Seeking advice on upgrading my graphics card

RR1991

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Aug 25, 2011
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Hi everyone, I am new here.
This seemed like the most appropiate section to post this as it is primarily on a graphics card problem.
I am seeking some help for my situation. All of this stuff has got me beyond confused.

First of all this is the computer that I own - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227314&Tpk=iBUYPOWER%20Gamer%20Power%20567D3

It's been going fine for me, Allowing me to play games on med settings (Some games high settings are fine)
It lags some but not nearly as bad as my old laptop.
So now after 4 months, I want to upgrade the 5570 graphics card to something in the range of a 6870


Here are my problems one by one -

#1. I only have a 480w PSU, And cards in that range recommend a 500w PSU. Is it possible that I could use a card that recommends a 500w power supply being that I am 20w short ?

#2. I was reading reviews on my system, And one guy wrote he could not find a 6 pin cable in the computer, So he had to use an adapter. Are these adapters easy to find for any graphics card ?

#3. And lastly another reviewer wrote that the mother board does not support crossfire, And I noticed most graphics in the $150 -$200 range have crossfire ! So basically if thats true i'm out of luck. I don't want to get into replacing motherboards...


If someone could take a few minutes and give me some guidance and advice that would help a ton. I know next to nothing about this stuff. I Just started learning about all of it when I got looking into a new card. I thought I could just buy one and plug it in but that is not the case from what i've read online so far.

I am prepared to deal with my current card if there is no way around this. The motherboard problem is what's holding me back. I wouldn't be able to replace it for a while if it indeed won't support crossfire. But anyways I decided to come here and ask for suggestions before I give up.

Thanks for your time
 

#1 you will need to check your PSU's specs to see what the max power wattage is to determine is 480 is the constant with a max over that; if so then you should be good.
#2 The adapters usually come with the graphics card in the box and arent the best, but they work just fine.
#3 Crossfire is using 2 cards or more in tandem with each other to improve graphics capabilities. To use crossfire you have to get more than one card, so one card will work just fine in that motherboard because it is not technically a "crossfire setup".