I need your help for a new graphics card!

[FireWienie]

Okay, a lot of you know I have the shittiest toaster on earth. I found out my computer isn't too bad, all it needs is a new graphics card to run games I like, for an example, Mirror's Edge (parkour funz), CoD4, etc. Note I do not need to change anything else, even though my ram is shit. So here is a graphics card I was thinking of buying that can potentially work on my computer. 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-100292DDR3L/dp/B004N3BH0C

 

Another one that probably wont work but I want your guys opinion

 

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Profile-PCI-Express-R6450-MD1GD3-LP/dp/B004X6ABTM/ref=sr_1_22?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1431307563&sr=1-22&keywords=graphics+card

 

And here is the minimum graphics card for Mirror's Edge: 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FM7BRGM/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687542&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0002KU5J4&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1NVQZPTWVEVPYFGQA5ES

 

And another one that could MAYBE work on this piece of crap!

 

http://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-GeForce-8800-Graphics-Upgrade/dp/B0012YZGQ6

 

NOW THE IMPORTANT PART! My specs! I'll put my specs vs the the minimum specs that are required to run Mirror's Edge. More importantly look at the things I DO NOT HAVE THAT PREVENT ME FROM RUNNING MIRRORS EDGE! These are copied from CAN I RUN IT!

 

Minimum: 256MB memory with Shader Model 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or equivalent, GeForce 7300 is below minimum requirements

I have: Intel® Q35 Express Chipset Family (This is good, but here comes the bad part)

    Required                              You Have

Video RAM 256 MB                              256.0 MB

 

3D: Yes                                                 Yes

 

Hardware T&L: Yes                                No

 

Pixel Shader: 3.0                                 You have :2.0

 

Vertex Shader version 3.0                    You Have: 0.0

 

 

I need a graphics card that has a better pixel shader and Vertex shader. Here are the rest of my specs so I can find one that will work on my computer.

 

 

CPU

Minimum: Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz or 100% compatible equivalent              You Have: Intel® Core2 Duo CPU E6550 @ 2.33GHz 

 

CPU SPEED

Minimum: 3 GHz           You Have: 2.3 GHz Performance Rated at: 4.02 GHz

 

RAM

Minimum: 1 GB            You Have: 2.1 GB

 

OS

Minimum: Microsoft Windows XP SP2/Vista/7                You Have: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 32-bit 

 

FREE DISK SPACE

Minimum: 8 GB              You Have: 10.1 GB 

 

SOUND CARD

Minimum: Yes                 You Have: High Definition Audio Device 

 

DVD-ROM

Minimum: Yes                 You Have: TSSTcorp DVD-ROM TS-H353B ATA Device 

 

DIRECTX VERSION

Minimum: 9.0c                You Have: 11.0

 

Sorry that these copy and paste thingies. Anyways, I am on a low budget and I know a graphics card that is more expensive than 100 dollars will not be compatible with this crappy toaster. Thanks for all of your help!

 

ALSO FORGOT TO MENTION, MY COMPUTER IS A LENOVO MINI, SO IT IS SMALLER THAN MOST COMPUTERS!!@!^!$Y!$Y&!(%!@

[Xernicus]

Alrighty, out of all of those I'd choose the HD6450. Now there is a newer option (more expensive though at $100), and I was looking at this one myself not too long ago: http://www.amazon.com/XFX-250E-800MHz-Graphics-R7250EZNP4/dp/B00JM5XX9O
 

Now if you need to take one of those ports off and use the card in "Low Profile" form-factor, you can look at other cards like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Profile-Graphics-02G-P3-3733-KR/dp/B00L5GZG5C/ref=sr_1_9?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1431330533&sr=1-9&keywords=graphics+card

 

Your computer shouldn't really be a slouch to play games like Mirror's Edge, Minecraft, ET, etc. In the future you might look into whether or not it would be possible to put a Core 2 Quad CPU in place of the Core 2 Duo. I'd say more times than not, the motherboard and the chipset would support the replacement of the same era CPUs, unless it's soldered to the mobo.

[FireWienie]

Thanks Xern, but just one problem about the link you gave me. My computer is a Mini version of most computers, so it wouldn't be able to use modern graphics cards. This computer can't run Mirror's Edge because I don't have a Vertex Shader. Also this amazing toaster runs Minecraft at 25 FPS on LOWEST SETTINGS! Pretty crap, but yeah. The highest chance I have is to get the video cards "Can I Run it" gave me, plus they need to be cheap. When I have time I'm gonna open my computer case to see how many Watts this computer can use, maybe it will be a bit more useful to finding a new graphics card.

 

Also I forgot to mention, I'm not going for the best graphics card, I'm going for a decent one that my computer would be compatible with and has a vertex shader so I would actually be able to run decent games. If I don't find one, I might buy a new computer but at this moment I don't have too much money (around 250 dollars)

[FireWienie]

Just going to bump this, need more help and suggestions!

[Xernicus]

The 'mini' formfactor shouldn't be all that big of a problem, as far as I know. How does this affect the PCI-e slot? I presume it's limited to a single-slot GPU, but whether or not it's low profile is the killer deal. The depth of the card should not be a problem, as AFAIK that doesn't really change unless you're looking at high power cards.
This is the difference between the two:

The video cards I am recommending for you aren't the newest, top of the line shizz unfortunately. The GPU guys are only looking at dual slot solutions for high performance because of the cooling and whatever.
 
Here are my tips though, regardless of your choice:

• GDDR5 vram. DDR3 cards are cheaper, but the memory bus isn't fast enough to take advantage of more than 1GB of vram.
• Go for a 2GB card if you can. More memory = more textures (and at higher resolution too) that can be loaded. It won't improve AA performance or anything like that, but if you're playing newer games such as Payday 2, Watch_Dogs, or whatever, the extra gig of memory makes a huge difference in the textures.
• Choose one that allows for overclocking

I had an AMD Radeon HD6570 for awhile, and it had some pretty decent performance. I'd give it to you, but the fan croaked out and the passive cooler I put on there isn't enough to keep it under the maximum operating temperature while under load.
 
Your power supply should have a label on it like so, and give you it's maximum power output (280w for this one):


If you could give the exact model of your computer along with memory specs, number of drives attached, etc, then we can see whether or not the PSU that's inside would be capable of a video card upgrade.

[FireWienie]

Okay here is a screen shot of my specs, including my module name. I already knew how to find the watt usage of this computer, but thanks anyways

 

 

Here are my specs for "le video card"

 

 

And I'm a noob with computers, so I dont really know how to find the number of drives I have. Sorry, and once again thanks a lot.

By the way, the graphics card I'm looking for doesn't really have to be good, I just want it to run Mirror's Edge, so if it's old, I dont really mind. My computer isnt really a "mini" it's just smaller than most computers, which kind of affects the size of the mother board, so if the video card cant fit, well... that would be unfortunate.

[Xernicus]

So upon doing some Googling, I've heard that you might be limited to the Radeon HD 4xxx series if you choose to go the AMD route, due to limitations in the BIOS of your motherboard.

Those are pretty low-spec cards nowadays. I ran one a couple years ago, and even then they were getting obsolete.

 

That said, I read stories about an AMD HD 7xxx series card working, and (nothing but) success stories with NVidia's GeForce 640 line, so you might want to look into those.

 

You shouldn't run into too many problems with your PSU though, as far as I can tell.

[FireWienie]

Alright thanks a lot! I talked to my father about buying a graphics card (he knows more about hardware than I do). He said since I have an old machine, I must get a pci graphics card, luckily I have found those already. I'll be doing more research. He told me he will help me take a look at my mother board and hopefully I'll be able to give you more information

 

Thanks a ton for all your help

 

Also while looking around, I've found this too, really cheap and looks pretty good.

 

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-PCI-E-Graphics-01G-P3-1302-LR/dp/B0049MPQA4

[Vanaraud]

I was about to suggest to search for forums about technology and grab some good deal on aftermarket parts. Comes out the low end and low profile graphic cards go for more than high end ones. For example couple of month ago sold my HD 6950 for 35€ and the prices keeps dropping. And saw cards like HD6770 going with 40€ which has almost 2x lower FPS. 8800 GT is still performing good but to pay over 100$ for so old technology is pointless in my opinion.

 

I see the aftermarket for lower end\older PC parts market is insane, E6400 CPU for instanse goes for 30€ whilst for around 60€ one would get a G3258 Pentium, which is getting in the way only with GTX 980 on GTA V. On the GPU-s side, one could get twice the powerful for same money with correct mobo.

 

In my opinion you would get a "better bang for buck" ratio building a new PC from ground up combining new and aftermarket parts...

Not from Amazon, prices there for used parts are even higher than for new ones?! Just have to camp for good deals and be aware of "mining GPU"-s.

 

PS. (I know yours is prebuilt Lenovo but) Thats why its a better idea to build a ATX form factor PC in the first case, doesn´t limit ones choises afterwards... I´ve always been in an opinion that ITX\Mini is for enthusiasts with big wallet;)

 

Just my 2 cents

[FireWienie]

Yeah, but I dont have much money and all I really need is a new graphics card.

 

And to Xern, I found the watts my motherboard uses which is 99.4 - 119.3 W (depending on clock speed). Also my motherboard is called Lenovo ThinkCentre M57, pretty old so it might affect what graphics card I'm going to buy.

[FireWienie]

Okay here's an update. My computer's total maximum power usage is 280W and I have been going through a couple of low profile video cards. Here's a link

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130607

[FireWienie]

Okay last update. I was sent 2 graphic cards that will run on my computer as they were solutions to my question on a different forum, and a solution to someone with the same computer model as mine. The person even said it worked perfectly. So here they are. 

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500343CVF

 

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-Graphic-N730K-1GD5LP-OC/dp/B00N802PC0