Guide for Selecting a Discrete Video Card

[Ray32825]

Hi Dave, I did a lil bit of research and some digging and now know a lil about graphics cards.  I found some folks were not happy with the Radeon graphics on the new HP desktops with the fx processors. So, I have decided to stick with the nvidia graphics cards and will stick with them if i get a new computer as well. I have had this pc since 2005 and have not had a single problem with it. The fans are still silent and it sees a lot of use, believe me.

Nvidia can help you chose the right card for your system/needs and i was able to decide on the type of card i needed after applying the details on their site. I landed up with the Geforce GT 610,620 and 630 and after that decided on this one from amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Galaxy-GeForce-Express-Graphics-61TGS4HX2LTX/dp/B0083CA88G/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=...

Its a good deal (for this old HP desktop) and ideal for my first attempt at installing and using a discrete graphics card. If the fan gives me problems i will take it apart and fix it or just replace it. Thanks so much for the valuable information.

Ray

[jpr9845]

I have added a graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce GT430), when my PC boots i get a warning dialog box that says:

"The AMD VISION Enging Control Center is not supported by the driver version of your enabled graphics adapter. Please update your AMD graphics driver, or enable your AMD adapter using the Displays Manager."

How can I get rid of this warning?

[Big_Dave]

Hi jpr9845,

You can't expect the AMD software to support the NVIDIA video card.

If you really want improved video performance then get a different video card. The NVIDIA 430 these days basically is a lower mid-range video card.

[bumbashutti]

I have a P7-1225 desktop and I would like to upgrade my video to a GeForce card. The power supply is 50 watts higher than the requirement for the card so i don't think I have a worry there.

My question is: do I have to manually change my bios settings to disable the onboard video, or will the onboard video automatically be disabled when I install the card? Windows 7 by the way.

Thanks in advance.

[Big_Dave]

Hi Bumbashutti,

What operating system was installed in your PC when it was delivered.  There may be other bios settings that need to be changed.

Are you using the standard power supply or did you replace it and if so with what model power supply?

What video card model are you considering?

Contact HP Support and ask if your particular model PC supports AMD dual graphics. If yes, then you might have a better solution using AMD dual graphics than installing a NVIDIA card.

The answer to you question is that it depends on the card being installed and if the PC supports dual graphics.  If PC doesn't support dual graphics then the video slot is automatically disabled whent he card is installed.

[bumbashutti]

I'm not sure which version of Windows 7 was in my computer, I think Home Premium or something. The power supply is the standard supply that came with the p-7, 350 watts. I am looking at the GeForce GT610. The minimum power requirement is 300 watts so I figured with 350 watts I would be okay.

[Big_Dave]

Hi bumbashutti,

Your PC is shipped with a 300 watt power supply which is sufficient for the NVIDIA 610.

[bumbashutti]

Thank you for the info Dave, you are right, I re-checked the specs on the P7 and it is 300 watts. According to the HP specs if I install the card it automatically disables the onboard graphics. Thanks again.

[Fisherguy01]

This is my son's computer, I put a new 625 watt power supply in today and also picked up a Radeon 7870 2GB video card, his old 8800 packed it in.

It's a tight fit fitting the video card in there, it's a big 2 slot one and the SATA cords for the HD and DVD are in the way.  In this pic they're using ports 1 and 2, can I move them to ports 5 and 6?  I'm guessing it's not that simple, right?

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01635688

I've got a feeling I'll be returning it for a 1 slot card....   

[Big_Dave]

Hi fisherguy01,

Off hand I don't see an issue with using the other sata ports if you only have one hard drive and never had the HD set to an active RAID array. Plug the HD in port 5 and the optical drive in port six.  I move HDs around all the time on my PCs and don't have any issues that I don't foresee happening if I take the correct precautions.

Frankly, I don't typically recommend video cards that over 10" in HP PCs due to length issues.

How much room do you have before running into the sata ports?

Review this posted document for background information.