Will it work?

[Amax1]

I have an Asus m51ac series desktop and I want to upgrade my graphics card to an Asus STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5 so the real question is will it work with my computer because the current graphics card i have sucks.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Your board has a PCIe x16 slot, so the card is compatible, the real question is space so you'll need to compare the dimensions of any intended card to what you actually have. Measure from the inside back of the case to wherever the hard drive cages become an interference issue. I'm pretty sure that case doesn't have removable drive cages so I doubt that's an option for gaining any necessary room.

What is the model number of your current card? This may tell us a lot about what else can be fit there. Also, what is the model number of your power supply? You'll need a very capable (I don't mean just "watts" or "80plus efficiency" ratings either) power supply of good quality to run that card. Again, knowing what card and power supply you have now will help determine what's needed.

 

[Amax1]

i have a geforce gt 620 and a 500w power suply

 

[Darkbreeze]

We need to know the model number of the PSU as well. Just saying it's 500w doesn't tell us much. One 500w PSU might be lucky to actually put out a sustained 300w while another will do close to 500w all day and night long without breaking a sweat. The model should be on the PSU itself somewhere. If you have an off brand or cheap quality PSU, that might even be some of the issue with your current graphics card, although it IS an older low end card.

I don't even think you'd need to necessarily go with the 970, which would require at least a really good 550w unit anyhow, since the GTX 960 or R9 280 would give you about triple the gaming power of your current card. Your CPU comes into play as well. If you don't have a strong enough processor, you'll run into a bottleneck issue moving up to a big card like the GTX 970 or R9 290. See if you can find the model numbers of your PSU and CPU and we can go from there.

 

[Amax1]

first Ty for all the help thus far
My model number is HBA008-ZA1GT 350 on the battery and I have an intel i7 assesso

 

[Amax1]

I don't think I would be able to use the 970 to u think a 960 would work?

 

[Darkbreeze]

That is an off brand OEM cheap power supply. It can only provide a sustained 268w under load and 18A, IF you assume it can actually put out it's rated power. It's DEFINITELY not a 500w unit, which would not be enough in any case for the GTX 970. I wouldn't use that power supply with ANY aftermarket graphics card that requires supplemental power through a PCIe 6 or 8 pin cable. In fact, that unit may not even HAVE a 6, 6+2 or 8 pin PCIe supplemental power cable.

If you want to upgrade your graphics card, you will need to upgrade the power supply as well. The GTX 960 would be a HUGE upgrade over the GT 620 and only needs a good 450w unit. What country are you in? I can recommend a good GPU and PSU upgrade based on what's available in your market.

 

[Amax1]

Ok I'm in the U.S. Im looking for a good cheap power supply I don't want to spend to much on this whole upgrade

 

[Darkbreeze]

This:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($208.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($33.98 @ Directron)
Total: $242.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-15 21:21 EDT-0400