Please help this newbie upgrade his gfx card

A

ak47kgb

New Member
Hello everyone. I'm looking to upgrade the gfx card of this piece of crap:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...gory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=4120042#N1049

From the preinstalled integrated chip to a low-end dedicated one. My budget is around $50 bucks tops. I'm not really looking for some gaming card, just a slightly decent so I can utilize the full 6GB ram that this thing has to offer, rather than the integrated card hogging 2 gigs of it.

I've been looking around at Newegg and BestBuy, and here's what I came up with. Obviously suggestions are welcome. I'm mainly looking for the biggest bang for the buck here.

EVGA 512-P3-1311-KR GeForce 210 512MB 32-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130605

PNY VCG941024GXXB GeForce 9400 GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133390

PNY - NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/PNY+-+N...Card/1768786.p?id=1218290483369&skuId=1768786

EVGA - GeForce 8400 GS 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/EVGA+-+...Card/1700586.p?id=1218282103132&skuId=1700586

EVGA - GeForce 210 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/EVGA+-+...Card/1700647.p?id=1218282105105&skuId=1700647

MSI - ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/MSI+-+A...Card/1539705.p?id=1218267758528&skuId=1539705

Sapphire - ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sapphir...Card/9972065.p?id=1218202945548&skuId=9972065

PNY Technologies - NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/PNY+Tec...Card/2046157.p?id=1218339989184&skuId=2046157

Thank you very, very much. You don't know how much your help means to me.

oh and btw...what does "low profile ready" mean? I'm sorry if that sounded like a noobish question but I really have no idea.
 
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oh another by the way, I'm doing some video editing. Not high end, but modest-intermediate (Sony Vegas Pro)
 
Low profile means its a small card and only takes up one slot. With your budget, that's all you're going to be able to afford.
 
You will need a new PSU too. Plus video editing is all about the CPU, not GPU so upgrade your CPU. $50 is a waste though.
 
I actually have owned the Nivida 9400gt and 8400gs. I found with the 9400gt I was actually able to play some games, and at the time I was only running 4gb. I personally would just say to hell with it, save another 60 bucks or so and just get like a Geforce 250gts or such. I think the key in upgrading is to keep expand-ability in mind. However if you were to purchase a more powerful card, you may want to look at your power supply and make sure it can handle it. But in your case, if you are just doing a little bit of Windows Movie Maker editiing, and you never plan on going any further with the build, I don't see why the little 9400gt or 8400gs won't work for you. BTW...I still have them both and will sell them if you want, I only used them for about month or two before I realized this was my new hobby. I can get them to you very cheap, let me know...
 
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