I have been meaning to upgrade the graphics card in my computer for a long time now. The integrated Intel video card, for the most part, worked fine, but it won’t exactly run graphically intensive games (shooters, big diablo-style games).

I knew that I eventually had to upgrade the graphic card, but my main problem is my i5 Gateway DX4870-UB318 computer only came with a 300 Watt Power supply. If you knew anything about modern gaming graphic cards, they usually have a 500+ Watt requirement (in fact, I just saw a card that required 750 Watt the other day).

If I had to upgrade the graphic card, then logically I had to upgrade the power supply, right? Not so! Enter the Nvidia Maxwell Chipset. The GeForce GTX 750 and 750 Ti came out last year, but I finally got my hands on one (EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti Superclocked) for my computer. The box lists a 400 Watt requirement, but I just installed it on my computer and it ran on my 300W. It should be noted that evga.com only lists a 300W requirement.

Installation was literally a ‘snap’: as long as your computer had enough room to fit in a PCI Express card, then the GeForce 750 will work. There is no extra cable needed to draw power, so it’s insert and go! And the best part: I did not have to restart the computer after I installed the latest Nvidia drivers. The card came with a CD for drivers and software, but I normally would prefer to just download it.

This is my current computer (Sleepergate):

CPU: Intel Core i5 3450 @ 3.10Ghz
GPU: GeForce GTX 750 Ti
Memory: 8GB DDR3-1333 SDRAM
OS: Windows 8 (64 Bit)
HD: 1TB 5,400RPM Hard Drive

DVDRW Drive
Memory Card Reader
10/100/1000 Network
802.11a/b/g/n Wireless
Bluetooth

I’ve tested out various games that previously did not run correctly on my old computer setup, and I have to say the GeForce card handled these games (at max setting) without any problems! Pretty happy with the card at the moment.

Some key features of the EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti Superclocked card: 2GB of GDDR5,
640 CUDA Cores, 3 output (DVI-I, HDMI, DisplayPort), 4K ready (4096×2160), low power requirement (300 Watt), and small size (6.7in in length).

NOTE: Are you confused by the EVGA name? There are various hardware maker in this space, they produce these cards based on Nvidia’s design and architecture. As a result, you can shop around for the same card from different manufacturer. For example PNY and Zotac produced the same card, but with slightly different outputs (the Zotac offered mini-HDMI and PNY offered the old, outdated VGA port). To be fair, EVGA gave us a DVI-I to VGA adapter in the box.