New computer question

Hey guys,

I just bought an Acer Aspire X1420G-U5832 a few days ago at my local walmart (i get my 10% discount there since I'm an employee, woo!), and I want to be able to play World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Team Fortress 2 on it. I don't care about maxing out the settings, i just want it to play and look somewhat decent. Here's where the problem is, two problems actually..

It comes with an integrated GeForce 6150 SE.

I obviously need to upgrade it, but then here's the second problem. It's an extremely small tower. I can't fit my ATI 5770 in it, and I'm pretty sure I can't fit my Corsair power supply in it. I'm assuming I need a low power graphics card or whatever. The PSU included is some type of bronze rated power supply that's at 220watts. Actually, that raises a third problem because the computer is pretty beefy (I know, right?). It has a quad core Athlon II X4 processor and 4gb ram/1tb hd.

So, what should I do? I'm not going to take it back because I like the computer. I'm honestly worried that even if I buy one of those low power consumption cards it won't even fit. if you guys want i can take a picture of the actual case and even the insides so you can take a look for yourself.

thanks for any and all help!!

Joseph

I'm guessing the case is narrow and that is why you can't fit your video card in there? If so, look for a "low profile" video card designed to fit in narrow cases. Newegg has a bunch of them.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics / Video Cards, Yes

ignatzatsonic said:

I'm guessing the case is narrow and that is why you can't fit your video card in there? If so, look for a "low profile" video card designed to fit in narrow cases. Newegg has a bunch of them.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics / Video Cards, Yes

yes, just narrow.

will a low profile card work with my power supply?

As far as I know, the height of the video card makes no difference to the power supply. But a 220 watt PSU isn't too powerful, so you shouldn't get a really powerful video card either. Get something in the low to mid range and you should be OK. I'm assuming your motherboard has the proper slot for your chosen video card.

I don't see much in the line of specs for that Acer model on the Web.

However, it's a small form factor case, only 4" (10cm) wide. That says that a half-height card will be the only choice.

There are drivers for a Radeon HD6450 at Acer. I see lots of 6450s at www.newegg.com. Avoid the Asus model, if it really has a 32 bit data path to memory.

What I can't tell you is whether it's enough of an upgarde to be worth $50.

There are more powerful half-height cards listed, but power draw may be an issue. The 6450 draws a maximum of 19W. The 6570 draws 44W.

p5bdkw said:

AX1420G-U5832 | Product Model

Lacks a few minor details, like whether the PC has a PCI-E X16 slot.

p5bdkw said:

bobkn said:

p5bdkw said:

AX1420G-U5832 | Product Model

Lacks a few minor details, like whether the PC has a PCI-E X16 slot.

"2 x PCI Express (x1) slots, 2 x PCI Express (x16) slots"
Walmart.com: Acer Black AX1420G-U5832 Desktop PC with AMD Athlon II X4 Quad-Core 645 Processor, 1TB Hard Drive and Windows 7 Home Premium (Monitor Not Included): Computers

That's better.

Walmart is more forthcoming than Acer? Unexpected.