Upgrade Graphics

[Jason1966]

Hello All

My son has a HP Pavilion AMD A8-6500 with Radeon HD graphics 3.50ghz.

He now wants to upgrade as says graphics not good enough.

What are our options, is it as imple as buying a better graphics board or is it more complicated?

cheers

Jason

[Malygris1 · Accepted solution]

Hi there @Jason1966,

May the Forums be with you!  I understand that you are looking for some guidance on upgrading a graphics card.  I am happy to assist you with this.

Please post the full product number of your computer. See the following, if you need help with that information. HP Desktop PCs - How Do I Find My Model Number, Serial Number or Product Number?  Once I have that I can give you more in the way of what to look for.

In general, you need to know what types of expansion slots your computer has available. For most current graphics cards you will be looking at PCI express x16 slots and their will be a version or generation for those slots.  If the mother board only has Gen 1.0, and the graphics card is Gen 3.0, then the card could still work, but it will run slower than it would in a Gen 3.0 slot. Then you would want to look at the capacity of the power supply in your computer. A common value is 300 W. Many higher end graphics cards will have a minimum recommended power requirement  of 400 W or more, although there are cards with a lower requirement. It is always better to have a power supply that exceeds the minimum value. Also related to the power supply some graphics cards require supplementary power connections of a specific type. You need to be sure that your power supply has those connections available. Next make sure that the card has drivers for the operating system installed in your computer, and if the card is UEFI, make sure that your system has UEFI as well.

If all of those parameters are met between the card and your system, the graphics card should work, but there is never a guarantee, because every computer system is like an individual, once it is in the hands of a user. You may have previously installed another device that conflicts with that card or maybe software that does not get along with the graphics drivers. So long story short, it is not as simple as just buying a better card, you have to do some research.

I hope this helps clarify the issues for you, and if you find it useful and helpful, please mark this post as a solution. Kudos would also be appreciated.  

[Jason1966]

Hello Malygris1

thanks for your advice

the serial number of my pc is [Personal Information Removed]

prod num G9C37EA#ABU

MODEL 500-326na

THANKS