Upgrade PC 29 December 2017 at 1:33PM in Techie Stuff 6 replies 523 views

axel132132

Hi all,

I have a gaming PC I bought in 2015, from ebay from CCL Computers.

ULTRA FAST CCL 4.20GHz AMD Quad Core Gaming PC - 8GB, 1TB HDD, WiFi, Radeon HD

I am looking at getting an Oculus Rift, When I did the software check on the Oculus Rift website it says that my RAM is too small (Which must be wrong as I have 8gb ram) but it also says my GFX Card is not sufficient which I believe it wont be by now.

Is it possible to upgrade my GFX card because I emailed CCL who told me it was not possible. But I am not sure if they are just saying that to sell me a VR ready PC or if it is actually not possible. (I thought you could remove and add new stuff to any PC)

Cheers

Naf

There shouldn't be any reason it is impossible to open up your PC and swap the graphics card over. However depending what you want to replace it with, you might want to double check your PSU can cope.

As to your RAM, could the website have been referring to the graphics card memory?

spadoosh

Is it not a built in graphics card? Its been a while since ive played with computers so wouldnt fancy trying to desolder one.

Naf

spadoosh wrote: »

Is it not a built in graphics card? Its been a while since ive played with computers so wouldnt fancy trying to desolder one.

Even if it is onboard, there will most likely still be PCI slots which a new one could be fitted into.

A.Penny.Saved

You would need to open up your case or find out what motherboard the PC uses to work out whether there are any PCI-e x16 slots available for a graphics card. The Power Supply Unit in pre built PC's tends to be just big enough and can rarely cope with much additional hardware. Graphics cards can be a very big power draw so might also require a new PSU.

If the motherboard does not have any PCI-e x16 slots you might be able to purchase a compatible motherboard for the CPU on eBay as used which has a suitable or multiple slots. Check that it will fit the case. You would have to rebuild the PC and refit the CPU/heatsink to the replacement motherboard.

CPU-z software or other more advanced configuration software might show the motherboard model. It therefore might be worth trying but opening the case might be needed and looking for a model number on the edges of the motherboard. You could also check for available slots and the size of the PSU.

Debbie_Savard

YOu'd be looking at £300ish for an 8Gb RX 570 or RX580 which would be OK for Oculus Rift.

I'd also budget for an SSD drive

Cisco001

can you post your full spec?
i don't know what cpu you've got and what case/ psu.

if you have crappy cpu, it is not worth spending fortune on gpu