Which video card to replace my NVIDIA GTX 260?

[Guy771]

Hello there,

After many years of good job, it seems that my video card is collapsing... 

My product number is WC883AA#ABF. (serial : [Private information removed])

I upgraded it to follow the different operating systems and it is now running Windows 10 (currently 20H2). I also replaced the two hard drives by two 1TB SSD and all works fine until this new video card problem (white screen) which is becoming more and more frequent.

MY question is in the title : which video card should I buy that will be compatible with my PC. There are a lot of topics in the HP Support pages on Video cards replacement and they contain lots of information, maybe too much for me, hence this question.

Here are my system information :

BIOS : 5.15 06/25/10 (don’t know if this is the last one, and if not don't know either where to get it from since the French HP support pages have been closed...).

My mother board is a 7613 1.1 but you know this already as it is the original HP part.

I didn’t change anything, except the SSD as said above.

My RAM is 8GB.

Could you please advise ?

Thank you,

Guy.

[old_geekster · Accepted solution]

@Guy771 , welcome back to the Community.

The age of your computer will limit the video cards that will work.  The newer cards require UEFI in the motherboard instead of a standard/Legacy BIOS.  HP didn't begin using UEFI until mid-October, 2012.  The last series of cards not to require UEFI were the GTX 660/670's.

You may have to upgrade the power supply unit (PSU).  If it is the original PSU that came with the computer it may not have enough power to operate a new card.  The PSU may even be the problem with your current situation.  The average life of a PSU is 3 to 5 years.

Here is a HP Knowledge Base article that will tell you what to consider when upgrading the video card.  The two main things to consider are 1) the length of the new card and 2) the power required to operate it properly.

Please click the Thumbs up + button if I have helped you and click Accept as Solution if your problem is solved.

[Guy771]

Hello @Old_geekster, and thank you for your detailled reply !

Yes, you are right, this is a rather old PC, but running so well so far...

Regarding the power required, I have replaced my two 1TB hard disk by two 1TB SSD, so I should have some watts available. My PSU is the original HP one, which has a max power (according to its label) of 460W. I hope this will be enough.

I have a 1x6 pin plug in the original GPU (NVIDIA GTX 260).    

Regarding the BIOS/UEFI, as you said I have a BIOS, but I don't know if this is the last available for my HP Pavilion Elite HPE-130fr : I installed it in on 03/30/2014, it is BIOS version 5.15 dated  06/25/2010.

I had identified a GPU which looks to fit into my box, so the length should be OK. It is a   MSI GT1030 2G LP OC Carte Graphique Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 1265 MHz 2 Go PCI Express 3.0 not sure if you can help in identifying its compatibility with my PC.

Sorry to be so much demanding, but now that the French HP support has desapeared, we feel a bit lost regarding support of our HP products 🤔

If you can get back to me on these two points, then YES you will have fully answered my request!

Thank your valuable help.

Guy.

[old_geekster]

You are very welcome, @Guy771!

The BIOS can't be updated to UEFI.  Therefore, none of the newer cards will work, such as, the GT 1030.  Also, the original specifications show that the PSU is 350W.  This is why I mentioned the possible lack of power.  The 450W PSU should be enough for any of the cards that will work.  I suggest that you choose a manufacturer and contact their Tech Support for help with choosing the best card for your system.  They are the experts on their products.  Since the computer is older, I don't want to give you bad information.

[Guy771]

Thank you for your help Old_geekster.

I didn't mean to upgrade my BIOS to UEFI, but just to make sure my BIOS is at the latest level. 

I will continue in the process of identifying a compatible card (and order the most probable appropriate one to make a try, then resend it back if it doesn't work). 

Again thank you.

Guy.