Help with GPU Situation

[Bananimal]

I was talking to a co-worker today and he told me that there was a website that detects your computer specs and tells you if specific GPU's are compatible with your pc (kind of like CanIRunIt.com but with hardware not games). He did not remember the website so I googled it in every way possible and no dice. Anyone know of a website like this? I'm fairly new to PC gaming (2 years or so and hooked) and I'm learning everything as I go but shortcuts like this website would be helpful if it exists.

I currently have an Nvidia GT 630 gpu and I spontaneously grabbed a PNY Nvidia Geforce GT 730 1024mb DDR3 because it was on sale for a good price, I realize this card doesn't have much of a fan base but it's a slight improvement. I just want to make sure this thing will work before putting it in and I'm kind of curious as to what other cards I could use in this rig.

In case you were wondering my specs are...


GeForce GT 630
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
16.00 GB RAM
Win 8
1 TB HD
ASUS 6730

[Air]

GT cards are not for gaming, they're not built for that and are definitely weaker overall. You'll want a Nvidia GTX card or an AMD R9 card for decent gaming today.


Such a website could not possibly detect what your PSU is, anyway, and the PSU is the most important part to consider when buying a new graphics card(I wish I had known that when I bought my first graphics card). You'll usually have to open up your PC and check the label on the power supply to verify.

At 300 watts, a GTX 750 Ti is your best option.
At 600 watts, you can go with any single-GPU graphics card, depending on your budget(high-end cards here would be the GTX 980 and the R9 290x).
700-850 watts, that's more in the range of 2-way or 3-way SLI/Crossfire, depending on what GPU you use.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

GPU compatibility is quite simple:

- Physical Measurements/Dimensions of the GPU Card (will it fit in your case)

- Everything with regards to GPUs are PCI-Express so that shouldn't be a problem. Every motherboard since Intel 775 and AMD 939 have had this as standard slot for X16 sized cards, such as GPUs. Now there are different PCI-E Specs (2.xx and 3.xx) but if you buy a "3.0" compatible GPU, it is backwards compatible for older spec slots. The spec for that slot just determines the maximum throughput that it could technically handle.

- You also need to know the Power Requirements of a GPU before purchase and if your Power Supply can handle that or not. Otherwise you will run into problems if you buy a power-hog GPU that requires more Amps than your Power Supply can handle. Plus your Power Supply needs to have those extra PCIE (6 and/or 8 pin) power connectors on them. As without those, or enough of them, that is a tell-tale sign your PSU won't be good enough.

- Your Motherboard Manual runs through all of these "compatibility" details for most part.



You list "GT 630" and "ASUS 6730"
Are you running two GPUs in one system? If so why are you mixing NVIDIA and AMD GPUs? Aside from the ability to connect multiple screens, it serves no benefits and due to Drivers, they can conflict with one another and cause issues, especially where Gaming is concerned.

You will see little to zero benefits from swapping out a GT 630 for a 730.

Your other specs are decent, but as for GPUs, don't waste your time even looking at NVIDIA ones below the x60 models, as those generally were not designed with "gaming" in mind, and will generally not do well for most AAA games @ 1080p or higher. For lower-end GPUs, they are more for "multimedia". If you want games to run smoother and/or higher FPS averages, invest in a better GPU around the $150+ ranges, like NVIDIA GTX 960 or AMD R9 270/280 series. Better bang for buck and shouldn't have any issues being able to crank up your games visual quality, while running @ 1080p

Best bet is a quality Power Supply (PSU) of 550-watt or more that is at least "80+ Bronze rated". You can get like 650-watt "Gold certified" for under $100 which will have cleaner power, more efficiency as well as plenty of Amps on the +12V line(s) for CPU/GPUs. Better to get a single higher end GPU then to mess with lower-end ones or multiples.

[yberkurko]

To add to Airs list there is still one other thing to consider... 12v rail maximum current... some older PSUs have quite high rated power, but their 12V rails may have only small part of it ( modern pc takes main part of power from 12v rail(s). Weak 12V rail may cause problems even with 650W psu when using higher end graphics cards.

[Bananimal]

I knew about the PSU, sorry i forgot to mention my PSU is good for 350 watts, I didn't know about the difference between the GT and GTX cards though I just knew GTX were better cards from what I read, thanks for that.
I doubt this motherboard could handle a GTX 750 Ti, I've been contemplating on buying a new rig overall build specifically for gaming sometime in the next couple years, figured this would hold me over til then. Thanks Air.

[Bananimal]

These comments really helped, thanks everyone. Bad-Motha ASUS 6730 is the model of my desktop or at least this is what ASUS is telling me lol

[Andrius227]

Originally posted by ReadEMnWeep:

I knew about the PSU, sorry i forgot to mention my PSU is good for 350 watts, I didn't know about the difference between the GT and GTX cards though I just knew GTX were better cards from what I read, thanks for that.
I doubt this motherboard could handle a GTX 750 Ti, I've been contemplating on buying a new rig overall build specifically for gaming sometime in the next couple years, figured this would hold me over til then. Thanks Air.

Motherboard doesn't really matter, literally all graphics cards run on the same pcie x16 slot. That means you could use any gpu you want, as long as you have the power for it, or space in your pc case (thats only a problem with the top end cards, which can be a bit long). Gtx 750 ti is the best budget gaming gpu, runs on 300w which is super low and it's very powerfull compared to any gt series card, ~4 times more powerfull than a gt 730.

I suggest you cancel the order for a gt 730, if you still can, and order a gtx 750 ti (or a regular gtx750), you will not regret it. A gt730 is just slightly better than a gt630 and not a good upgrade.

[Bananimal]

Thanks Andrius, I believe my motherboard has pciex16 1.1 and I thought this didn't work with the beefier GPU's, seems google research has failed me (thanks google!). These comments are really humbling though, I thought I knew more than I actually did know.

[_I_]

the board should have pci-e x16 2.0 slot
or 3.0 if its a 70 chipset

post a cpuz validation link
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
cpuz -> validate button -> submit button
it will open a browser, copy the url (address) and paste it here

also open the case and give us the brand/model of the power supply

[Bananimal]

http://valid.x86.fr/mztm6z
PSU: Brand- AcBel Model- HBA008-ZA1GT
Thanks

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Originally posted by ReadEMnWeep:

http://valid.x86.fr/mztm6z
PSU: Brand- AcBel Model- HBA008-ZA1GT
Thanks

It's 350W on paper, in reality more like 270W. I would just swap out the PSU and get GTX 960:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XxhwZL

Or GTX 970 if you can afford it:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vs3KkL

Check if you have enough room inside your case for those card lenghts, GTX 960 linked is 10.12" and GTX 970 10.83".

[Bananimal]

I am really considering doing that now Rumple, curious though, if I didn't replace the PSU would I still be able to use the GTX 750 ti with the 300W even though the PSU is more around 270W than the listed 350W? Or would that be pushing my wattage to or past its limit?

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Originally posted by ReadEMnWeep:

I am really considering doing that now Rumple, curious though, if I didn't replace the PSU would I still be able to use the GTX 750 ti with the 300W even though the PSU is more around 270W than the listed 350W? Or would that be pushing my wattage to or past its limit?

It's kinda gamble, most likely it would work if GTX 750 Ti is version that doesnt need extra 6-pin power cable from PSU and takes all the power from motherboard slot but cant really be sure.

[Andrius227]

Originally posted by ReadEMnWeep:

I am really considering doing that now Rumple, curious though, if I didn't replace the PSU would I still be able to use the GTX 750 ti with the 300W even though the PSU is more around 270W than the listed 350W? Or would that be pushing my wattage to or past its limit?

Even 270w would be ok for a 750ti. It only needs 60w, your cpu needs 77w, that leaves 133w for hdd's, dvd, fans, and whatever else you have in your system. Totally fine.

And no, gtx750 ti doesn't require any extra power connectors.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Originally posted by Andrius227:

And no, gtx750 ti doesn't require any extra power connectors.

Gigabyte and EVGA versions with two fans need 6-pin PCI-E connector.

It's cheap generic PSU, it should work but it might not, cant really be 100% sure.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

If u lack quality PSU, get a Mini or ITX version GPU
GPU families such as 750 Ti, 960 and 970 are available is such versions/forms.

Brands such as MSI and ASUS have these.

I wouldn't trust any sub-300-watt PSU though. It's cheap to get one that'll be more than enough. Don't skimp on PSU!