first time upgrading my computer

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tom213

New Member
hi all,
so i currently have a lenovo h520s pre-build and i am at the stage now where i cant afford to build one from scratch but i am after more from my desktop. currently it only has intergrated graphics so my first port of call is to slide a graphics card in, i was just wondering if there were any models that would give an improvement to the computer without needing a psu upgrade?

many thanks

tom
 
voyagerfan99

voyagerfan99

Master of Turning Things Off and Back On Again
Staff member
What are you planning to do with your desktop? If you want better graphics for games then you won't be spending less than $175 on a card and another $50-$75 on a good PSU.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
That's a half height slot for a bracket, so the one you picked won't fit.

Videos stuttering is probably a driver issue or something else going on. That machine should be able to play videos fine on integrated graphics. Tried reinstalling your graphics drivers?
 
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tom213

New Member
what do you mean by your first statement darren, sorry i havent been inside of the box yet so not sure what you mean.

it will play almost every film i throw at it, its only when there are other programs running such as antivirus software etc that it slows.
 
beers

beers

Moderator
Staff member
tom213 said:
what do you mean by your first statement darren
Click to expand...

You have a slim case, so full brackets won't fit.

See below:

Guhlmzn.png
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
What he said ^.

Open up your task manager. There's a performance tab in there. See what your CPU and RAM usage are like when you experience slowdowns. If they're maxing out, that'll be your problem most likely. From the sounds of it a GPU won't fix your issue.

Dusting your machine might also be worthwhile if you haven't before. Those prebuilts have terrible ventilation and your components might be overheating and throttling down to account for that.
 
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tom213

New Member
bugger thats a shame. are there many slimline cards out there?

cpu at most is when problem is occuring is around 25-30%
ram is up round 50%
all drivers are up to date
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Other than finding a half height video card, there isn't much you can do here since this is a slim case. They don't make high end cards for slim cases as they aren't designed for gaming. Slim cases are designed for space saving used for email, web surfing, etc. I did find this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...25680&cm_re=gtx_750_ti-_-14-125-680-_-Product

You might have a problem with it fitting though. You would have to remove the usb card anyway but you would have to check space requirements for the card. Also, I'm sure the power supply isn't more than a 240 watt unit, it would not be enough for the 750 ti video card. It might suffice to get an hd5450 half height card and use the same power supply. Also, was this system upgraded to windows 10 or preinstalled with it? Did you update drivers after upgrading to 10? You may also be able to upgrade to a quad core processor something like the I5 2320 since this one already has it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883255242
 
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tom213

New Member
Is the motherboard the problem or the case? I have no problem leaving the side off if that makes things easier. I'm not looking for high end graphics just above intergrated. As Lenovo did the same case with upgrades would that mean I could subject mine to the same upgrades?
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
The slim case is your issue. To be honest, besides getting an hd5450 and the I5 2320 cpu upgrade, there isn't much you can do.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Based off this picture I found of the H20S you can probably get the 750 TI that John and I linked in there. I put a box around where it would go. The card is 6.63 inches long and just based off how long it extends past the end of the PCI-E clip in the picture of the card, you should be able to fit it in there. I'd definitely suggest opening it up though and measuring how much space you have from the bracket before you hit an obstruction. If it does fit, it's going to be cozy in there. You'd want a new power supply (PSU) too though and a case honestly as a PSU that would fit in there would be harder to find.

You don't sound like you want to game on this machine though, so the 750 TI is definitely overkill and expensive since you'd need a new PSU at the least. I'd only go this route if you wanted to play some games on that computer. And i3 + 750 TI is a respectable entry level gaming machine and would perform about equivalent to or a bit better than the PS4/Xbone.

However, if you do want to have a little bit more grunt than the 5450 you could spend a bit more for a GT 730. Should fit and work fine with your PSU and let you play some stuff if you ever had the interest. If all you do is just watch videos and have no gaming interest the 5450 is enough.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487052



lenovo-essential-h520s-side-open-view.jpg
 
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tom213

New Member
Hi thanks again for your posts.
I took the side panel off today. Turns out I have a 170w psu. Will that be a problem?



Here is an image after cleaning. Before was just too horrible
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
beers said:
Absolutely.
Click to expand...


Yeah... You should probably just stick to a 5450. I still think you've got another issue going on though from your jumpy video. I would expect that you'd be able to do it fine on integrated, and the 5450 isn't that much better than most onboard video these days.
 
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