Give me the mobo model number.
Lenovo MAHOBAY
Chipset Ivy Bridge rev 9
Southbridge H61 rev B3
LPCIO IT8728
Find it and link it. I just want to see if it has a pcie x16 slot. If you have the board in view, it should say PCIe 2.0, or something similar. Example in the picture below:
yeah I'm pretty sure it has one PCI 3.0 slot. I'll try to put a link up tomorrow
And that is a full sized slot? Like the blue slots (not white) in the picture? Any GPU will run on your mobo. There is no problem with H61 and any GPU compatibility.
The 7870 XT is very appropriate. Just give yourself a gaming performance boost with the new card, and you'll be fine.
Check back tomorrow.
The 3330 is an ivy bridge chip so if he has a board from that gen it should have atleast 1 pcie 3.0 x16 slot probably 2 if it is a Z77 board.
why not go with an i5 3750k? ist it the same socket? and what kind of cpu are utrying t o get? for 800 ish u can find decent deals on mobo's and cpus, u need a better vid for gaming for sure, i jus bought a gtx 660 sc for 220$ and at least a 500-750 psu shouldnt set u back near 800 prolly around 600-750 on the lower end of what ur asking for
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5401116&CatId=1509 thats the case u want lol looks good and has cable management options. which makes everyone happy :)
new gpu and psu and move on with ya life.
Would you build a PC, to then swap out some of those components? I wouldn't. It's a waste of money. It is usually beneficial to just use what you have, than trying to change to recommended products.
The cheapest Z77 mobo is much more expensive than any other compatible chipset. He doesn't have a K edition processor, and he probably doesn't overclock. All he really needs is the GPU (and PSU), providing his board does have a pcie slot for it. It will play games, no need for additional costs. Worry about that stuff when it comes to building a new machine.
Because, by the time you change the mobo, or the processor/start thinking about Haswell, you should just consider starting new. His system is more than capable, for his wants and needs.
yeah its full sized, but why wouldn't either of my other GPUs work in the slot? The 6850 didn't work at all, my first GT 620 worked about a month then it stopped sending signal to the monitor.
Not having an unlocked cpu I did not expect him to have a Z77 board, something in that generation that would have a good feature set to go with that cpu would be something like an H77 or B75. Both of those would have the single pcie 3.0 slot I was talking about the last part was just an add on statment, but I personally have seen someone buy a Z77 board for a 3220 so it would not surprise me if he had one.
Either way even a sandy bridge gen board would be fine pcie 3.0 doesent give alot of benifit in gaming so pretty much any 1155 board would work. I would go with what most people have been suggesting get a $400 gpu like a 7970 or 770 and a good 80 plus certified (ideally modular) psu and be done with it.
Would i need to get a new OS if im reusing my HDD? Also, that's probably what I'll do, it just worries me that I'd ending up getting a high end GPU and it won't run
If you have an OEM copy of windows, you will need your mobo and HDD. If you have a retail copy, you can reinstall it on as many platforms as you please.
OEM (original electronics manufacturer) copies are supposed to be tied to the motherboard, it is intended to sell that way. So when the computer is sold, the copy of windows ships around with it.
PSU and a GPU of your choosing is all you really need to be concerned about. Any GPU, including a 7970, would run on your system. As long as you have the appropriate x16 slot for the GPU, and a good PSU.
i honestly don't know what kind of OS i have, it was a prebuilt system with Windows 8 preinstalled
i5 + any single GPU (regardless of mobo chipset) + good PSU = good performance and a relatively balanced system.
Just install the parts, you will be fine. If the OS was preinstalled, that's an OEM. If the OS causes issues, just phone Microsoft and tell them it was an OEM. They will give you a key to make any activations. Probably won't be necessary.
You're only installing a PSU and GPU. Maybe moving it all to another case. It is like changing batteries in a TV remote, you can do that, can't you? You just push things in place, more or less. It is quite simple.
I have a question about installing the GPU, since im running Intel integrated graphics, do i need to uninstall those drivers or delete them?
You should keep those drivers as a back up, if your card is a defect. Never delete key/important drivers. You're going to be using a different output, there won't be any conflict. Your monitor/display will plug directly into the card, not the motherboard (integrated graphics).
thats what i did with my 620 and it wouldn't send picture to the monitor. It wouldn't get picture until i removed the card
It is a driver update for the GPU, most likely. Nothing to do with the integrated drivers. Sometimes your computer will install drivers automatically. There will be a disc included with the card containing drivers. The best method is to install the latest drivers from the Nvidia/ATI website.
For larger cards, you must make sure it is connected up to the power supply. Plenty of short tutorials on YouTube, if you're unsure.