Question Zotac GeForce GTX 1650 card

[davidkettle]

Hi!

I'm thinking of purchasing a ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 card (see https://www.zotac.com/product/graphics_card/zotac-gaming-geforce-gtx-1650-oc#spec) for my desktop, a HP Pavilion p6230f running Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit). However, I have a few concerns. The first is that the card is PCIe 3, but the motherboard has a PCIe 2 X 16 slot (HP describes it as "Gen 2.0", but I guess that's what they mean). I understand that it might be a little slower than it could be, but will it still work? I'm not interested in running games on it, I just want to learn something about programming in OpenCL and CUDA. So speed isn't my primary concern.

And my second concern is the power supply. My desktop has a 300 W power supply, and the video card is rated at 75 W. I haven't added any other cards or drives to the computer beyond what came with it originally (see https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01859865 for details). Will the 300 W power supply be adequate?

Someone in another forum claimed that my computer wouldn't support this card because it was too old and driver updates are no longer available from HP. Will that be a problem?

Thanks.

 

[Ranulf]

Its eh, possible? PCIe 2 vs 3 wouldn't be an issue. The worry would be power supply and the mobo bios. We just had a post about older mobos similar in age to yours having issues with newer cards. It may not like the card because of motherboard bios issues, new uefi vs old bios standards.

If you try it, you'll want to make sure the ati 4200 graphics are turned off in the bios or that its set to use the graphics card first over the motherboard integrated 4200.

Eh now that I look at the stats, the PSU calculator says it wouldn't work or be on the ragged edge.

Power Supply Calculator, Computer Components, PC Parts and more - eXtreme Outer Vision

Might check this thread for info on a card that might work in your system:

Question - Video Graphics Assistance/ Need Video Card

Seeking assistance relating to the purchase of a compatible graphics card. Currently have a HP Pavilion HP 6370t CTO with MS-7613 (Iona-GL8E) motherboard > American Megatrends Inc 5.15, 6/25/2010 > Processor Intel ® Core i5 CPU 650 @ 3.20GHZ, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical. Current video graphics Nvidia...

forums.anandtech.com

 

[davidkettle]

Actually, since I don't want to use the graphics card for video (I was planning on leaving the monitor plugged into the built-in 4200 anyway), just for running programs in OpenCL or CUDA, I don't think I have to worry about the BIOS. And according to the Windows system monitor, the CPU usage rarely goes above 50 or 60 per cent, so I think the PS might be adequate. The PSU calculator had 90% CPU specified, but the only time it gets that high is when I'm running some intensive calculations in Python which I intend to rewrite in OpenCL and offload to the GPU anyway.

However, after reading the question posted by the other user (and the answers), I'm now wondering about UEFI. My desktop is pre-UEFI, but I'm not sure about the graphics card. Does the GTX 1650 require a UEFI motherboard?

Anyway, thanks for your help. Maybe I'll play it safe and buy an older graphics card that will be more compatible.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've read reviews of people putting Gigabyte GTX 1650 cards into older machines, so unless Zotac has gone UEFI-only (doubtful), I personally think that it will work, and you should be OK.

However, with your PSU, do NOT get the "OC" or "AMP" versions of the cards, as they are likely to require a 6-pin PCI-E supplemental power connector, which your PSU doesn't have.

 

[davidkettle]

I was thinking of getting a Zotac GTX 1650 card. They have three models, the "OC", the "AMP" and the "Low Profile". I don't think any of them need a supplementary power source, but I sent an email to their tech support to make sure. I'm not really sure what the difference is, except that one of them has only one fan and the others have two fans, and the dimensions of the cards are a little different.