Gaming Video Card for Lenovo M Desktop?

corneliu on 09/07/2019 - 22:11

Hi,

I have an older Lenovo M Series M92 Desktop around and I was thinking of converting this to a cheap gaming computer.
https://www.lenovo.com/hk/en/desktops-and-all-in-ones/thinkc…

Specs:
- 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3770 Processor (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache)
- 32Gb Ram
- 218Gb SSD
- 280W PSU
- It currently has 2 x Radeon HD 7450 Cards that I want to get rid of.

What gaming video card could I install in this? Preferably something that will drive a 4K TV/Monitor.

According to the specs it has the following slots:
- 2 full PCI (120 pins/133MB/3.3v)
- 1 full PCI Express x1 (36 pins/500MB per direction or 1GB duplex/12v)
- 1 full PCI Express x16 (164 pins/8GB per direction or 16GB duplex/12v)

Is something like 1050ti the one to go? I read that Recommended PSU should be 300W.

Thanks.

Computing

Comments

  • dcep on 09/07/2019 - 22:18
    +1

    the best card you can put in without upgrading psu is GTX 1650 which won't do 4k gaming

    • Kangal on 10/07/2019 - 09:54
      +1

      It can do 4K/30-40/Medium Settings. Probably a better fidelity with 1440p/50-60/High Settings.

      But the smartest move is to Google how other's have upgraded their systems, in particularly the PSU.
      If he can remove the OEM 300W, and install one that's 600W with Modular cables, then he can upgrade the GPU.
      The only issue is the non-K processor in there, which means bottlenecks for the more powerful GPU options.
      And even if he installed 3770k, he will have issues with the Lenovo custom BIOS, probably never able to overclock it.

      The most balanced GPU (before bottlenecking becomes a bigger issue) would probably be the GTX 1660 Ti.
      Nvidia's new RTX 2060-Super and AMD's new RDNA Navi RX 5700 would be too powerful.

      …and after you factor in the price of the GTX 1660 Ti and the PSU, I'm not sure you're getting enough bang for the buck.
      Maybe it is just smarter getting the GTX 1650 instead, and sticking with the OEM PSU.
      After a few seasons, you could sell/get rid of the system and buy/build a new one with an upgrade path.

  • scrimshaw on 10/07/2019 - 02:22
    +3

    Total system power consumption of budget GPU's. figures from techspot

    GTX 1050_ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 163 watt
    GTX 1050ti ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 171 watt
    GTX 1650_ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 184 watt
    RX570 4GB ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 297 watts

    • All three Nvidia cards will work in your system. The RX 570 is out of the question due to higher power consumption.

    • the GTX 1050 costs $150 from memory, the GTX 1050 Ti is $180 and the GTX1650 is around $200~$225

    • The GTX 1050 has a poor value proposition and you should probably not consider it, since it only has 2GB of VRAM.

    • GTX 1650 is on average, 35 percent faster than the GTX 1050 Ti. The trade-off is a 22.22% increase in price for that performance gain. Mathematically speaking the GTX 1650 is better value than GTX 1050Ti (you pay only a little more for a big increase in perf) but that's only if you're looking at brand new video cards.

    Used GTX 1050ti's go for $135 on ebay. So if you're a frugal gamer go for a second hand GTX 1050Ti, the downside is you're buying used stuff that has no warranty and no returns policy.

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