Talron Posted December 20, 2011 Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) Hi guys I bought a gateway 4840-11-C around 6 months ago. I desperately need to upgrade my graphics card and PSU. I have been shopping around for a few weeks trying to make a decision on what graphics card I want to upgrade it. I decided to go with MSI Radeon 6870 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127545 For my PSU I decided to go with the thermatake that would more than enough supply my graphics card with enough Power. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153113 My only question is after watching a tutorial on installing the graphics card on youtube I got freaked out because I opened my PC Up and he talks about installing the 6870 into two dual slot cards when I opened my PC i know the graphics card is still in it but I'm not sure if i have dual slots? Can anyone confirm this that I would be able to install the 6870 fine with my current PC? Just a little worried here... I ALSO cannot find the specifications on this damn computer anywhere online I know it's a windows 7 I3 processor 550 core 1 tb hard drive 4gb dd3 ram currently a radeon 5450 in it... If that helps at all I would really appreciate the advice Thanks so much, Talron Edited December 20, 2011 by Talron
FreeAgentXMS Posted December 20, 2011 Posted December 20, 2011 Talron, When he was explaining 2-slots, he meant that the backplate takes up 2 slots(the part that sticks out the back of your computer, where you plug your monitor in). If you were to compare it with your 5450(which is a single slot card) that it's twice the thickness due to the cooler. You don't need to slots on your motherboard to run it, only two free spots on your cases backplate. Just look at the back of your case where you plug your monitor in, and you should see between 5-7 slots. Does this make sense?
flem Posted December 20, 2011 Posted December 20, 2011 Just take out the metal cover from the slot next to (below) the one the card is actually in. Incidentally, that Thermaltake is really not very good. (All their good PSUs have "Toughpower" in the name.) Fortunately for you, your system won't draw more than 250W in actual use.
plasmicfury Posted December 20, 2011 Posted December 20, 2011 You will only need 1 PCI-E slot, but what he meant is that the card is so big it takes up the space of 2 ports. You will need to remove the current graphics card and insert the new one. Also, assuming you buy that new PSU you will need to rewrite the entire PC. Hope this helped.
Highcommander Posted December 20, 2011 Posted December 20, 2011 If you install a new graphics card it is very likely that windows will MAKE you re-install anyway. This is a known issue.
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