A Business PC for gaming

[ayresyboy]

Hi Guys,

I have an HP Compaq 7600 dc sff busines pc that i would like to put a graphics card in to play games.

I understand I can fit in a full size card with a riser.

Which card would best suit my PC.

BRgds,

Andy

[kalniel]

Does the riser take PCI, AGP or PCI-E cards?

[badass]

Does the riser take PCI, AGP or PCI-E cards?

DC7600's are all PCI-e (1 x16 PCIe slot)
I've never heard of a riser card for them though - though I haven't been looking.
Without the riser, the SFF ones only take half height cards.

[s_kinton]

A quick seems to show a PCIe riser for the dc7700, but no the dc7600.
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/q.../12376_na.HTML

It also states that this wil still only allow you to put in a low-profile card.

If you're limited to low-profile, which it seems you are, then you are severely limited when it comes to cards capable of running games at a decent resolution. None of the low-profile cards are what you would call gaming cards, all low end parts.

Heres a list of all the low-profile cards scan stock:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...derBy=PriceAsc

[ayresyboy]

Great work guys,

PC Pro seems to confirm the limitation to half height PCI cards

The next question is, can I use a half height graphics card for gaming and what games am I realistically able to play? My screen is an HP1730

Any advice welcome.

Cheers

[staffsMike]

Most games will be playable at 1024 x 768. 1280 x 1024 may start to be a problem.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...By=Description

that is scan selection of low profile cards

I'd be looking towards the 8400GS or the new ATi 2400PRO

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=673525

[kungpo]

Is it a Core2 based machine? We tried to upgrade a new HP machine (dx2300, core2 based) and the PCIe slot it not for a proper graphics card, but a special one that gives a DVI interface. Older Pentium D and Pentium 4 machines should be fine.

[ayresyboy]

its a p4 3 ghz with 512 ram. wud it be worth upgrading ram? looks like ill go for nvidia. any idea whether i can fit two in sli mode???

[kungpo]

Hi Andy,

You no chance with SLI! You need an SLI certified motherboard, which an HP business desktop will not have. It is worth getting another 512MB to take it to 1GB. And in fact, I've just realised I know what machine you have. The slots are on the motherboard, and whilst you may be able to get a PCI riser, it would be unlikely to have a PCIe slot.

As the processor is a little older, I don't know what cards will offer the best value. The CPU will bottleneck the more recent cards, but i would imagine an Ati x1950 or an Nvidia 7900 would be a good choice.

Also, unless the card comes with a short form backplate, you may have trouble, even if the card itself is low profile.

This may help though:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=487702

Good luck!

[staffsMike]

pretty sure the 8400's come with both brakets in the box.

More ram is a must for modern games really. 2GB is good. 1GB is ok though.

Is it this one?
http://www.comzign.co.uk/Inu_product...p?ref=11644386

States PCIe x 16 so it's good to go in that respect.

The mobile 8400GS runs games quite nicely on my laptop so I can't see why the desktop one would struggle at low to medium gfx settings

[ayresyboy]

hello again

yes that is the PC I have. I have looked inside the case and there is a massive space to fit a graphics card. The difficulty is fitting the width (or height if thats what you call it) when the case is shut. Im guessin I can manipulate pretty much any graphics card to fit in there and play away with the case off haha??????

so correct me if I am wrong, but I am looking for a graphics card that, width ways or height ways depending on what you call it, will fit my case. I can manipulate the backplate if required. whats more, it has to not be so pwerful that the PC "bottlenecks" it.

i am using xp pro direct x 9. and will probably upgrade the RAM also if it is definitely worth it.

so what definitevly would be the best card for me?

Andy

p.s. I have pics of what the PC looks like inside and out if it is of any help

[staffsMike]

lol i like the idea of running it with the case open

A pic might be useful.

the bracket at the back will show you what will fit in. If is around 5cm its half height if its around 10cm its full height

[kungpo]

Looking at Maplin (I know..), XFX have a few small form cards, and come with small back plate adapters, one being an 8400. Not sure it will be that great for games though.

[ayresyboy]

the manufacturer of the pc sells an ati x1300pro for use with this pc. i wonder if thats any good. im not going to be playing new games at high res. i had my pc stolen back in 2002 after i had just completed return to castle wolfenstein, so im lookin to go back to that era and play shoot em ups whenever im in a bad mood at work! would the afforementioned card be ok for that? also, would the 8400gs be ok for that? preferably i would like to squeeze in a 7900 but not sure if it will fit, i will investigate that further!

[kungpo]

Well, the x1300 Pro will certainly be better than the integrated graphics. However, I would try some of your old games first.

2002 is quite a long time ago, and the integrated graphics may well be enough for that. If it's not powerful enough, then I think any modern card is going to be adequate for a lot of games, just not the newest, nor at the highest settings.

At that price point (x1300 / 8400) are all going to offer fairly similar performance.

[ayresyboy]

anyone know if my case will fit the MSI RX2600XT-T2D512EZ ???