Which graphics card are compatible with my old HP tower desktop Compaq dc7800

[Mobs]

I want to upgrade the graphic card of old HP tower pc and I would like some help with figuring out which graphic card can fit this machine.

Here you can find the specs of the machine.

Windows 10 64bit

HWiNFO64 Report

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6850 @ 3.00GHz

Mainboard Name: 0AA8h  

Socket LGA775

PCI EXPRESS x16 SLOT : Empty

Total Memory Size: 4 GBytes

PCI Express Version Supported: v1.1

Current Intergrated Graphic card

Video Chipset: Intel(R) GMA 3100

Video Memory: 256 MBytes

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I recommend the AMD Radeon HD 6450 low profile card, or the nVidia GT 610 low profile video card.

Both cards have W10 driver support, and both cards will work with the 240W power supply your PC has.

Either card draws less than 30 Watts.

Just make sure that you get a low profile video card that comes with the low profile mounting brackets in the box.

You will also have to go into the BIOS after you install any video card that has an HDMI port and enable the onboard audio.

The PC will automatically disable the onboard video (which it will do with any PCIe x16 video card), and onboard audio when you install a video card with an HDMI port.

[Mobs]

Thank you for your quick reply.

I believe that AMD is 1GB card and GT is 2GB i might be wrong.

I am happy with the cards you suggested and I would like to ask you that which is best out of these 2 in your view.

Also how can I identify low profile video cards?

Thank you

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

I think the nVidia GT 610 card might be slightly better.

Both cards come with 1 GB of memory.   Only a few of either come with 2 GB.

Both cards come with or without fans.

I like the cards without fans because they are completely silent and no fan to conk out on you.

But in a SFF case, you may want one with a fan to dissipate the heat better.

This is the HD 6450 1 GB LP, without fan, and you can see from the illustration, the box comes with the low profile mounting brackets.

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-PCI-Express-EAH6450-SILENT-1GD3/dp/B004X8EO6Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=149...

This is the nVidia GT 610.  Most of these come with fans.  One of the questions asked was did it come with the low profile brackets in the box, and someone answered yes, it does.  I don't see any in the illustration, which is why I looked further into it.

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-1024MB-Graphics-01G-P3-2615-KR/dp/B00847TOLC/ref=sr_1_2?s=electr...

[Mobs]

HI, 

I am keep coming across infomation about minimum 300W powersupply is required for gt 610, are you sure that 240W powersupply is enough. I dont want to blow the machine and my self up incase it isnt!

Thanks

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

If you read the reviews on those cards, you will find lots of people have installed them in PC's with 250W or lower wattage PS.

As a matter of fact, the HD 6450 was the optional card for the HP 8200 Elite SFF, which has the same 240W P/S as the dc7800.

Another thing you can do is to run this handy power supply calculator and run it for either of those cards and see what wattage PS it recommends.

You will find it should come in under 240W.   Using the Basic calculator tab should suffice.

https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

All I can say is it is one of those two cards or nothing.  Any other video card out there that would work in your PC requires more wattage.

[Mobeen2017]

Thank for the reply, this is my 2nd account my first one locked me out.

I have used the power supply calculator and the it comes around to 212W and also in future if I want to upgrade the Ram to 8Gb with 2 4Gb DDR 2 the total Watts come around to 224W which is great.

Also I am thinking of upgrading the cpu which is currently:

• Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6850 @ 3.00GHz
• Mainboard Name: 0AA8h  
•  Socket LGA775

Are there any potential cpu which you could recommend!

Thanks

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

The PC will not take a 4 GB memory module, not to mention that a 4 GB DDR2 module is very expensive.

In order to upgrade to 8 GB of memory, you need to install 4 x 2 GB of PC2-6400 memory.

Below is the link to the quickspecs for the dc7800.

The list of supported processors can be found on page 9.

Run the power supply calculator for the one you plan to install.

I think the quad core Q9xxx processors need 30 more watts than the dual cores, and that will be pushing the power supply.

http://www.nordykassociates.com/pdf/dc7800%20QuickSpecs.pdf

[Mobeen2017]

~~~UPDATE~~~

Thank you for helping me through this journey as of now I have installed the GT 610 graphic card with minimum setbacks and I have also managed to enable the sound although that was not straight forward as disable/enable I had to select a IRQ (5) from 10 which was set by default which worked. 

I have also done more research on the processors and all the quad cores will consume more watts and my other options don’t give me any significant boost in performance as the most they offer is more 2MB L2 cache which is not worth the upgrade.

As far the RAM that seems to be enough for the current system which is as far it can goes for the its upgrades due to CPU is the bottle neck of the whole system.

Thanks again.

Regards

Mobeen

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

That's interesting...all I had to do was to go to the device options menu in the BIOS and enable the onboard audio setting in the BIOS on my dc7800 CMT, after I added an AMD Radeon HD 6570 graphics card.

Enjoy your new video card.