Upgrading GPU in Hp Elite-410f

[belinol]

Hello,

I am on an extremely tight budget (living off of scholarships) and want to upgrade the Hp Elite-410f that my grandfather bought me back in 2010, and use it to game for as long as possible (instead of dipping into my savings to build a gaming desktop I don't need).

My concern is the power consumption. The Hp Elite-410f comes with a 300w PSU, and the stock Radeon HD 5570 it comes with is advertised as 43w. I am looking at the GTX 750ti (60w) or the GTX 950 (75-90w). 

Is there any chance that on a pre-built HP desktop, I'll have the available wattage to run the GTX 950? Or should I be safe and grab the 750ti. I would prefer the 950  if possible because it crushes the 750ti when playing at high resolutions, but I'm just happy to be upgrading at all and want to figure out my options. 

And, are there any other low wattage GPU's around $180-220 that you suggest I check out?

Thank you for the help, I appreciate it!

[Jay_101]

Greetings,

The 950 requires at least a 350 W PS,

The 750Ti requires at least a 300 W PS.

Nvidia 600 series cards will run on your PC because it has a legacy BIOS.

Your PC does not support UEFI BIOS. The 700 series and 900 series cards require UEFI. They will not initialize on a legacy BIOS..

You could look at AMD cards made by Sapphire.

I have not checked price points on those AMD cards. The older legacy cards may not provide the punch you are looking for if you want to game with good frame rates .

Cheers!

[belinol]

I just plan to play SWTOR, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Elder Scrolls series, anything before 2014 on medium-high. A decent upgrade and at least 2GB of VRAM is what I'm hoping for. Is that manageable?

[Jay_101]

Hi,

You have an open PCIe x16 2.0 slot.

Either go with  an Nvidia 600 series card or check out the AMD cards at Sapphire.

The AMD cards require a larger PS.

Jay

[belinol]

Given the restrictions due to my PSU; would an HD 7750 be the safest option because it consumes less overall power than the comparable GTX 600's?

[Jay_101 · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I prefer Nvidia.

The GT 640 GDDR5 requires a 300 Watt power supply and consumes 49 Watts.

The AMD HD 7750 also requires a 300 Watt power supply and consumes 75 Watts.

Your choice.

Jay

[belinol]

Thank you for your help! I appreciate it.

Best,

Gideon

[Jay_101]

Hi,

Enjoy the games!

Jay