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Is it possible to upgrade my graphics card?

Is it possible to upgrade the graphics card of any desktop computer, or only specific ones?

  • i would like to upgrade from a laptop to a desktop eventually, and would need a good graphics card because i want to be able to do more complex things with photography and maybe even get into making videos. also, i like games. but... most of the desktop computers i see are either $3000 fancy looking gaming computers that come with a great graphics card, lots of glowing bits, and a brand name that sounds fancy, or they come with a basic graphics card that is somehow less powerful than the not so great one that is in my current laptop (and this thing isnt a gaming laptop... so...) im guessing that the price of those gaming laptops is for gaming specific components, such as something along the lines of... controller ports maybe? or other things... also, probably for the design and the prestige of the brand name. im not a hardcore gamer type. id like something that can play the average games at max settings with perfect performance, sure, but i dont really want one of those garish overpriced monsters. is it possible to upgrade the graphics card of any desktop computer? looking around, most just come with integrated graphics... does this mean there's an empty graphics card slot inside it waiting to be upgraded, or that it has the same problem laptops do, that there is no upgrades possible? i need some advice on this, since i know nothing about desktops, ive used laptops all my life. also, just how good a video card do i need for editing HD video?

  • Answer:

    "does this mean there's an empty graphics card slot inside it waiting to be upgraded" - Yes (for most computers, 95%+) What you need to determine is what your most video intensive program is. Is it video editing or a particular game that you want to play. Then pick the video card that exceeds those demands. Most likely you will also need to upgrade/replace your power supply to make your new video card happy!

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you have asked many many questions lol. i'll answer some of them for you hopefully. so, the computers your probably viewing for $3000 are pre-built computer which are always overpriced. so don't buy those, it seems you don't want to be hard core gaming so theres no need for that. yes, you can always upgrade and change graphics cards at anytime. as long as your case will fit it and your motherboard supports it. integrated graphics means that there is no graphics card, its just built into the motherboard, which means its not very good. i cannot stress this more to any other people. you can do WHATEVER you want to your computer at any time. you can upgrade, downgrade change any part of your computer as long as you have the right chipset and powersupply. Now for graphics card for editing video, it depends on what you use if its adobe premiere pro cs5 then you'll need at least a nvidia gtx 460. but if its like windows movie maker it doesn't matter. so i hope this answers some of your questions.

most desktops come with integrated graphics, but to upgrade you need to look at how many expansion slots are on the motherboard itsself. you have pci, pci-e, pci-e x16, and pci-e x16 2.0. higher end graphics cards need expansion slots with more numbers and letters in them. its mostly about interface and bandwidth, as long as you get something that matches up with the mobo, it usually works out. also, if you go high end, you will want to upgrade the power supply. some graphics cards take more juice than the average power supply even produces.

if you want a list of parts that would get you what you want and more while keeping it UNDER $1800. I am a system designer and builder with over 20years experience. Yes you can play your game while burning that DVD with it

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