low-spec PC ... adding a nice graphics card

Inevitability

Inevitability

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Hi,
It's been years since I needed to know anything about PC hardware, but my ignorance has caught up with me so here I am...
I have a low-spec PC that I use at home as my media center. It's a Lenovo EDGE 71T that I bought for the grand sum of R1,140 ... four years ago!
It's got a Dual Core G840 2.8 GHz Processor and 2GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM

It really doesn't do much hard work:
streaming/YouTube,
browsing,
playing video.

Thing is, it's got onboard graphics and no HDMI, and I've been using the VGA cable to connect to my TV until now.
So I thought it's about time I buy a graphics card with some free money (eBucks) to bring my PC out of the stone age.

So I did some Googling about the best value for money graphics cards out there, and I see I can get a GTX 1050 for R2300 at takealot (my only options are takealot and loot to use eBucks at the best value)

My question:
Is this card overkill for my needs? And will I have a badly mismatched setup (super cr@ppy machine with too nice of a graphics card) and be, in effect, "wasting" the graphics card on my machine?

I haven't played games since I gave my XB360 away 2 years ago and I had many things happening at the time and I didn't wanna spend time gaming, so that's not a priority. But that's not to say I won't ever want to play PC games if something really interesting releases (...if Mass Effect Andromeda didn't get such terrible reviews, I was even considering buying a XB1 / PS4 just for that. Would have been a waste now that I think back).

So ... good idea / bad idea?
Should I get some RAM (I'm guessing that's a stupid question!)?
Should I rather get a lower spec graphics card and spend on other upgrades?
...any advice will be greatly appreciated.
 
Get some RAM and the GPU and it will keep you going for a good while. And if it breaks, the GPU can always be used in the new PC. Just make sure your PSU will power a GPU. Do you know what wattage it is?
 
Google minimum system requirements for your graphics card. You will see you need a I5 for the GTX 1050 at least.
 
Drifter said:
Google minimum system requirements for your graphics card. You will see you need a I5 for the GTX 1050 at least.
Click to expand...
I run a 1050ti on a Celeron J3355. Yes it bottlenecks the 1050ti on some games but it works otherwise. Playing Sniper Elite V2 on 1080p on High/Ultra 60fps without issue, as an example.
 
Check what OS you are running, 32bit or 64bit. If 64bit get 8gb of memory and a graphics card second hand from carbonite. Also check what wattage your psu is, it might not even have a gpu pin.
 
UrBaN963 said:
Get some RAM and the GPU and it will keep you going for a good while. And if it breaks, the GPU can always be used in the new PC. Just make sure your PSU will power a GPU. Do you know what wattage it is?
Click to expand...
I've seen figures under 70W at load, and the card doesn't need an extra power connector from the PSU.
I know it's sinful, but I've never bothered to look at what's my PSU output! :o
Thanks for raising that point.

UrBaN963 said:
Get some RAM<snip>
Click to expand...
paul5186 said:
Check what OS you are running, 32bit or 64bit. If 64bit get 8gb of memory and a graphics card second hand from carbonite. Also check what wattage your psu is, it might not even have a gpu pin.
Click to expand...
It's 64-bit.
Ok, so RAM is a must, as I expected. Thanks.

Drifter said:
Google minimum system requirements for your graphics card. You will see you need a I5 for the GTX 1050 at least.
Click to expand...
LCBXX said:
I run a 1050ti on a Celeron J3355. Yes it bottlenecks the 1050ti on some games but it works otherwise. Playing Sniper Elite V2 on 1080p on High/Ultra 60fps without issue, as an example.
Click to expand...
Super ... I saw a ridiculous video where a guy took a GTX 1080 Ti and put it on a machine with a Pentium D CPU!... It was pathetic, but it did work.
For me, I just wanna know I'm not wasting money on the 1050 only for it to be wasted on the machine. And LCBXX answered that

DanDango said:
Zotac Geforce Gt1030 GDDR5 64-bit Graphic Card R 1,149 https://www.takealot.com/zotac-geforce-gt1030-gddr5-64-bit-graphic-card/PLID45278161
It's no bad for the price.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I will check it out
 
I'd go with the 1030 also as if you only need it for the display outputs then you really don't need more. The 1030 can do some light gaming though if you wanted to.

The gt210 is an option but the problem it's so old now, I'd rather spend a bit extra and go for the 1030.
 
paul5186 said:
Check what OS you are running, 32bit or 64bit. If 64bit get 8gb of memory and a graphics card second hand from carbonite. Also check what wattage your psu is, it might not even have a gpu pin.
Click to expand...

Ah yes.. people posting without reading the post.

He needs to use loot/takealot/another for free ebucks purchase.
 
Get the 1050 and a 4GB stick of RAM. Your CPU is definitely going to bottleneck the GPU, but you seem to be happy with that.

I would try to get money for the eBucks (maybe buy something that someone wants in exchange for cash), then buy a 2nd hand card for R900-R1 200 and 2nd hand RAM for peanuts. My GTX 750 TI, Core i3 4170 and 8 GB RAM get the job done. RAM usage is around 6 GB (at most) when I game.
 
Last edited:
Fro said:
and 2nd hand RAM for peanuts
Click to expand...
Sjoe... Thanks for the heads-up! I only just found out that 2nd hand RAM is indeed stupidly cheap!
...I really wasn't joking when I said "It's been years since I needed to know anything about PC hardware"
 
So I opened up the PC case and discovered I only have 2 RAM slots!
vader.jpg
So I might need to toss out my 2GB RAM and get 2 x 4GB if I wanna do it right. Posted an ad on Carbonite... let's see how that works out.

Quick Question:
I thought PCIE was PCIE was PCIE ... but I just came across information now that there's PCIE revisions :(
So... do I need to find out if my motherboard has a compatible revision of PCIE for each potential GPU I might buy, or can I assume it will be ok and just drop a GPU in there?
 
pci-agp-pci-express-slots.gif
If its PCIE then its fine.
"PCI Express cards are backwards compatible, a modern PCI Express 3.0 graphics card will work in a motherboard with a PCI Express x16 2.0 slot." - Source: Google

-Sorry didnt read properly-

If its this - https://support.lenovo.com/za/en/solutions/pd015001

It says :
Slots
One Full Height PCI Express x1
One Low Profile PCI Express x16

Does the Motherboard look like this?
Lenovo-ThinkCentre-Edge-71-IH61M-Desktop-Motherboard-VER-1-0-03T6221.jpg

And the back of the PC?
edge71_6_021501489890.jpg
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
animehero said:
If its this - https://support.lenovo.com/za/en/solutions/pd015001

It says :
Slots
One Full Height PCI Express x1
One Low Profile PCI Express x16

Does the Motherboard look like this?
View attachment 456350

And the back of the PC?
View attachment 456352
Click to expand...
Yep that's exactly what it looks like! Nice find!
Ok ... super ... then I'll get the Zotac 1050 Mini, and hopefully someone has some RAM for me on Carbonite.

The R1k difference is alot, but it's around 1 month of eBucks for me so it's worth it. I try very very hard to always make sure I'm getting value-for-money when I buy anything, and in this case I think (and I may be wrong) the 1050 is much better value for money, even at R1k more.

Thanks for all the responses guys.

... now who wants to give me 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM?
 
Just thinking... so this is a socket 1155 CPU I have. Will any socket 1155 CPU just fit in and work on the motherboard, or does the CPU need to be compatible? and where would I check compatibility?
 
Sell your ebucks here and use that money to buy a 2nd hand gpu from here
 
Inevitability said:
Just thinking... so this is a socket 1155 CPU I have. Will any socket 1155 CPU just fit in and work on the motherboard, or does the CPU need to be compatible? and where would I check compatibility?
Click to expand...

If you can find one of these CPU's it should work.But its a big IF

Intel® Core i3-2100T
Intel® Core i5-2500T
Intel® Core i5-2390T
Intel® Core i7-2600S

Note they have the product code at the end as well.It has to match because the max TDP this has is 65w.
You might be better off upgrading it gradually.Maybe a motherboard+ cpu combo that supports DDR3.Keep the ram and everything else the same
 
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