PCi-E/Video Card Help?!?

[Limahl]

Hello,

I have an Emachines EL1352-01e. I just bought it a week ago, so it's brand new. Comes as: AMD Athlon II X2 215 Dual-Core Processor, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, and comes with a NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE Integrated Video Card.

How do I know if I have a PCI-E slot? If I do I know I should put in an actual video card. I only play WoW as far as online gaming goes. I'm hoping this new comp and a good card will stop me from lagging.

A friend of mine mentioned getting an ATI Radeon 5750 or 5770, for a good card without breaking the bank. My old computer I got in 2000 and only had a plain PCI slot in it, not even an AGP. So I'm hoping this new computer and video card combo will be an upgrade that's worth it.

Thanks for any and all help.

Joey

[BlackFetus]

..hi there!..what is the model of your motherboard?..we cannot tell you if we don't the model of your motherboard!..^_^..

[Limahl]

How do I find the model number? Do I need to open it up or is it someone on the outside or in a program that I can open to find out the information?

[BlackFetus]

..you can see the model of your motherboard when your PC starts to boot..The BIOS will configure all your hardware components in the monitor when your PC boots..nor, you can see the model of your board when you open your system unit and check it in the board(example, ASUS P5QPL- AM)...^_^..

[Limahl]

Not sure which one it is. At the bottom of the board were two stickers. One on the left said LAN ID: 00262D396C31 and the other right beside it says just MBNB010020250379230R1. Above them was one slot that was like 3 inches long for something, then there was one above that which was barely an inch long, no clue what could go there. Those are the only serial numbers, or numbers of any kind, that I saw on the motherboard. If you could tell me what those two are for too(I'm trying to learn as much as I can). Thanks.

Joey

[Xlphos]

Hello,

Do you know how this will effect your warranty? By opening the case you may invalidate your warranty.
One of the simplest ways is to open the case and have a look what you have but this could invalidate your warranty.

You may want to try out your games without upgrading and if it isn't up to scratch and you don't want too lower the graphical settings then consider the graphics card. You will most likely have to get a low profile graphics card aswell. Most new computers come with PCI-Express slot(s).

Try this tool speccy to findout more information about your system. Post back with details.

- Let us know how it goes.

[Limahl]

This is the Motherboard Information and Graphics Information:

Motherboard
Manufacturer eMachines
Model EL1350
Chipset Vendor NVIDIA
Chipset Model MCP61
Chipset Revision A3
Southbridge Vendor NVIDIA
Southbridge Model MCP61
Southbridge Revision A2
BIOS
Brand American Megatrends, Inc.
Version P01-A1
Date 01/28/2010

Graphics
Monitor
Name eView 17f2 on NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Current Resolution 1024x768 pixels
Work Resolution 1024x728 pixels
State enabled, primary, output devices support
Monitor Width 1024
Monitor Height 768
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 85 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
GPU MCP61P
Device ID 10DE-03D0
Revision A3
Subvendor Acer Incorporated [ALI] (1025)
Technology 90 nm
DirectX Support 9.0c
DirectX Shader Model 3.0
OpenGL Support 2.0
Bus Interface FPCI
SLI Disabled
BIOS Version 5.61.32.30.00
ROPs 2
Shaders Vertex 2/Pixel 2
Memory Type System
Physical Memory 256 MB
Virtual Memory 1920 MB

What is a low profile graphics card? What's the difference in that and a high profile one(if there is one)? Will that be bad to get? I mainly just want to play warcraft without lagging in the main cities and in big raids. I figured a new computer with dual core processor and then buy a new video card for it would be plenty. I asked the guys at the geeksquad at my Bestbuy and they said for the price this was a good one along with the ATI Radeon 5750 or 5770 card. But now I don't know if what I got is good enough or not. Thanks for the help.

Joey

P.S. I also was reading around, and I might of gotten this wrong, but can computers that come with integrated graphics and not a stand alone card, can they be upgraded at all? I think I read that you can't upgrade those at all, but I might of misread it. Thanks again.

[Xlphos]

Hello,

Is this your computer?

If it is it says there is a pci express x16 slot.

By the way you can upgrade a computer even if it has intergrated graphics; i have done it my self.

You can get low profile graphics cards but you may not need low profile, it looks like an ordinary size graphics card may fit. You may need to have a look inside where they have positioned the slot, sometimes there may only be enough room for a single slot graphics card; there could be components in the way.

- Let us know how it goes.

[Limahl]

I have this one:

http://i.walmart.com/i/rb/0088448317582.pdf

So what's the difference in a regular card and a low profile one? Just a smaller size or is it a weaker or less of a performance or both?

Joey

[Xlphos]

Hello,

Okay the link you provided shows that you should have a spare/free PCI Express slot.

A low profile card may be more expensive and may have lower performance as there is less room to fit stuff on the card. Usually you get low profile cards for thin desktops and home media centres,

However you may not need a low profile card if you have a full size graphics card and can fit that in then you can get a full sized one. You could ask the company that makes your system if you caan get a full size graphics card.

Looking at the specs you gave you only have a 220 Watt power supply, you wouldn't have enough power for the cards you want to use. Check with this tool here.

- Let us know how it goes.

[Limahl]

So I might as well just go get a new computer and take this one back then right? No telling how much it would cost for a new power supply, I wouldn't even know what kind to get that would fit into the case that I have. Should I just take it back and pay another couple hundred bucks for a new computer(this one was $400)? First I gotta find out if my computer can take a regular video card, if so, then I gotta find out how much a power source would be and where I could get that from. If this can only fit a low profile card, I'll take it back and buy a new one with a larger case.

So any ideas on a power source?

[Limahl]

So should I just return what I have a get a new expensive computer? If I'd have to upgrade the power supply, and then whatever card I ended up getting wouldn't be strong enough anyway. And would need to be super small too. Should I just spend a couple hundred more on a bigger model with a larger case and more power? I spent $400 on this one, but I can't just go out and spend 2k on a new rig. Probably no more than $700, not including the new video card and all that stuff.

[Xlphos]

Hello,

Its up to you. Personally I would get a different Computer. You could try and build the PC yourself but if you aren't sure you may want to buy a ready made on.

I don't work in $ but at a guess you could get a decent one for maybe $80. Then you have the cost of the card on top.

What I would look for is a computer that you can easily expand and improve.

When I built mine I got a motherboard with 4 slots for RAM and 4 PCI Express slots with a reasonable dual core CPU. I used my existing case, HDD, DVD-RAM drive, GPU and PSU this helped save a bit too. If considering building your own think about what you already have.

Alternatively you could buy a barebone system, this is a usually a base unit with a motherboard, cpu, ram and psu already assembled, tested and working; All you would have to do is put your own optical drive, hard drive and graphics card in.

- Let us know how it goes.

[Limahl]

I'll probably just take mine back first thing tomorrow or later tonight. Probably put in another couple hundred dollars. Thanks for the help. Make sure I get one that's dual-core and much more power too. I'll update later in the week.

[Limahl]

Okay so I took mine back and am in the process of saving up a bit more money to buy a better comp. So a quick run down, what should I look for specification wise that is. I know minumum I need it to be dual core. With at least 1 PCI-E slot, more if affordable. 4gb of ram. Either 2gb already there and other slots open, of enough slots to use on my own. I was told I'd need a power supply faster than the one I had. That one was at 220w. But I needed a faster one for the video card types I'd want to use for WoW. To play it without lagging. What else do I need? And I mean like really NEED, at the least. Then what else that I should get if I can, etc. I want to get a rig that comes with microsoft works installed already, I use those things often. Hopefully this one will come with Outlook installed(like to use to access my email).

So is it okay to go for an Emachines that has what I need? Or should I look to get an i5 or i7 if possible(forget the maker?!?). What about video card? Seems to be either between ATI Radeon or nVidia, the heavyweights I suppose. Something around $175.00 range, a bit higher if need be and really worth it. I guess you know what I need to look for more than me, even if I haven't typed it here specifically.

Thanks for your help guys. I'll check back in here in a couple days. Since no computer I'm going to a friends house to check this or to the public library. I miss my comp, talk about withdraw symtoms, lol.

Thanks again,

Joey