Upgrading graphics card in an eMachine EL1352

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

smartgamerchick

Honorable
Apr 22, 2012
3
0
10,510
OK. I know less than nothing about video cards, so if I sound like a moron here, please forgive me. I was always told that you could never upgrade emachines components-I was never told why, but there you have it. I have a model El1352 with the standard video NVidia card that came ith it. I am a gamer, although not hardcore, and plan to purchase Diablo 3 in May. When I downloaded the beta, it says my video card is missing features. I went to the NVidia site and updated it, but it still doesnt work.
The recommended card for Diablo is a 6800 Nvidia, and mine is a 6150. The question is, can I get a better card, and will it be compatible with all the other hardware in this machine? I can probaboy get one of my geek friends to talk me through replacing it (I HOPE) but I dont want to waste money if I cant use a new card. Help? Any ideas? THanks!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
There is no reason you can't upgrade the graphics card in an eMachine computer, not sure who told you that or why.

If your computer is same eMachine EL1352 that is on NewEgg you have a fairly old CPU (Athlon II x2 240 with a 220w PSU), and you will need to upgrade your power supply. Is it also a slimline case, or is it a normal case. If its the slimeline case you're looking into a case upgrade also. You can work WITH the case you have, but honestly its not going to be easy, at all. There is a good Cooler Master case I use for low-end builds that is inexpensive so that isn't a big deal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883114085

Your CPU is going to hold you back a lot in the choices you can use for a graphics card, its going to bottleneck you.

However it seems like you just want to be able to to PLAY diablo 3 correct? So turning the settings down wont be too big of a deal?

If so.. I need to know your resolution you play at, as well as your budget.



 
Upvote 0 Downvote
well. there is no video card, its a chipset, which i think means its part of the motherboard. and i looked online and cards before i realized you cant add one (there is no spot to put a video card in) and they are a lot of money. So I suppose I wont be getting D3 after all. Super bummed.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah, that is pushing it, but thats around the level I was going to suggest as well.

The problem is without a case upgrade it will be almost impossible (provided that the case on NewEgg is the case they have) to upgrade either the PSU or GPU.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Im gonna be honest with you. I wouldnt know where to find the slot for a new card, I dont know how to upgrade the power supply or case, and now that's 3 things to spend money on and attempt to learn lol. Too much work, honestly. Ill jsut wait till I can afford a new comp. Thanks for the help though
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah no problem, if you want to play Diablo 3 you're going to need a real graphics card, even if its a low end and play with low settings. With the way that case is organized, it would be a real mission. A new system would probably be best for you.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

Yes you can upgrade an eMachines. i've done it. i have an ET series. first of all, yours have a graphics chipset, not graphics card. if your motherboard has a pci express 16 slot you can add a graphics card. you will also need to upgrade your power supply. i put a corsair cx 500 in mine and it fit just fine and has 2-6pin power connectors. it will handle anything up to a 560ti. then you will also need to upgrade your processor to at least a triple core. i currently have an athlon quad core in mine. in the end, i think you would be better off to build your own gaming computer. i dont know what your budget is, but i have $400 worth of upgrades in mine and i paid $399 for the comp. i still have all the original parts so i can put everything back if i ever want to sell it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I have a EL1352-23e. It's been a pretty good computer, even though I only paid about $400 for it 5 years ago. BUT, I need more graphics capability, not for gaming, but for work - I do computer aided design. I didn't want to change computers because of the hassle of reinstalling all the software, etc, so I thought I would try a new GPU. As you know, this machine is only 220w (not up-gradable), so most cards will call for at least a 300w supply.

I found a variety of cards that would fit into the slim case (you just have to find a slim card), then I selected the one that called for the lowest power supply (in this case 300w) The card I bought is EVGA Geforce GT 610, 2GB. This card does have a fan. It was about $50 at Fry's. Install was quick and easy - less than 5 min. Windows 7 installed a driver automatically, but I used the provided disk to install the vendor software. Everything is working better than before - my architectural design software works fine, video and pictures load as fast as I can click them. So far, so good. And, NO, I didn't change anything on the computer except for the GPU - no power supply, no connectors or adapters, no case modifications.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

If you're not running multpile drives and fans like a hard core gamer, you can get away with very little. I have an old Dell Optiplex 760 slim case. I merely upgraded the ram to its max of 8gb with 4 sticks of (2gb ea.) Corsair (DDR2), and put in an AMD R7-250 low profile graphics card. Currently, it is the fastest card that is able to properly fit a slim case. For $200 I can run World of Tanks at max settings and still see 30+ fps., which is the "magic number". Anything above 30-35 frames per second cannot be seen by the naked eye, but it is nice to have atleast 60 fps so if you experience a lag spike while ingame, you wont often drop below 30fps. For hard core gamers, we like to see excess of 100fps, but this is a cool little budget PC that will, still get the job done nicely enough. And if I turn settings to low, I get 90+ fps! Oh, and I also kept the factory 255w power supply, because one, the video card does not require its own power from the power supply, two, I am only using one dvd drive in it. You graphics card slot is a lone black slot in the far corner of the rear of the case. My (AMD) "XFX R7 250 2gb" graphics card cost me a measley $80. The ram cost me $130 because DDR2 is old, rare, and harder to find; you use DDR3 and are limited to 4gb. If you have two slots, get two 2gb sticks. If you have four slots, get four 1gb sticks. One little bit of advice for the ram is to have all four of them match. I bought Corsair. The 'timing' on them is "5-5-5-18".... you will see these numbers on your sticks of ram, maybe without the dashes. "5-5-5" is very decent for latency specs. The lower the better, but most motherboards are already set up for that configuration. This really isnt difficult, as I have already done what you are looking to do,only I did it with a dell. Good luck! Oh and if you cant do it with your PC, go to eBay and find a Dell Optiplex for seriously cheap! Some of them even have i5 processors!!!!!

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It is now 2018 and the base of my PC is the eMachine el1352-23 w/ AMD Athlon II X2 255 3.1ghz - here are my new specs:

Manufacturer:
Custom eMachine
Case:
Cooler Master MicroATX
Power Supply:
CORSAIR VS Series VS500 80+
OS:
Windows 10 Home
Motherboard:
EL1352 Socket AM3 DDR3
CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 B95 3.0GHz
Memory:
8GB DDR3 1607MHz
Hard Drive:
Hitachi 500GB SCSI Sata II
Video Card:
MSI GTX N760 2GB GDDR5 OC TF
Headphones:
Logitech USB H390 Headset
Monitor:
Acer X203H bd 20-Inch LCD
Mouse:
Redragon M601 2000 dpi USB Mouse
Keyboard:
HP KB-0316 104-Key PS/2 Keyboard

For less than $200 I have built a machine that will play just about any game - yes I can easily upgrade my MB and CPU now but I find different parts on deals and my eMachine was never weak even with the 255 - even just the base machine - add an MSI GT 730 2GB OC Edition w/ GDDR5 for $70 and you'll easily play just about anything including GTA V with turned up graphics - even with the old PSU - and Borderlands 1 and 2 - CSGO - Arkham Series (except Knight) Portal Series - Call of Duty 1 - BO3 - you're gonna do fine - got this 1352 for $30 and got a few other PC's for about the same and grabbed the Phenom II X4 and put it in and doubled my performance - I love my PC and when I get a new CPU+MB I'm gonna end up selling the eMachine in it's old case with the Low Profile GT 730 or maybe even 1030 w/ 2GB GDDR5 to a very happy customer for about $100
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom