Size issues for a Dual slot Card?

[drumworkshop]

Hi, my name is Steven and I'm looking to buy a new videocard because my computer currently has built in graphics at the moment. So, i'm looking to buy a GeForce GTS 450 card. But, my main concern is, will it fit? It's a dual slot card, i'm new to this and I don't know what to do.

This is the PC I have: HP Pavilion p7-1047c Desktop PC (QN646AA) specifications - HP Home & Home Office Products

It should have all the specs on there you need. If you need anything else, just say so.

Thanks in advance.

[stroyal]

Welcome to TechIMO!

I saw this yesterday, and it looked like too much work.

If you have a 400watt power supply the specs, say you have the slot, PCI-e X16.

What the specs don't show, as usual, on the HP sight, as far as I can see, what the motherboard, and case look like, on the inside.

I don't know if it is a low profile case. (it is a micro tower) low profile, needs a low profile video card.
I don't know if the case is long enough 8.25 inches
I don't know if there is an empty slot next to the PCI-e 16X slot.

If you could post a link, or a pic, we can figure it out.

[ShyguyXPC]

Damn, my reply I posted from my phone yesterday, never posted. Was on lunch and hit the post reply button about 5 times, and still didn't go through.

Agreed, it doesn't show what it looks like inside the case, but based on the number of slots, 4 in total, its a MicroATX board, it should be "Wide" enough to fit a dual width card in there, and the GTS 450's aren't that long, so should fit length wise, unless there's a SATA Hard drive port directly behind the card preventing it from being used.

The case is most certainly not Low profile, not if its DVD Drive spans from one side to the other like that, and with Dual 5.25" Drive bays?

External drive bays
1 external 3.5"
2 external 5.25"
2 internal 3.5"

as to the slots the case has:

Slots
1 MiniCard
1 PCI-Express x16
3 PCI Express x1

So there is room for a Dual Slot card.

The only issue is length, mainly not so much if there is enough, but whether anything is plugged in directly behind the main Video card slot and the adjacent slot that might interfere with the cards mounting.

But the other issue is the Power supply, most prebuilt PC's Power supplies really can't handle a card like this being added in, and its almost always recommended to replace that as well.

So a good quality brand Power supply, 400-500W would be recommended, something like Antec, Corsair, Coolermaster or others in the budget range ($35-50 range).

Antec's VP450 450W unit is one of the best in this price range right now, and more than enough for your system.

[drumworkshop]

Alright thank you! I'll try to post a picture in a bit because I'm a tad busy right now... We have a bunch of family over. But yes it is a micro tower. The motherboard is also a Pegatron Carmel if that helps any.

[drumworkshop]

As for pictures this is the best I can do now... I guess it shows you just the layout of my slots... And what I already have. Btw, my power supply is 125W. So I'll probably need a new one. If you need a picture of the inside, I'll try and get it done on friday.

[drumworkshop]

Yeah, the card I currently have in there is like a all in one Ethernet USB Video and sound card. I think it fits in two 16x PCI-E slots. So I'm thinking I could put the video card there (and possibly buy a bigger one). But then I would have to find a place for everything else. I'm thinking I could get a USB 2.0 card And it would maybe fit in the PCI-E x1 slot. My computer comes with a built in Wireless internet card. And that's what I use so I don't think I need an ethernet port right now. But as for the sound card, I have a mic in and headphone out in the front. So I mean I don't really need the soundcard in the back. (Sound is built in). I usualy only use headphones anyways. I think I would be good with this setup... What do you guys think??

[stroyal]

Wrong!
You have no card of any kind. Not 1.

Your motherboard has all the things you mentioned.
All your expansion slots are empty.
That whole panel with sound, USP, Ethernet ect., is part of the motherboard

All you have to do is add a video card, and change the power supply.

This will not effect the sound Ethernet, USB, and wireless in anyway.
Your front sound ports, are the same built in chip, as the rear.

OPEN THE CASE, and look.

[drumworkshop]

Yes, I will... But as I said I don't have the time right now. but from the back does it look like there are 2 slots to fit the width?

[stroyal]

What the slots look like on the back, of the case, doesn't really tell you, what the corresponding motherboard slots look like.

Since you have no cards, at all, I'm sure a dual slot card will fit, just fine.

This is an exact science, so we want to make very sure, it will fit, without hitting something sticking up on the motherboard, as Shyguy said.

I also want to make sure of the physical size of your power supply, but Shyguy may already know.

[stroyal]

It would take me longer to find my camera, take 2 pictures, and post them, than the 30 seconds, required to take the side off the case.
But that's just me.

[drumworkshop]

Alright I took a picture of the inside. Do you think it would fit? D:

[drumworkshop]

By the way, I found this other page that contains information about this computer:

HP Pavilion p7-1000 Desktop PC series*-* HP Pavilion p7-1047c Desktop PC Product Specifications - c02872287 - HP Business Support Center

Power supply is 250W aswell.

[stroyal]

Excellent.
That link helps a lot.

Looks good, but double check.

From the Nvidai sight the reference card is 8.25" long 2 slots wide.

The long slot is where the card will plug it, but it will also cover the small slot next to it,

Measure from the removable slot covers in the back over the long slot toward the front, where 8.25" is going to be.

Check that area 2 slots wide, 8. 25 '' long, and see is anything on the motherboard sticks up higher than the top of the 2 slots.

You have a little leeway here, as the bottom of the card is slightly higher than the top of the slot

Your power supply is standard ATX, so no problem replacing it with the proper wattage, and brand.

I'd go with Shyguy's suggestion.
We all buy most of our stuff from New Egg if you want some links.
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, HDTVs, Digital Cameras and More!

Sorry if I sound sarcastic at times, but we get thousands of silly questions, and get a little jaded.

I try to demystify, and remove the myth, that computers are complicated.
The components are, but we are not building motherboards, and video cards.

ie. How easy was it to open the case?

My background is Millwright, basically a greasy industrial mechanic.
Not a rocket scientist.

[stroyal]

I just looked at your video card link, and that card is only 7.9" long, so measure accordingly.

[ShyguyXPC]

yeah the card will fit assuming there is no obstructions, the card is about 8" long, maybe a tad more, and standard Micro ATX Formfactor boards like yours are usually around 9.6" front to back (and sometimes 9.6" Square)



As to the GTS 450, its a nice card, but if It were me, I'd look at getting a GTX 550 Ti, which replaced it and performs a tad better.

Especially when using Anti Aliasing and other hi res eye candy settings in games, since the 550 has a 192-bit memory bus, vs the 450's 128-bit.

the 550 only uses about 10W more power as well.

unless your picking up a 450 for really cheap (under $100), then I would consider it, if your paying over $100, I'd consider the 550 Ti instead.



Just some benchmarks to show the 550 a tad better than the 450.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB Review - Page 11

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB Review - Page 8

Heavily taxing game, the 550 is actually playable on this one where as the 450 is not at same settings (19 vs 14 frame per second): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB Review - Page 13

[drumworkshop]

Shy, is there much of a price diffrence between the two cards? Also is there any size diffrences? And yeah my local shop doesn't have all that many video cards... I'm not usualy one to shop online.

[drumworkshop]

Oh, and now that I think about it, I looked up the GTX 550 on the site that Stroyal supplied me and I see the same card made by diffrent companies? Is there any differences at all?

[ShyguyXPC]

Just like ANY video card, Whether its an AMD or Nvidia, neither company makes their own cards, all cards sold are made by 3rd parties, like MSI, Asus, EVGA, XFX, etc.

As to the chips themselves, not really, though each 3rd party can make the cards how ever they want, different size boards, heatsink/cooler types, etc.

Different Stock Clock speeds (Some cards are clocked at a reference stock speed, others are Factory Overclocked a bit).



as to the size of the cards, not really, GTS 450 and GTX 550 Ti are about same size.

Price difference, I don't know, like I said, the 550 Ti replaced the 450, and the latter is no longer made, hell I don't even know if the 550 is made anymore, since Nvidia is on to their next gen Cards, and sometime soon by the end of the year possibly on to the next Generation 700 Series cards.

The lowest Geforce GTX 600 series card out is the 660/660 Ti which won't be out till next month. And will be in the $250-300 range. The GT 640 thats on the market is just a rebadged GT 440.

Anyways, You'd have to shop around for the 2 cards to find a price difference. I have seen some Overstock/Clearance 450's for around $80-90, some Open Box or Refurbished units for less.

I have seen 550 Ti's for around $100-115 up to $140.

it depends on where you shop and whats available.

GTX 550 Ti: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics Cards, GeForce GTX 500 series, GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi)

GTS 450's: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics Cards, GeForce GTS 400 series



Whats your Budget range for these upgrades?

Reason I ask is because the CPU you have, the Core i5 2400, is powerful enough that you can run just about any card on the market in your PC, provided you have an adequate Power Supply to run with it, Room in your case, and won't be choked or bottlenecked by the CPU's performance.

most people that come on here and ask about this stuff, usually has a lower end Dual core, or several generations older CPU, and as a result these cards your currently looking at are about as good as they can have before they see diminishing returns on performance of the cards.

Radeon HD 6770, or Radeon HD 7770 are about as high as they can usually go, but your i5 Quad core, can run even the top dollar $400-500 range cards with out much trouble.

But like I mentioned, this is assuming you had enough room to install the cards, which you don't, and a powerful enough PSU.

But you may be able to stuff a Geforce GTX 560, or something similar in this rig if your budget is high enough.

[drumworkshop]

At the moment I have a budget of about 400-500 bucks. But I'd like to be able to spend the least money possible and still get good enough gaming quality. Oh, and also is it possible to get a diffrent case to make more room for a bigger card?

[ShyguyXPC]

you can definitely do that, a new case, will work, just that you will have to take everything out and install in new one.

more work in other words, but you can surely do that if you want.

With that budget, its what I would do.



The Motherboard in your case is an ATX form factor, actually Micro ATX, but its ATX no matter what.

Its oriented in a Pseudo BTX type layout, which if this were an actual BTX board, you'd be SOL on finding a decent case.

But its actually ATX flipped upside down to look similar and "perform" Similar to BTX.

BTX was a joke, it was good in principle, but poorly implemented and died out more or less.

anyways, any ATX case, Micro ATX or Mid Tower ATX case will work.

You can get a good one, with enough room for $50, a good 500W range PSU for around $50, and maybe the Video card, if you wanted something like the Radeon 6870 or Geforce GTX 560 which are both about the same, and good lower mid range and quite capable cards for around $150-200.

so $250-300 of your budget and you still have a chunk of change left over.