I need a budget card for my cousin's small form factor desktop. The desktop he has is the Acer Desktop PC Aspire AXC-605G-UW20 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883101112 What card can fit in there without causing problems? I was looking at the GT 730 by Nvidia (they have a small bracket one) for him. Is there anything better that doesn't consume too much power and will fit?
Well you can but this rig at Amazon for $369.25 so it makes no sense to pay much. You should have a PCI Express x16 and a PCI Express x1 slot available. It makes no sense to spend much on the video card considering your other hardware. I would suggest a GeForce GTX 960 on the high end for $200.00 or on the low end a GeForce GTX 750 or GTX 660Ti for around $100.00. Make sure your power supply will handle either.
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/DT.SYTAA.001 Says : Number of PCI Express x1 Slots 1 Number of PCI Express x16 Slots 1 Number of Mini PCI Express Slots 1 The power supply is 220W.
I was updating my post when you responded. It looks like you do not have enough PS for the 960 but the 750 or 660 would be OK.
After further review, neither card will handle a 220W PS. I will need to look further. Just for example, I have a 1000 watt PS.. 220 is low by today's standards. Even a GTX 730 requires a 300W PS. You may need to add a bigger power supply. Again, for the price of your system, it makes upgrading difficult. Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2562703/graphics-card-220w-power-supply.html
Nvidia Specs for the 730 are 300 watts. You also need to check for space for the card and the correct connectors. Space includes length, diameter AND enough headroom below (no components of the circuit board sticking up - I destroyed an ACER trying to install a gtx 970 in it - the ACER had sufficient power, length, diameter, and connectors but I did not realize when I bought the 970 that there was a tiny component of the circuit board beneath the area where the card goes that prevented proper full insertion of the card :-( I was so eager for the 970 that I forced it and broke that small piece of the circuit board. I now use my ACER for recharging my electronic cigarettes through its USB Ports. That's all it's good for until I get the board replaced.) The Intel HD4600 is not that bad. Earlier this year I was having problems with a ROG GR20 AJ - It is equipped with both a GTX 760 and an Intel HD4600. The first two I got had a dead on arrival GTX 760 so I had to rely on the HD4600, while Best Buy got me replacements for the ROGs. I was surprised at the performance of the HD4600. What do you plan on using the PC for You can check on power/space/and connector requirements for nvidia - based cards here: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus - choose the card>click more info>click specifications. Nvidia is conservative in its power requirements. I ran a 3 gig on board GTX 580 for years with no issues despite the fact I had a 500W PSU and Nvidia's requirement was stated to be 560W There may be some variation in system requirements for nvidia based gpus made by other manufacturers.