Add GPU or not?

[DDO]

Hi everyone,

I've got a few questions about a low-end media PC, which I won at an auction some time ago. I kinda forgot about it afterwards, and haven't done anything with it up until now :blink:. My plan is to connect it my TV (2014 40" samsung 7000 series) and use it to play HD movies. I want to add 2 Seagate Barracuda 3TB HDD's and let the PC act as backup which will be accessible over my network.    

These are the specs: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/tRQpwOz5SDpM3q5PGZVrDNe (let me know if the link doesn't work, I'll just copy the text then). 

 

My questions are as follows: 

1: I have a GPU laying around from one of my old gaming PC's: "512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512 (EVGA)". Will this card work in this setup ,and if so, will adding it provide any improvements in performance?  

 

2: If so, How should I connect it to my TV to get maximum performance out of it? The 8800 GTS doesn't have an HDMI slot, just DVI, which the TV doesn't have. The TV does of course have an HDMI port, and so does the PC's motherboard. Can I just use HDMI motherboard-TV, or will the system just use the on-board graphics instead of the dedicated GPU this way? Another option is connecting it with an DVI-HDMI cable, and connect the sound separately. 

 

3: Will my 350W PSU be able to cope with adding a GPU and 2 HDD's? The model of the PSU = fsp350-60emdn. 

If you need more information, just let me know and I'll add it as fast as possible .

Thanks in advance!

Dave 

 

[TheKDub]

You can use a DVI to HDMI converter, it just won't carry sound, which you could just get a male-male 3.5mm audio cable for.

 

(Funny thing, that GPU is what a significant number of computers in my school use )

[Castdeath97]

Argh it's so old, are you gonna play anything over 1080p?

[DDO]

@TheKDub I'm sorry, If I'd known it was your school I would have stolen it somewhere else   

@ Castdeath97 Yep its pretty old, I figured it was better than no dedicated card at all, I'm not sure though. I guess 1080p is the max, the TV can't handle anything highers anyways. And its just going to be video's, for gaming I have a better rig!

[DDO]

Maybe the performance question is a bit tough since the gpu is pretty old, and the cpu sucks, no problem if no one knows. 

Can anyone tell me if it's a good idea to just put everything in there, turn it on and see what happens? Or is there a chance I'll damage something? 

Is there a way to test the systems stability once windows is installed?

And by the way, thanks for the advice TheKDub!

[DDO]

Anyone? :huh: