Graphics Card Recommendations

[oneiricNomad]

Hi everyone! First Post here- I can't seem to find any graphics driver updates for my PC, so i'm looking out to you all for any recommendations of any new graphics cards i can get for my system! This is mainly because I want to play Minecraft Java Edition, and i kept getting OpenGL errors.

[NonSequitur777]

@oneiricNomad,

Welcome to our HP User Forum!

According to https://partsurfer.hp.com/partsurfer?searchtext=QP720AA, your HP Pavilion P6724y Desktop PC (QP720AA) was fitted with an Intel Pentium E5700 (LGA 775).  If this is still the case, you really want to consider upgrading to an Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 (LGA 775), which you can get very inexpensively starting at $13 via eBay (see: intel core 2 duo e8600: Search Result | eBay).

The reason why I am bringing this up, is because this CPU upgrade would likely contribute to fix your issues.

There could be a RAM bottleneck since your HP Pavilion p6724y has only a maximum memory capacity of 4 GB (2 x 2GB or 1 x 4GB) DDR3 PC3-10600 DIMM RAM. If you don't have 4GB, upgrade to 4GB.

My recommendations for a graphics card for your system would be a GeForce GT 1030 4GB, AMD Radeon RX 550 4GB, GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB or a GeForce GTX 960 4GB.  I would buy any of these graphics cards through eBay, and choose a Seller with at least 97% "Positive feedback" and allows for "30 days returns".

Hope this was helpful.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @oneiricNomad 

Your PC's Eton-GL6 motherboard is way too old to support any Nvidia graphics card beyond one of the GT(X) 6xx series or the AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series.

In order to run a graphics card newer than one of those, your PC's BIOS would have to be a version 8.1x or newer, and support UEFI, and it has neither of those features.

I can't find any specs on your PC other than what I could find in the parts list.

HP PartSurfer

I would play it safe and buy one of the supported graphics cards HP offered for that motherboard, which can be found for this model with the same motherboard as yours came with...

HP Pavilion p6710t Product Specifications and Configurable Options | HP® Customer Support

• Radeon HD 5450 (512 MB)
• Radeon HD 5450 (1 GB)
• GeForce 315 (512 MB)
• GeForce 315 (1 GB)
• GeForce GT 405 (1 GB)
• Radeon HD 6450 (512 MB)
• Radeon HD 6450 (1 GB)

You can find the AMD HD 6450's with the 1 GB video memory on ebay cheap and plentiful.

You need to buy one that has the standard PCI mounting bracket for a standard desktop PC like yours.

I prefer the fanless models since they are quiet and have no fan to conk out on you.

The Dell-branded models should work fine.  That's what I have in my HP desktop.

It's not a gaming card, but it would outperform the onboard Intel graphics if that is what your PC came with.

hd 6450: Search Result | eBay

I have an AMD Radeon HD 6450 1 GB in one of my HP business desktops.

It has W10 driver support using the beta driver from the AMD website, I believe with a 2016 date.

You can also see in the motherboard specs, the list of supported processors...Theoretically the E8600 should work in that motherboard's chipset but the specs do not indicate it is supported.

• Celeron 450 (Conroe) (35W) 2.2 GHz
• Celeron E3400 (Wolfdale) (65W) 2.6 GHz
• Pentium E5700 (Wolfdale) (65W) 3.0 GHz
• Pentium E5800 (Wolfdale) (65W) 3.2 GHz
• Pentium E6700 (Wolfdale) (65W) 3.2 GHz

[NonSequitur777]

@Paul_Tikkanen,

My friend, I wouldn't have suggested the graphics cards in my previous post, unless I was reasonably certain it would work. You see, there are UEFI work-arounds for legacy BIOS motherboards to make graphics cards beyond the GT(X) 6xx and AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series work.

-Now, I do grant you that if you fit a graphics card in a legacy PCIe 1.1 slot, your GPU will be limited to PCIe 1.1 speeds and will never reach PCIe 2.0/3.0 speeds.

Anyway, here is but one link/source how to bypass UEFI: https://youtu.be/fMF_SPcLL0Y.

As for the E8600, well, it sort of reminded me when I was told over a year ago that an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550S would "never work" in an HP Compaq dc7900 Ultra-Slim Desktop, because it is, quote: "Highly doubtful the Q9550S would work at all, because it is not supported for any model in the series, and there probably isn't a microcode update for it that would allow it to work without a microcode error report at each boot."

Right.  To this very day [07/07/2022] my legacy HP Compaq dc7900 USDT is the fastest of its kind globally as per UserBenchMark fitted WITH ... yes indeed: an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550S: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/48585061. (The first ten places/spots are occupied by the same USDT, whilst trying out better graphics cards)

If I could and if it were appropriate, I would gladly mail/gift an E8600 to @oneiricNomad so that this user can see if it works or not.

I betcha it does.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Sorry, but there is no way I would recommend putting a lot of money into a PC that isn't worth $50 on today's market.

I would not invest any more than $20 - $30 into a graphics card.

The workaround in the YouTube video seems to require an additional graphics card to work in conjunction with the better one.

I don't even know how one goes about doing that when the Eton motherboard only has one PCIe x16 slot, or why anyone would go through the trouble to do anything like that in the first place.

I'd put the money into a new or refurbished PC with better specs.   

$150 would buy a much better used business class PC on eBay than doing any upgrades to the P6724y.

This is just one for example, and you can get older models such as the 8200 Elite CMT for less.

HP EliteDesk Pro 800 G1 MT i5-4590 3.30GHZ 16GB RAM 256GB SDD DVD-RW Win 10 Pro | eBay

The GTX 960 also requires an upgraded power supply with a 6-pin supplemental power connector.

You're also comparing apples with oranges when you compare an entry level consumer class desktop motherboard with one in a dc7900 as far as processor support is concerned.

In any event the person is free to decide to do what he sees best.

[NonSequitur777]

@Paul_Tikkanen,

Look, I approached @oneiricNomad's question chiefly as a straight upgrade project/challenge like I did with my dc7900: how far can one push the boundaries?  -In retrospect, to be honest, I spend more money on this project than I should. Then again, I had fun to prove a point.

Anyways, @oneiricNomad: you would indeed be better off putting money into a refurbished PC with better specs like @Paul_Tikkanen's HP EliteDesk Pro 800 G1 MT example.

It appeared to me that the 250 watt HP 5188-2622 ATX-form power supply had a 6-pin PCIe power supply cable, but upon further scrutiny [gasp], it doesn't.

Yes, the workaround in the YouTube video I posted requires an additional graphics card plus the better one. However, it can be done with just one PCIe x16 slot (using the HP Pavilion P6724y Desktop PC's Intel GMA x4500 integrated graphics), see here, for example: (708) Gtx750 UEFI work around for HP IPISB-CU (CARMEL 2) / HP Pavilion p7-1205. - YouTube.

[EDIT:] And lest I forget, just one more FYI/option: one can use a PCIe x1 slot to connect the temporary additional graphics card using a "GPU PCIe x16 to PCIe x1 to SATA USB3.0 Extender Card" like I did as my primary PCIe graphics card connection on my HP Compaq dc7900 USDT: Solved: HP Compaq dc7900 Ultra-slim Desktop PC CPU Compatibility - HP Support Community - 8087687, such as this example:

Paul, I do appreciate your feedback, and thank you for your perspectives.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Prométhée]

hi

before spending anything on such an old computer, maybe it would be interesting to try troubleshooting solutions, there are several to test!

https://www.google.com/search?q=Minecraft+Java+Edition%2C+and+i+kept+getting+OpenGL+errors

https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Java_Edition_hardware_requirements

so see for the minimum, it can actually work with a small graphics card not too expensive