looking to upgrade video card

[un4gvn94538]

Have a older PC that has served me well but I think I should upgrade the video card. Nothing over the top. I don't play games on it though sometime I wish I could play elder scrolls. Its mainly for blu ray playback. The geforce 8500 gt I have has a dvi connection and would like HDMI for both a/v. Looking for suggestions because I'm not really tech savy with computers so I'm not sure what to look for. I'm fairly confident I can install myself. I have this computer.

Thanks!!

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

Have a older PC that has served me well but I think I should upgrade the video card. Nothing over the top. I don't play games on it though sometime I wish I could play elder scrolls. Its mainly for blu ray playback. The geforce 8500 gt I have has a dvi connection and would like HDMI for both a/v. Looking for suggestions because I'm not really tech savy with computers so I'm not sure what to look for. I'm fairly confident I can install myself. I have this computer.

Thanks!!

Well one thing I notice is that the power supply in that is only 400w, that will limit what you can upgrade to quite a bit. Assuming you didn't want to upgrade that then something like this would be your best bet

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150612

This is how it does in Skyrim compared to a 8800GT (which is significantly faster than your 8500GT)

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/535?vs=521&i=456

If you have any questions let me know

[crackinhedz]

I use to have the same PC as you un4gvn, but I do a lot of x264 encoding and the core 2 duo Q6600 was not cutting the mustard. I upgraded to another Gateway with an i5 processor which has been heaven in regards to processing time.

The i3/i5/i7 processors actually have their own GPU built in...but I guess you could debate the quality vs stand alone GPU. But for me, its the processing power of a true quad core.

For practical purposes though, I did enjoy my older Gateway.

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

Well one thing I notice is that the power supply in that is only 400w, that will limit what you can upgrade to quite a bit. Assuming you didn't want to upgrade that then something like this would be your best bet

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150612

This is how it does in Skyrim compared to a 8800GT (which is significantly faster than your 8500GT)

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/535?vs=521&i=456

If you have any questions let me know

Thanks for the suggestion. Playing the mods for elderscrolls and fallout is something I fantasize about. But its not that important. Bought some games a while back but never play them. I'm mainly a console gamer.

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

I use to have the same PC as you un4gvn, but I do a lot of x264 encoding and the core 2 duo Q6600 was not cutting the mustard. I upgraded to another Gateway with an i5 processor which has been heaven in regards to processing time.

The i3/i5/i7 processors actually have their own GPU built in...but I guess you could debate the quality vs stand alone GPU. But for me, its the processing power of a true quad core.

For practical purposes though, I did enjoy my older Gateway.

Its been great for what I use it for and the old sony bd drive hasn't given me any problems either. If it wasn't for the HDMI connection I now want I wouldn't even think of upgrading.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

If it wasn't for the HDMI connection I now want I wouldn't even think of upgrading.

Are you trying to connect to receiver?

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

Are you trying to connect to receiver?

In the future maybe. Right now I have this on its way from Japan and would like to hook up via HDMI from PC then to monitor

[crackinhedz]

That looks cool, almost looks like a bluray player! ...guess that's Sony for you.

Tried reading the online user manual that's referenced in the amazon description, but its all in Japanese. But I could see the pic of the back side. Does have Optical if you ever wanted to go that route too. (but yes, HDMI for 7.1 is probably why you bought in first place)

[un4gvn94538]

Was going to use optical for PC and HDMI for Xbox but realized I could try and upgrade video card and wasn't sure what to look for.

The previous model headphones were not available in the states either. Don't know why Sony wont give us the good stuff

[pentatonic]

The 7750 is a solid choice, big increase in performance and only a slight bump in power requirements. At this price point Nvidia can't really compete IMO. Just look for the best deal, though I haven't been in the game for a while so I don't know who has the best warranty, service and build quality. I've had many brands of ATI based cards and was happy with all, my latest a Powercolor.

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

The 7750 is a solid choice, big increase in performance and only a slight bump in power requirements. At this price point Nvidia can't really compete IMO. Just look for the best deal, though I haven't been in the game for a while so I don't know who has the best warranty, service and build quality. I've had many brands of ATI based cards and was happy with all, my latest a Powercolor.

XFX is pretty solid, Here is another card though, might be a bit better of a buy anyways

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125453

3yr warranty vs 2 year on the XFX, 2GB vs 1GB VRAM, and a slight factory overclock 850MHz vs 800 MHz


the 7750 is the fastest card you can get right now that does not require an auxiliary power cable.

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

XFX is pretty solid, Here is another card though, might be a bit better of a buy anyways

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125453

3yr warranty vs 2 year on the XFX, 2GB vs 1GB VRAM, and a slight factory overclock 850MHz vs 800 MHz


the 7750 is the fastest card you can get right now that does not require an auxiliary power cable.

Noticed in the xfx detail that it said minimum 450watt power supply. If mine is 400w, wont that be an issue?

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

Noticed in the xfx detail that it said minimum 450watt power supply. If mine is 400w, wont that be an issue?

no it wont be, since the 7750 does not have an auxiliary power cable it cannot draw more than 75w of power. plenty for the rest of your system


they are probably just being overly cautious, the gigabyte is the same card and suggests 400w

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

no it wont be, since the 7750 does not have an auxiliary power cable it cannot draw more than 75w of power. plenty for the rest of your system


they are probably just being overly cautious, the gigabyte is the same card and suggests 400w

I see thanks. Was looking at the gigabyte one and it looks fatter. Would probably need to make sure it fits if I choose it. Thanks for the info

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

I see thanks. Was looking at the gigabyte one and it looks fatter. Would probably need to make sure it fits if I choose it. Thanks for the info

yeah that would be the only downside with the gigabyte card is it takes 2 slots where the XFX card is a single slot card

[un4gvn94538]

Thanks for the help BLindsay. I have another question. How is audio handled through these cards. Are audio cards bypassed? Don't see much info, if at all, for audio through video cards.

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

Thanks for the help BLindsay. I have another question. How is audio handled through these cards. Are audio cards bypassed? Don't see much info, if at all, for audio through video cards.

yep, your audio card isn't needed as all your sound is sent digitally through the HDMI port directly to the receiver to decode. You can use both also if needed. Just be sure to choose your 7750 HDMI as your audio output in your Windows setup and your good to go.