Graphics Card Need for MineCraft

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jimbob79

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

#205236 4-Nov-2016 14:33

I have HP PRO 3000 SFF desktop PC and I need to get a cheap graphics card just to play MineCraft.

Unfortunately I've looked on trademe but the specs of these cards require a minimum of 300 watts power supply. Unfortunately I only have 250 watts Power in the PC and it's a custom physical size so It can't be replaced.

Here is a list of known working cards:

ATI Radeon HD 4350 (512MB) FH PCIe x16 Card
ATI Radeon HD 4550 (256MB) DH PCIe x16 Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce GT230 1.5GB PCIe x16 Card
NVIDIA GeForce G210 512MB LP PCIe x16

What are my other options in the form of graphics card.

Thanks

sidefx

3714 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1663838 4-Nov-2016 15:35

Decent SFF PSUs are usually better than the crap no-name PSUs that those "minimum" power supply figures are assuming - and the GPU manufacturers tend to err on the side of caution with those figures - they will probably be fine even though they say minimum 300W.

The HP spec page actually lists all those GPUs with the 250W PSU (I'm guessing that's where you got that list of compatible GPUs?)

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macuser

2120 posts

Uber Geek

#1663849 4-Nov-2016 15:52

GT 710 is the same price and much better, GT720 if you can go that way.

ubergeeknz

3344 posts

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Vocus

#1663887 4-Nov-2016 16:22

I have one of these machines with a GT220 and one (actually a dx7400) running an R7 240. Both are "adequate" to play minecraft.

I actually have a spare GT210 and the low profile bracket for it, if you are interested, no idea what these are worth (not much I imagine).

But the R7 240 produces a lot less heat/noise and is a more modern card.

Seconded on ignoring the "PSU specs" - it's a guide only and the PSUs in these are actually fairly beefy. Mine currently has the GT220 (rated 58W) and an overclocked Q6600 (TDP of 95W), along with 2 HDDs and has been ticking along fine day in day out for years now.

georgect435

5 posts

Wannabe Geek
Inactive user

#1667778 11-Nov-2016 07:55

I think it should be your best interest to get a new power supply now. A good power supply can keep the rest of the parts of a PC safe from electrical harm. I'm just trying to be a help. Now, it's your decision to make.

ubergeeknz

3344 posts

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Vocus

#1667850 11-Nov-2016 10:30

georgect435:

I think it should be your best interest to get a new power supply now. A good power supply can keep the rest of the parts of a PC safe from electrical harm. I'm just trying to be a help. Now, it's your decision to make.

These are SFF machines and have a specialised power supply form factor. The included power supply, although rated only at 250W, is of good quality. So you could spend a bunch and replace it with something similar rated at 350w, but for what benefit? These numbers are largely marketing TBQH because if you have enough, you have enough. More is just unused capacity.

jimbob79

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1667898 11-Nov-2016 10:57

In the end I got a cheap 512mb NVIDIA GeForce G210 graphics card (low profile/height) off Trade Me in the end. It's working well. I wish it had a silent heatsink.

ubergeeknz

3344 posts

Uber Geek

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Vocus

#1667912 11-Nov-2016 11:11

jimbob79:

In the end I got a cheap 512mb NVIDIA GeForce G210 graphics card (low profile/height) off Trade Me in the end. It's working well. I wish it had a silent heatsink.

If it's anything like the GT210s I have seen the fan always runs full bore. I ended up rigging a fan controller with a microcontroller and temp sensor jammed into the heatsink... bit complicated but it works nicely to keep the noise down most of the time. These aren't really quiet machines anyway when you get a bit of heat in them.