Graphics Cards

[rbaverell]

Video card appears to be starting to fail.  Looking for a compatible replacement recommendation

[pokester]

That is unfortunately a very vague question. From a socket compatibility standpoint yes you can plug a new card in. However do you have room for the new card? Do you have a power supply that will support the new card? Is your CPU powerful enough to not bottleneck the new card? Looks like you have a third gen i series board if the model specs I found. If that is a variant for instance with a top end i7 then you can expect slight cpu bottlenecking with a upper mid level card such as a 5600xt. If that is a i3 for instance it will severely bottleneck such card.

This site can give you a good idea of what your cpu and and various gpus will do together:  gpucheck dot com

If you want further advice here please provide the following information:

When posting a new question, please provide as much detail as possible describing your issue making sure to include the relevant hardware and software configuration. 
For example:

• Issue Description: [Describe your issue in detail here]
• Hardware: [Describe the make and model of your: Graphics Card, CPU, Motherboard, RAM, PSU, Display(s), etc.]
• Software: [Describe version or release date of your: Operating System, Game/Application, Drivers, etc.]

[rbaverell]

I have an Intel i7-3770 3.4G 8M 77W CPU  Power supply is 460W uATX PFC PSU (Bordeaux-C) No clue as to what series board I have.  I have plenty of room for a new card as there are several open slots next to the current video card.  Does this help narrow the answer?  As you have pointed out my skill level is novice.  I know how to open the case and replace parts.  

[pokester]

Just know that your CPU is on that cusp of being a bottleneck. That being said it is still good enough with 8 threads to see a performance increase. Plus you can move the card you buy now to another computer if you chose in a year or two. 

What card you buy will be most limited to you power supply in this case. So for instance a 5500xt will need a 450 watt power supply vs a 5600xt or better needing a 550 or more.  It really comes down to your expectations, how much you want to spend and what monitor mhz and at what resolution you are gaming. 

You will see a performance improvement in games over the card you have with a 5500xt but it still will be a mostly mid level graphics settings card in most new AAA games. 

You would be best to invest in a better power supply if you motherboard supports a standard power supply. A 650 watt 80+ gold or better supply would pretty much allow you to run whatever card you want. Just know that the more powerful the GPU the more powerful a CPU will need to be to avoid bottlenecks.

[rbaverell]

Since I am just a regular old computer user for mail, internet videos, genealogy research etc. and do not waste my time playing games what are some lower end cards that will satisfy my needs.  My current card is a PCX 2 connection

[pokester]

honestly then any card at or near the bottom of the current gen would likely meet your needs. For video playback they are all about the same. 

An RX 550 4gb should work fine with your system and would be modern and do an adequate job at what you say you want to do.  The run about 80 to 85 bucks. It should run with no issue on your current power supply.

[rbaverell]

Thank you for the guidance.