Hi, I’m looking at getting a new graphics card for my computer since my old one is pretty much fried. My computer is a Gateway FX6860, about 3 and half years old, with the following specs: Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) 19-2600 CPU @ 3.40 GHz Installed memory (RAM): 16.0GB DDR3 Memory Graphics Card: NVidia GeForce GTX560Ti 1280MB Hard Drive: 128GB Solid-State Drive + 2TB Hard Drive System type: 64-bit Operating System Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium The fan on my current graphics card have become extremely loud (sounds like an airplane) and it has difficulty running new games on the highest settings. Subsequently I’m looking at upgrading to the GeForce GTX 970. So I’m wondering if this card compatible with my PC (the exact model I’m looking at is: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked ACX 2.0 4GB GDDR5 256bit, DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI, DP SLI Ready Graphics Card)? And if so is this a good idea or should I instead be looking at buying a whole new system? Thanks!
It's using an H67 chipset mobo a according to Gateway and there are two available BIOS's on their site but one is for W8 support the other is ivy-bridge and USB 3.0 support. I would say go for the 970 but you may want to put a better PSU in there. Although the 560Ti and the 970 draw about the same amount of power but a quality PSU is never a bad idea.
Here is some more info I took from my PC's System Information in case it is relevant: OS Name: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Version: 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601 Other OS Description: Not Available OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation System Manufacturer: Gateway System Model: FX6860 System Type: x64-based PC Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s) BIOS Version/Date: American Megatrends Inc. P02-A2, 31/10/2011 SMBIOS Version: 2.6 Boot Device: \Device\HarddiskVolume2 Hardware Abstraction Layer: Version = "6.1.7601.17514" Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 16.0 GB Total Physical Memory: 16.0 GB Available Physical Memory: 12.4 GB Total Virtual Memory: 16.0 GB Available Virtual Memory: 11.9 GB Page File Space: 0 bytes I'm not entirely sure about my PC's PSU. I opened it up and took a picture of the unit. I'm not entirely sure where it state's what its wattage is? Also do you think I should get a new PSU if I upgrade to the GTX 970 and if so do you have any recommendations on a specific one? Also here is a picture of the inside of my PC just to give an idea of the overall system: Thanks!
It's claiming that it is a 750W unit with 648W on the 12V rail. It's even 80plus certified. Honestly you should be good, but I'm not too familiar with FSP group. Another Guru may have more info on them.
Alright thanks guys, I appreciate all the help! One more question: Here are a couple of pictures of my current graphics card which came pre-installed in the computer when I bought it: What exactly needs to be removed when I get the new card, is that entire unit the graphics card or is the circuit board on top a part of the PC that needs to stay? I'm really not very knowledgeable when it comes to the internal components of a computer and I don't want to accidentally break anything or remove important parts that need to be left in place when removing my old GPU and putting in my new GTX 970 graphics card. Any advice you can give based on those pictures would be phenomenal, or if there are any videos of people removing this type of card from a similar type of pc than that would be great too. Thanks again for all the help!
The whole card gets removed along with the 2 pcie cables. I would get a can of air a get all the dust out of the whole pc including cpu cooler, fans etc. Your case does not look like its got great airflow tbh, I would go with a reference design 970 that will shoot the hot air out the back of the case. EDIT: The video card is probably held in place by a screw that needs to be taken out. The pci e slot should have a small mechanism that locks into place. You can`t just pull the card out. Your m/b probably has that but its possible as well that it is does not.
FSP is a pretty big OEM vendor. Antec, EVGA, and Thermaltake use them for their mid to lower end power supplies.
FSP are OEM PSU suppliers that make PSU's for other brands and has only a few OEM PSU's in pre-builts which are decent. EVGA NEX PSU's are FSP, Silverstone strider series, Cooler Master Elite Pro series... Also about 45% of all OCZ PSU's come from FSP.
How can I tell if it's reference cooled? The specific card I am looking at is this: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked ACX 2.0 4GB GDDR5 256bit, DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI, DP SLI Ready Graphics Card It's on Amazon.ca since I'm from Canada (it won't let me post the direct link for some reason).
I bought the PC in store and haven't done much work on it, so it just came like that. Guess the interior isn't laid out too well for heat exchange. I certainly have issues with heating, my fans get very loud while running games, although I've opened it up before and identified that my current GTX 560Ti fan is the really noisy one, so hopefully getting a new GPU will fix that issue. The next PC I buy will be liquid cooled, I'm tired of noisy fans.
I've opened the case before and dusted with a cloth and cleaned out the fans and interior with canned air. It didn't make a difference on fan noise. I've never physically removed the graphics card and cleaned it that way though. Do you think it's more likely that the noisy GPU fan is a result of dust build up versus a problem with the physical unit? By the way when I say the fan get's loud I mean it's like an airplane and the case is vibrating (I've checked the other fans and the problem is only with the GTX 560Ti fan).
Well I just placed the order on the EVGA GTX 970. Let's hope it survives being shipped and that I can figure out how to install it when it arrives. Thanks for all the help everyone, much appreciated!
