Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, JustAnEngineer
Sputnik7 wrote:At that point, all you're really re-using is the case -- and it's not like Gateways are noted for their external aesthetics. (You won't even be able to re-use the PATA HD and optical drive on most "modern" mobos without adding an adapter, and it won't support front USB 3.0 ports either). And you're not saving much money. Why not start from scratch, go mATX and get some kind of girlfriend-friendly case? (Tastes vary, but most prefer something other than OEM beige-box or boygamer neon-lit cheese-graters)If i'm not mistaken, i can still gut the box and upgrade it (i think it's ATX form factor).
For now. Once Win8 ships, you may find Win7 disappearing rather quickly.I suppose i should investigate upgrading her from win xp too, as some modern games no longer support xp. OEM Win7 should be easy enough to get.
Jason181 wrote:Someone else will have to weigh in on the video card thing; more is better imho, but that might not suit you or your budget.
Sputnik7 wrote:I'm sorry, but your best bet really is to start over. As a stop-gap measure, you could add a $120 -15MIR Radeon HD7770 1GB graphics card to the existing system, but any other upgrades are best made in a whole new PC. If you start with the graphics card, you can later migrate it to a new PC when you give up on the Gateway as a gaming system.This is her current system.
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/1008847/1008847sp3.shtml
JustAnEngineer wrote:As a stop-gap measure, you could add a $120 -15MIR Radeon HD7770 1GB graphics card to the existing system, but any other upgrades are best made in a whole new PC.
DPete27 wrote:Using the power supply calculator I linked you to earlier, the sytem should draw about 160W at 90% system load. (That calculator recommends wattage for the PSU to be roughly 50% loaded at 90% system load) So, provided the motherboard has a PCIe x 16 slot (not AGP) and you can get a 6-pin PCIe power connector to power the GPU, you should be ok. (you can buy a molex - 6pin adapter if need be) Being a junky OEM power supply, I normally wouldn't recommend this since it's getting into "unknown territory" but I get the feeling that this setup isn't meant to last for more than a year or two. So, as a temporary fix, this should work just fine.
Otherwise, buy her a 380W - 430W power supply also and you're 2 components closer to a new system. (both can be reused of course)
Sputnik7 wrote:Looking at my first post, it says the system has a PCIe x 16 slot. I'm not sure if it's PCIe 1.0 or 2.0 though. Does that matter?
DPete27 wrote:HOLD THE PHONE!!! I just got to looking a little more at your system thinking that ATX motherboards from OEMs that long ago seem pretty rare. Can you confirm that it looks like so:
Motherboard
View from Back
If this is correct, you're going to be limited to a single slot graphics card like this thread because the graphics card will go in upside down (fan pointing up) and there are no expansion slots in the case above the PCIe x16 port. You can still get a 7770 with a single slot in the back but you'll need to make sure that the double slot cooler will fit inside your case. (ie, that poorly located motherboard power header, and the audio ports on the rear panel)