Video Memory Upgrade

[Johnch]

I bought a sort of used Dell OptiPlex 3080
I got it from a guy that bought it 3 months ago and the box was unopened
It has almost everything I need to Kill Time
As I get the next set of injections next week
Botox works great for 2 of the 3 months between injections :cry:

So I kill time the 3 month , it REALLY puts a Kink in hunting

My "New" computer has 1 GB of video memory
But I want to play games the need 4 GB of video memory

2 Questions
#1 what would be the best for the $ , Video Memory unit ?
#2 where Online would be the best place to get the 4 GB Video Memory unit ? Or Best to deal with even if not the very best price

I have shopped online with Micro Center if they are a decent place to get it

Thanks
John

[bakerjw]

What is the total memory in it?
I am assuming that it has onboard video which utilizes system memory.
I would expect that it has some PCIe slots. Pic up a modest video card and it should play games well for you.
My last video card ran close to $400.00 and it was considered perhaps middle of the road.

[DougGuy]

You generally don't add video memory it's not like conventional DDR, it's soldered onto the video card so you look and see what interface the card has and you go buy another one that fits in the same type slot that has more memory. OR if you have say an open slot that is the interface you want to use, then buy a card with this type of connection.

If it's using the onboard GPU you can usually add a better GPU in one of the open slots on the board. I don't game so I can get by with 2gb cards, even with dual monitors. My one most recent build has 2gb and I use a 43" HDTV for a monitor and it works great.

I like the EVGA GeForce cards with Nvidia chipsets I think the 2gb card is a GeForce GTX 970 and the one running the HDTV in the other machine is a GeForce GTX750Ti both are 2gb DDR5.

Some of those short PCI slots are x4 which means if you only populate that one slot, it will run at x4 speeds. If you share that slot with an M.2 SSD, it will only run at x1 or x2 so some planning on your part would be advised. Post a gut pic and let's see what kind of real estate is in use.

Here is a PC Parts Buy/Sell/Trade on Facebook that I got a few deals from people there, you can lurk and learn or join and post a question about what your system has, and what games you want to run and someone there will steer you to a solution and maybe you can buy a card right there in the group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1062336617219166

[HATCH]

Depending on which exact version (micro, small form factor, or tower) will depend on your options you have.
According to the spec sheet -> https://www.delltechnologies.com/asset/en-us/products/desktops-and-all-in-ones/technical-support/optiplex-3080-spec-sheet.pdf
these are the availible options your machine may have

Intel® UHD Graphics 630
Intel® UHD Graphics 610
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT730, 2 GB, GDDR5 (optional, Tower and Small Form Factor only)
AMD Radeon™ RX 640, 4 GB, GDDR5 (optional, Tower and Small Form Factor only)
AMD Radeon™ R5 430, 2 GB, GDDR5 (optional, Tower and Small Form Factor only)

Because you said it was 1gb then it most likely is the built-in graphics the mother board provides and you can not upgrade the memory setup on that.

Lets focus on the two models they make that are upgradable , the small form factor and the tower.

These are the slots they have

SFF -
1 half-height PCIe x16 Gen 3 slot
1 half-height PCIe x1 Gen 3 slot

Tower -
1 full-height PCIe x16 Gen 3 slot
2 full-height PCIe x1 Gen 3 slot

The good news is the both the SFF and the tower have a standard PCIe x16 slot. This is THE STANDARD.
The bad news is that if you have a SFF then your gonna need to make sure the video card you get comes with a 1/2 height slot cover which isn't that common.

If you have the tower then you can get a generic Zotac Nvida chipset card for around $105 from amazon.
Its pretty straight forward. You may or may not need to make BIOS changes but most likely not.

Please keep in mind that graphics cards are still VERY expensive right now.
I purchased a used HP off of ebay for my son to game on. It did come with a 2gb graphics card which was enough to just get by for him but the other specs on the PC are better then my 3 year old $1000 gaming PC and his computer just cost $200

[Mr_Sheesh]

If you upgrade your own video card, read and follow the directions, often you need to uninstall the old video card's drivers before installing the new card then its' drivers or the like, the instructions will help here.

Newegg can be decent for hardware, cross check prices though. It's not unusual to see one place or another have notably higher prices, sometimes annoyingly so.

[jim147]

Micro center is close to several of my suppliers for HVAC. I like stopping in there when I need equipment.

You said 4G so the AMD would be my choice if it will fit.

[Conditor22]

Video cards are at a premium right now, Bitcoin miners and another web-based "currency" miners are buying up all the big video cards and SSD.

I would start by finding what video card your tower takes.

then I would research what video cards work for your game

Then search to the video card (s) and find the best deal

One of my grandsons found a card on Craigslist (you need to be careful buying electronics on CL)

[Johnch]

Thanks for the info

For grins I think I will ask a local place that repairs PC's

He sometimes has good ideas and prices
Other times He thinks he is a King and we all need to PAY

John

[Scrounge]

Thanks for the info

For grins I think I will ask a local place that repairs PC's

He sometimes has good ideas and prices
Other times He thinks he is a King and we all need to PAY

John

Didn't see anyone mention power supply connections. Many of the newer video cards need a cable from the power supply plugged directly into the video card to work. My 2YO Dell Inspiron 3668 has a n0n-ATX-compatible power supply so the video card I bought for it won't work at all. There's no cable from the power supply, and not place to add one. I didn't want it for games, wanted it for CAD, but I'm going to have to wear this computer out and build another to be able to use the video card. It's a MSI 1050, but can't remember it it's AMD or Nvidia chipset.

Bill