lot.

When I finally get around to replacing it I'll be damn sure everything is an upgrade and I dont end up with a comp slower than my current one lol.

Thanks

I've seen people make new builds worse than their existing ones so yes.