Addding a GPU

[Dante0217]

Hello! 

 

I have been searching around and completely forgot I had signed up to be part of this awesome and very supportive community which may be able to help me with my predicament.

 

I recently convinced my little brother to join the PCMasterRace and he has been very intrigued into abandoning his console and using it simply as a media device and start strictly PC gaming. 

 

Alas, he is a minor and he has nowhere near enough income to build a PC (about $10/month) so what I was thinking is to re-purpose the family PC, rarely used for anything other than paying bills (my parents) and adding a GPU for him to be able to play a couple games on it.

 

My dad bought this PC a while back for the family but to be honest its rarely used as mentioned above. It wasn't until about two months ago that my brother really fell in love with my PC that he really wanted to experience more of the power of dat 120fps.

 

So my question is: Since this is a PC built by Lenovo, what are some restrictions I'm going to be facing? Bottlenecks? 

 

I know enough to understand that a PC built by a manufacturer has a crappy PSU and that it will need to be replaced. I am aware of that and plan on buying him a PSU as well. I have consulted the Lenovo forums but in all honesty its a ghost town over there. I have also consulted the user manual but to no avail.

 

I will outline the know specs of the PC in order for you guys to help me as best you can.

 

Lenovo H430

OS: Windows 8 (x64)

CPU: Intel Core i5 ­3330

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD (7200 RPM)

RAM: 8Gb DDR3

MB: LENOVO MAHOBAY Win8 STD MM DPK IPG

 

To my knowledge I know the motherboard has several PCI Express Slots: x16 (1) and x1 (3)

 

Recommendation of GPU and PSU is appreciated. 

 

As of now he only plays the super popular games (LoL, TF2,PoE) but only because integrated graphics only gets you so far. He would really like to try out some bigger games, and hes a big FPS shooter fan (he really wants to get into CS:GO and try out BF4 & BFHL).

 

Hes running a 1080p 60hz Acer Monitor I got from a job a while ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kermit]

what is your price range? 

 

A 270x would be really nice for what he wants, and a 500w evga broze certified will be sufficient

 

($210 in total)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202050&cm_re=270x-_-14-202-050-_-Product(270x)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438012&cm_re=evga_500w-_-17-438-012-_-Product(PSU)

[Thebman712]

budget?

 

i would suggest somthing like a 280 or a 960 if you can, if not a 270 or 750ti are both great cheaper options 

 

deffinitly the evga 600b for a psu, so that when he gets the money he can upgrade some other things to.

 

PS, i suggest getting a new motherboard ASAP, oem mobos are not good, after that a new case and add a ssd, and that rig is set

[Dante0217]

what is your price range? 

 

A 270x would be really nice for what he wants, and a 500w evga broze certified will be sufficient

 

($210 in total)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202050&cm_re=270x-_-14-202-050-_-Product(270x)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438012&cm_re=evga_500w-_-17-438-012-_-Product(PSU)

 

Would really like to only spend about 300 MAX on these upgrades. 

[Dante0217]

budget?

 

i would suggest somthing like a 280 or a 960 if you can, if not a 270 or 750ti are both great cheaper options 

 

deffinitly the evga 600b for a psu, so that when he gets the money he can upgrade some other things to.

 

PS, i suggest getting a new motherboard ASAP, oem mobos are not good, after that a new case and add a ssd, and that rig is set

Was looking very closely at the 960, and was wondering if the MOBO would be ok with it as well. 

[Kermit]

Was looking very closely at the 960, and was wondering if the MOBO would be ok with it as well. 

 

dont get the 960

 

you can get a 280x for like 40 dollars more and thats on par with the higher quality GPUs

 

so for your GPU get this:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202137&cm_re=280x-_-14-202-137-_-Product

and PSU get this ($40 dollars after mail in rebate): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182068&cm_re=rosewill_550w-_-17-182-068-_-Product

[Dante0217]

dont get the 960

 

you can get a 280x for like 40 dollars more and thats on par with the higher quality GPUs

 

so for your GPU get this:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202137&cm_re=280x-_-14-202-137-_-Product

and PSU get this ($40 dollars after mail in rebate): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182068&cm_re=rosewill_550w-_-17-182-068-_-Product

Looks good but my PRIMARY concern is being able to use it right away with the Lenovo MOBO, will it take? Will his CPU bottleneck that card since it seems pretty high end?

[Thebman712]

Was looking very closely at the 960, and was wondering if the MOBO would be ok with it as well. 

yes it would be fine, there will be no bottleneck

 

dont get the 960

 

you can get a 280x for like 40 dollars more and thats on par with the higher quality GPUs

 

so for your GPU get this:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202137&cm_re=280x-_-14-202-137-_-Product

and PSU get this ($40 dollars after mail in rebate): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182068&cm_re=rosewill_550w-_-17-182-068-_-Product

well i have a 280x, and i hate it, there is no reason to get a 280x over a 960 if the 280x is $40 more there is 1gb of vram more, but they perform 5fps different in games

 

also rosewill psu's suck, a evga 600b is a better option, better quality, and more watts at the same price

[vembutech]

280x is more better and cost efficient. SO you can prefer this GPU.

[Kermit]

Looks good but my PRIMARY concern is being able to use it right away with the Lenovo MOBO, will it take? Will his CPU bottleneck that card since it seems pretty high end?

 

the i5 will not bottleneck the 280x and will work with your mobo

 

I suggest snatching that PSU up quick with the mail in rebate

[Kermit]

well i have a 280x, and i hate it, there is no reason to get a 280x over a 960 if the 280x is $40 more there is 1gb of vram more, but they perform 5fps different in games

 

also rosewill psu's suck, a evga 600b is a better option, better quality, and more watts at the same price

 

?? I love my 280x more than anything and performs flawlessly!

 

plus Rosewill PSUs are some of the best out there... Maybe not the 550w, but $40 for a 550 gold is an unbeatable price.

[bip_]

For the power supply, evga or cosair 500/600 watts are awesome should cover you with the 960 or 280x. Here is a few recommendations:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027&cm_re=corsair_500-_-17-139-027-_-Product(I actually have this and it works amazing)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028&cm_re=cosair_600-_-17-139-028-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438012&cm_re=evga_500-_-17-438-012-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28N5255&cm_re=evga_600-_-17-438-014-_-Product

 

Most the time if a power supply is a named brand (i.e. corsair, evga, and rosewill etc.) you can't really go wrong with it.