Graphics Card Advice for Slimline PC - Low Profile GPU's

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rlj1965

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Oct 6, 2007
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Hi,

I am looking to upgrade the graphics in my HP 3027s Slimline PC which is running an Vista Home Premium on an AMD Athlon x2 4000 with 2gb of ddr2 ram. This PC currently has an integrated Geforce 6150le integrated on the mobo. I do have an available PCI-e slot so a modest upgrade is achievable. I say modest because this is a slimline case which offers two problems for upgrades.

1) The new GPU must be Low Profile (half height).
2) The PSU in this computer is only 160W. This may or may not be an issue with any of these cards, but I have not identified the power requirements of any of the low profile cards I am looking at.

I have identified some cards, but would like advice on which cards may offer the best performance in my system. this computer just needs to get me through until my tax return when I will build a new gaming monster and give this to my wife for web surfing and music. Price is not really an issue as they are all relatively cheap cards. For now, I'd like to be able to play games like BF2, BF2142, Medal of Honor Airborne, etc. at somewhat decent frame rates/resolution. I don't need all the details on and realize these cards are not meant for that unless playing older games. What I really want to know is which of these is the best card for this system in terms of graphics performance for gaming.

Candidates

A) XFX NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS Low Profile (Part # PV-T72G-WAN7, PV-T72G-WANG) $55

B) Visiontek Radeon X1650 Pro HD Low Profile (Part # V261-4038) $70

C) MSI NX8500GT-MTD256EH GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported HDMI HDCP Silent Heatsink Video Card - Retail $76.99

D) Leadtek WinFast PX8500 GT TDH Low Profile $131 (Available in Passive or with Fan versions)

E: SAPPHIRE ATI 256MB X1600PRO HDMI PCI-E (TVO, DVI), Low profile (brackets included) $139

Can anyone give me a decent idea of what to buy? Your input is greatly appreciated.

rlj1965
 
If the power supply is the standard size mini-atx, you can swap it out with a cheap 300 watt unit. And of the list of cards your mentioned, the x1650pro is fastest of the lot, but not gonna be viable with that stock p/s. If you cant add more power to your system the 8500gt, is the way to go, it consumes the lowest amount of power of that list.
 
The best your going to do is either a 8500GT or possibly a 2400 (maybe a 2600) but the LP ones haven't shown up let.
 
rlj1965 said:
How does a Sapphire Radeon HD2400 PRO 256MB DDR2 PCI-E VGA / DVI / TV OUT $154 do vs. the 8500?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the HD2400 Pro isn't very good at gaming, though it does well for movies. The 8500 is nothing to write home about, but it does better. Personally, I'd go with an 8600 GT and remove the bracket so it will fit. There is probably one that can fit in your box if you modify it slightly.
 
There are low-profile 8500gt's, grab the fanless one too while he's at it. Less system noise, and you know the thing is low-power enough to be passively cooled.
 
The X1650 Pro would be your best choice but it's a power hog so out of those choices I would go with the 8500GT.

EDIT: There's a HD2400XT low profile but it doesn't come with a LP bracket though. And the 8500GT performs better.
 
I'm in sort of the same situation you are, except I have a Dell 531s. The power supply is 250w and I've read around that dell psu's are underrated, so it's a little more forgiving in terms of what card I can use.

Anyway, I've been looking for a card to replace onboard graphics as well. The past few days I've spent about an hour or 2 looking around, and the 2 best low profile choices I've found are the 7600GS, and the 8500GT 512MB version, both priced at $99 each.

There's another topic on this board, here, with an on-going discussion about this exact subject. There should be a low-profile 8600GT soon which would be best, but until then it has to be one of those 2. They're both 128-bit. There is a $50 x1600 pro on newegg, but it has a 64-bit controller+uses system ram, and the few reviews it has aren't that great.

The only problem is finding reviews for low-profile cards. I was looking at this chart, which shows the 7600gs above the 8500gt, the only thing I don't know is if they would represent performance of their low-profile counterparts.

Then again there's this chart which shows the 7600gs above them all. (Reason why I haven't included the x1650 pro is because on those charts they're listing the GDDR3 versions of them; low-profile x1650s only come in GDDR2)

2400 pro and the 2400 xt are $50 and $75, but apparently their gaming performance is garbage. Here's the x1650 pro in case anyone is interested, priced at $99.

So... anyone want to add in or have something to say from this info? If someone has one or more of these cards that would be best. I want to help out the topic-creator as well as get some answers for myself.

Thanks.
 
The low 2000 ATI series (not 2900) are good at video, not at gaming
The low 8400-> 8600 series from Nvidia are good at video, and ok at gaming.

However, get a 256mb card, do not waste money on the 512 versions, as this memory will not be used.
 
ARgnasher said:
I'm in sort of the same situation you are, except I have a Dell 531s. The power supply is 250w and I've read around that dell psu's are underrated, so it's a little more forgiving in terms of what card I can use.

Anyway, I've been looking for a card to replace onboard graphics as well. The past few days I've spent about an hour or 2 looking around, and the 2 best low profile choices I've found are the 7600GS, and the 8500GT 512MB version, both priced at $99 each.

There's another topic on this board, here, with an on-going discussion about this exact subject. There should be a low-profile 8600GT soon which would be best, but until then it has to be one of those 2. They're both 128-bit. There is a $50 x1600 pro on newegg, but it has a 64-bit controller+uses system ram, and the few reviews it has aren't that great.

The only problem is finding reviews for low-profile cards. I was looking at this chart, which shows the 7600gs above the 8500gt, the only thing I don't know is if they would represent performance of their low-profile counterparts.

Then again there's this chart which shows the 7600gs above them all. (Reason why I haven't included the x1650 pro is because on those charts they're listing the GDDR3 versions of them; low-profile x1650s only come in GDDR2)

2400 pro and the 2400 xt are $50 and $75, but apparently their gaming performance is garbage. Here's the x1650 pro in case anyone is interested, priced at $99.

So... anyone want to add in or have something to say from this info? If someone has one or more of these cards that would be best. I want to help out the topic-creator as well as get some answers for myself.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Thanks - This was a good post. Thanks also to any other posters. I still have not made my decision and value any input offered.

rlj1965
 
Thanks to all who contributed to this thread!

I would have liked to buy the Galaxy 8600 GT, but alas it is NOT available unless you live in Australia or elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere. I did see it for $126 at ncixus.com , but it was not in stock there or anywhere else I searched.

(http://www.ncixus.com/products/26441/86GEF8HDFCXX/Galaxy Techology/)

I settled on a Visiontek Radeon X1650 Pro 256MB PCIe w/HDMI/DVI which does come with low profile (half-height) brackets. I also opted to upgrade the CPU in this machine to the AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual-Core 5200+ 2.6Ghz 2MB L2-cache socket AM2 (65-Watt version) and to double up from the stock 1gb of ram to 2gb of ram.

All said an done, the s3027c was a good buy for me because of including Windows Vista Home Premium I basically got the computer for $250 from Ubid.com before my upgrades. Since Vista costs about $100 bucks for an OEM copy, I think I made out well. It's small, very nice looking and silent. Perfect for now since my other PC is a gaming monster that sounds louder than an average bathroom exhaust fan.

Here are the total costs for buying and upgrading this system

1) HP s3027c [Athlon 64 X2 (B) 4000+ Dual Core 2.1 GHz (65W), 250 GB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec) 7200 rpm, 1GB ram, 16X DVD(+/-)R/RW 12X RAM (+/-)R DL LightScribe SATA drive, Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g and Integrated 10/100 Base-T networking interface, 15-in-1 Memory card reader, Keyboard, Mouse, Windows Vista Home Premium] $250

2) Visiontek Radeon X1650 Pro HD / 256MB GDDR2 / PCI Express / HDMI / DVI / VGA / HDTV / Low Profile / Video Card $70.75

3) UPGRADE AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ EE Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 2.6GHZ 2000FSB 2X1MB 90NM 65W Retail Box $166.85

4) Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory - Retail $109.99

Total: $597.59 USD

Not to mention that I now have a spare AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ EE Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 which was the stock CPU in this system and 1GB of Ram to start with. I am thinking of building a second HTPC system for my son with this CPU.

rlj1965


Update - 18 October, 2007

I received the new Visiontek Radeon X1650 256mb and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ EE Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 2.6GHZ 2000FSB 2X1MB 90NM 65W Retail Box. The ram was already in. I can confirm that this machine does in fact support the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 65w and after installing both the GPU and the CPU, this system is now much better. It is only held back by the GPU because it requires a Low Profile Card. If I wanted to, I'd take the components out, put them in a slightly larger case with a bigger PSU and I could really get some screaming graphics card for this thing. But for now, the cheap price of this thing makes it just fine for me and space saving too!

rlj1965
 
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