Need help picking a video card for a Lenovo PC

Discussion in 'hardware' started by zopzop, Jun 29, 2014.

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  1. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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    I got this PC :
    http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?DocID=PD003974
    for free and I wanted to get a video card for it. I realize I'm not going to get anything spectacular because of the PSU and MB but what do you guys recommend?

    I've googled around and I've heard Radeon 7750, Radeon 5670, R7 240, and I think the R7 250 mentioned (all low profile). The thing is I've found the R7 250 for cheap. That's the one I'm leaning toward. Would that work?
     
  2. Veeshush

    Veeshush Registered Member

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    Alright, so the PSU is 280 Watt. It's not impossible to put a card in, but you'll have to get a low profile card that draws all its power FROM the PCI-E slot itself (or has no external power connection). Then because the case is going to be a tight fit, be sure to measure whatever card you plan on before buying it (card dimensions are listed at Newegg). If you can upgrade the PSU (which I can't tell what form factor that Lenovo uses, it might be custom) then you'll only be limited by what you could physically fit in the case. I'd also watch for heating issues, cause that case won't have the best airflow.

    And it's this one, right? http://microdream.co.uk/lenovo-thin...7200-2gb-160gb-dvdrw-desktop-pc-computer.html

    EDIT

    Wait wait wait
    Does that thing even have a full PCI-E slot? You might be stuck putting in a PCI card.
     
  3. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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    It's the Lenovo ThinkCentre M58P 7483AFU (the CPU and RAM is better than the one on your page) but the other stuff seems to be correct.

    And hence my dilemma (no, I don't think it has a full PCI-E slot).

    I just need something that's better than the onboard video card and can handle MMOs like WoW/SWTor/Minecraft (with mods). What are my options here. What's the 'best' possible card I can stick in this machine?
     
  4. Veeshush

    Veeshush Registered Member

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    Well, I guess half length just means low profile: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/278167-33-half-length-express (for a minute I thought you'd have to get a PCI Express x1 card)

    Whatever physically fits basically, you're going to have to measure. When I've put in low profile cards myself sometimes I've had to snip away some of the heatsink to get them to fit.

    For instance: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150707 Card Dimensions (L x H) 6.9" x 2.7"
     
  5. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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    Would this work?
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...33523&ef_id=U7FvBgAAAZmrBEAk:20140630140702:s
    If those profile pictures are correct, it would fit perfectly. And I heard that card draws even less power than the ATI 5670 (and people have successfully put that in PCs with a 220WATT power supply).
     
  6. Veeshush

    Veeshush Registered Member

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    That'd probably work fine. I'd be amazed if it didn't fit.

    The 740s are basically the same as the 630s (same 384 cuda cores) but the video ram is up'd to 128-Bit GDDR5. I don't know if this would fit though (the heatsink): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500337

    Yeah, that's key when dealing with lower watt PSUs- just avoid putting in graphic cards with 6pin (or whatever) power connections. Then the card will just draw the power from the PCI-E slot ( which can supply around 75 watts max). That 630 maxes out at 25watts: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-630/specifications So you're not stressing the PSU/mainboard out at all.

    From my experience it's always been worthwhile putting in a low profile card rather than deal with the old ancient onboard. Even with a 520 you'll feel a difference watching Youtube videos. Before you put the card in just run some quick benchmarks so you can see the difference (videos, Unigine Benches, etc).
     
  7. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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    Ok I went with the 630 in the link. The 740 seemed awesome but like you said, I don't think it would fit "sideways" wise cause of the fan(heat sink?) and I'd be too terrified to "shave off" some of the card to make it fit. I don't mess around with PC hardware much. The most I do is install RAM and Video/LAN/Sound Cards. That's it. Anything more complicated and I can't handle it.

    It will be a few days till the card arrives. I'll be back then to update the thread.

    Man, I'm really hoping this works.
     
  8. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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    Well the card finally arrived and I installed it. It's so razor thin, it fit perfectly (it's literally as thick as the bracket).

    The only problem I ran across was when I tried to use the low profile bracket. For some reason I couldn't get it to work with the VGA connection. The bracket wouldn't fit on the card with the VGA low profile bracket. I've never seen anything like that before.

    So I had to go with the DVI-D/HDMI low profile bracket that came with it for the DVI-D/HDMI connections. Now I need a new monitor because my old monitor doesn't have a DVI-D or HDMI connection.
     
  9. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    If you haven't yet gotten a new monitor, wouldn't it be far cheaper just to get a DVI to VGA adapter?
     
  10. NGRhodes

    NGRhodes Registered Member

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    You may find the VGA low profile bracket is designed to go next to your GPU, not on it (is the case with my GFX card).
     
  11. whitedragon551

    whitedragon551 Registered Member

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    In a production environment we fit an NVIDIA Quadro W4000 GPU on a stock Lenovo PSU and 20Gbs of RAM in a single CAD workstation without issues. You can probably go to something like 8600GT or similar safely.
     
  12. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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    The video card only had DVI-D out (as well as HDMI [which didn't look right] and VGA [which I couldn't get to fit the slot]). I found a 19inch used monitor with all the cables (power cord, DVI-D, and VGA) for 19 dollars + 15 dollars tax off Ebay. The thing was practically unused.
    I never encountered something like this so I just said to heck with it and got another monitor with DVI-D input.
    Thankfully the GT 630 is working flawlessly so far.
     
  13. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    USA still the best. But barely.
    Glad you're sorted.
     
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