Looking for Video Card Upgrade advice for my HP Pavilion Elite m9357c

[ojerscg]

I have the HP Pavilion Elite m9357c its a good computer, but i want some better graphics, heres the specs http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01498952&lc=en&dlc=sv&cc=se&lang=sv&product=377...

Thanks for any and all advice.

[Big_Dave]

How much better do you want to get without changing out the PSU?

Open up your PC and read the label on the power supply.  What is the total wattage (350?) and the amperage on the 12+ volt bus?  You might be able to use the NVIDIA GT 240 or NVIDIA GTS 250 depending on the PSU's 12+ amperage and also on what the video card manufacturer requires.

Review the ATI and NVIDIA performance specifications. Look at the memory bandwidth specifications and the DirectX level support.

So what are your thoughts now?

[ojerscg]

Yeah i would like to get the best i can without switching out the PSU, which the specs are

+5V/13A, 12Va/18A

+3.3V/15A, 12Vb/18A

-12V/0.8A. +5Vstb/2A

[1ke]

36 AMPs.  What games you wanna play?  What resolution is your monitor?

[ojerscg]

I want WoW to be smoother as well as be able to play some higher quality games.  Currently with what i have my computer has a hard time running games like Empire Total War and Crisis.  My monitor has 1920 x 1200 resolution and is a 24' HP monitor that came with the computer.

[1ke]

You need a bigger PSU to play Crisis maxed at those resolutions.  I'd reccomend one of the new GTX 460's.  They are turning out to be very adept at games and only cost $200.  If you wanna spend more, I'd get a ATI 5850 but for WOW, that's overkill.

[ojerscg]

But for the GTX 460's i would need a better PSU correct?

[Big_Dave]

Different model 460s require different amperage.  Look at the EVGA NVIDIA 460 GT 1 GB with External Exhaust.

Crysis is a CPU eater besides needing a good video card.

[ojerscg]

Ok i was looking into the 460's and all of them say DDR5 but when i looked up what my comp has it has Dual DDR3 and Dual DDR2 support...that means i cant get the DDR5's correct, and if thats right what would be good from that...

[1ke]

Its GDDR5 and it has nothing to do with the DDR3 that your computer uses.  That DDR5 is for the graphics card, not for your system RAM.  It will run just fine.