Video Card recommendations

[Eagle Eye]

Can't say I am surprised about the PSU being a problem, sorry to hear that.

A new case would be a good starting point the and ATCS840 is a great choice. I take it your board is of a Micro-ATX design and most modern cases should accept the motherboard without issue the only thing being a problem IMO is the I/O bracket it looks like it could be potentially longer than the standard and will not fit the new case, hence proprietary components.

Maxtor is there anyway you upload a pic of your system with inside and back shots?

Regards,

EE

[Maxtor]

This is not a pic I took of my machine but this is the inside of mine:



and this is the back:

[Mecher]

If you put in a dual slot card you will lose the expansion slot below it, It looks like a pci-e 1X slot, no big deal unless you have something that needs that slot... I think it may be time to look at the big picture and figure out if it's worth the time and money to try and upgrade this system. There will probably be more issues the more you try and mod this, maybe use your cpu and ram and start with a new case-motherboard- gpu-? you've already got a good PSU to start with! Just my 2 cents worth. Hope it helps...

[Eagle Eye]

Looks pretty standard nothing proprietary and as long as the ATCS840 accepts M-ATX board (haven't really checked) you shouldn't have any troubles migrating into the new case. I did it in the past with an old IBM pc with a m-atx board was pretty easy and really made system operate a lot cooler.

Can the I/O shield at the back be removed from that case?

Regards,

EE

[Maxtor]

Mercher, I hear and understand what you're saying about not upgrading this system. What my plans are, is to just put a new PSU and vid card in this until I can get the rest of the stuff to build a new system. I was going to put this 750W PSU and possibly a GTX 260 vid card or something in it. Run it that way only until I can save the coin for everything needed to build the new one. Then I would put this one back to the way it is now and use the 750W and GTX 260 in the new sytem.

Eagl Eye - I'm not really sure if it can be removed or not. I've never really attempted it. Why, what was you thoughts?

[Mecher]

Ya, sounds like a good plan, there is nothing to lose, give er a shot, "in for a penny in for a pound" As long as the motherboard fits in the new case I think things should work out great! I just wanted you to stop and think, what do I really want out of this... if all else fails, use the system until you get all the parts for a new rig, that pwr supply is a good foundation to start on. Good luck and keep us posted on how things go!

[Eagle Eye]

The I/O shield is removable metal plate that is used to define the I/O ports and it also shields the motherboard from EMI and grounds the ports to the case. I was a little concerned that your case wouldn't have a removable plate and you'd have to leave it bare, not thats its serious issue. In the rare event of a short circuit the ports would not be grounded leaving the potiential for a damaged or a fried motherboard, need I stress rare event. If you decide to go the route of a new case see if you can pop the thing out after you've taken the motherboard out of the Gateway case.

EE

[FreqE1]

Maxtor if Flight Sims are a priority get an nvidia over an ATI. I got into FSX just after I bought my 2 4850s and although they rock for everything else I'd probably get better results with a 9800 GTX maybe even just a GT. Ask about on some Flight Sim specific boards they will be able to explain better than I. I'm still debating selling my cards to go back to Nvidia.

If flight sims are not a top priority one or 2 4850's are great. Just a heads up.

[hossdaddy]

hey man I would recommend the following upgrade,

Enermax NT II EG495P-VE 485W $69.00
ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M RADEON HD4850,512M $219.99 - $30 mir

or

Asus EN9800GTX+ DK /HTDI/512M nVidia GeForce 9800GTX+ Chipset (775Mhz) 512MB (2.36Ghz) $234.99 - $30mir
Enermax ETK500AWT Tomahawk 500W $75.99