A gamer bought a new AMD graphics card as an upgrade for his PC. However, he did not pay attention to the size and therefore cannot use it in his system.
On reddit, the user “Eliciautzr” shared a picture of his new AMD Sapphire NITRO+ graphics card with the community. The exact model designation has not yet been clarified.
The card lies on the side of the open PC case and it is immediately clear that it is too long for installation. But the power adapter used, which can be seen in the photo, can also become a problem for more recent products from AMD and Nvidia with an output of 550 watts.
New graphics cards go beyond all dimensions
Why are graphics cards growing? At what feels like every product presentation, the new graphics accelerators seem to be getting bigger and bigger. The graphics chip and other components require a lot of space on the circuit board.
In order to ensure adequate cooling of the increasing GPU power, manufacturers install bulky cooling systems that often take up several slots in the case. There is not much space left for installation and other hardware components.
Why is the right power supply important? AMD and Nvidia regularly try to undercut each other when it comes to power consumption. The developers of both camps also succeed in continuously optimizing the energy efficiency of their creations. Nevertheless, the power consumption increases continuously with the development of high-performance chips and requires power supplies with enough reserves for a gaming PC to run stably.
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A thoughtless purchase ends in a dead end
In such cases one often hears the wise adage “buy cheap, buy twice”. And in this case, the reddit user would have done well to follow suit.
What options does he have now? He is now in a bind and cannot use his new achievement without further investment.
If additional effort and costs are to be avoided, the only option would be to exchange it for a smaller model or return to the old pixel accelerator. On websites like TechPowerUp you can find out in advance about the dimensions of the most common designs.
In addition, the question remains open as to whether the power supply has sufficient power reserves. Alternatively, however, he could buy a larger case and a sufficiently dimensioned power supply unit, which would, however, involve additional expenses.
Plan investments sensibly
Good advance planning helps with an upgrade and prevents you from having to spend more money than you want when you try to upgrade your system later.
What’s the best way to go about it? It is therefore advisable to think carefully about a future-proof PC case with sufficient space reserves so that larger components can later be easily installed. A reasonable case usually accompanies you much longer than the hardware inside and it would be annoying to buy a new case just because the new graphics card you want doesn’t fit in it.
Our colleague Benedikt tells you what else you should not overlook when choosing a case.
You should also think about later when it comes to the power supply unit and prefer to use a slightly larger power supply unit so that ideally it does not have to be replaced the next time the graphics card is upgraded. Models with modular plugs in particular can be a real advantage when it comes to tidy routing of all cables in the housing.
What do others say about his situation?
The comments on reddit differ. Many give him tips to solve his mess. Others give him advice for future purchases:
Can you report similar experiences when upgrading your PC? What have been your best or worst experiences upgrading so far?
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