Acer Aspire T3-710 upgrading gpu

neewu
neewu Member Posts: 6 New User
edited March 1 in 2019 Archives

Hi all,

 

I recently purchased the Acer Aspire T3-710 Desktop computer (specs below), however, I need to upgrade the graphics card and it looks like there is enough space to fit this Nvidia GTX 750 ti graphics card. The current graphics card is a Nvidia gtx 745 (OEM) (specs here). This current card is a single slot, the one I would like is double slot (there is 4 single slots on the backplate) It appears large enough but I am unsure.

 

Anybody got any advice on upgrading this card? Or even better GPUs that would fit the T3-710? My current PSU is only 220w so I know I need to upgrade that also but I don't want to until I have a graphics card I know will fit. 

 

My current Desktop specs;

 

Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Intel Core i7 6700 @ 3.40GHz Skylake 14nm

RAM 16GB Dual-Channel DDR3

Motherboard Acer Aspire T3-710 (U3E1)

4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745

3TB HDD 5400 rpm

PSU 220w

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Best Answer

  • Jeremyc33
    Jeremyc33 Member Posts: 6 New User
    Answer ✓
    Hi neewu

    I have also recently purchased this pc and immediately upgraded the psu to a 600w evga unit to install a decent gpu. As it stands the best gpu you could go with for this prebuilt is a 750ti. The issue is not only with the psu but the length of the card itself. There is only 1 PCI slot on the motherboard and there are power connections directly behind the video card seemingly preventing a card longer than 6.5 inches or so to be installed. From what I gather it would be worth it to upgrade the psu as I have and go for a GTX 960 mini or a 970 mini. If anyone has upgraded the gpu on this pc I also would be interested to know what fits. I have ordered a 970 mini and will post the results when it arrives

Answers

  • Jeremyc33
    Jeremyc33 Member Posts: 6 New User
    Answer ✓
    Hi neewu

    I have also recently purchased this pc and immediately upgraded the psu to a 600w evga unit to install a decent gpu. As it stands the best gpu you could go with for this prebuilt is a 750ti. The issue is not only with the psu but the length of the card itself. There is only 1 PCI slot on the motherboard and there are power connections directly behind the video card seemingly preventing a card longer than 6.5 inches or so to be installed. From what I gather it would be worth it to upgrade the psu as I have and go for a GTX 960 mini or a 970 mini. If anyone has upgraded the gpu on this pc I also would be interested to know what fits. I have ordered a 970 mini and will post the results when it arrives
  • neewu
    neewu Member Posts: 6 New User

    Hi Jeremy,

     

    Thanks for both your replies on my posts.

     

    Yeah I found after much more research online that the GTX 960/970 mini, or the 750ti would be a good fit. The only hesistation I had was the two cables beside the GPU (for front panel audio and USB 3.0) however, length would be the only issue with this case profile. I do think you could potentially use the backports (USB and Mic) and unplug the fron panel audio/USB if you wanted to fit a slightly larger GPU, but I use these ports frequently so I am going to opt for a Mini GPU.  I actually went ahead and ordered ordered the ZOTAC ZT-7601-10M GTX 750 (non OC/SC/FTW edition, selected this one as I only really found positive reviews across the board for it). I also found that a non-overclocked 750ti would be definitely be okay with the current PSU provided in terms of wattage usage and there is only a 5TDP increase from the GTX 745 OEM to the GTX 750ti (again, non-overclocked edition) which is safe (745 - 55TDP, 750ti = 60TDP so heat dissipation should be okay and only consuming marginal more power from the PSU). So this is perfect if anyone doesn't want to upgrade their PSU.

     

    I too will be upgrading to the GTX 960/70 mini in a few months time (I'll post up then too), but before that I am going to upgrade to the Seasonic S12-11 620w Bronze certified PSU and also install an additional case fan just to keep the temps down if I upgrade to the 970/80 (although from what I've read the cooling on those mini GPUs themselves are very good).

     

    Thank you the reply again,

     

    I will post up my results from upgrading the PSU/GPU soon.

     

     

     

  • daniel12345678
    daniel12345678 Member Posts: 4 New User

    Hi, I have seen this i was going to get a 970 strix and 600 watt power supply , I have been trying but unble to open the case ,any help would be appreicated.

  • Jeremyc33
    Jeremyc33 Member Posts: 6 New User
    Hi Daniel,

    While looking at the back of the case remove the top and bottom screws on the right hand panel. There is a catch protruding from the rear of the case that holds the panel in place. Pull the catch slightly to the left and with your other palm pull the right side panel towards you. It will come back and then can be pulled off.
  • daniel12345678
    daniel12345678 Member Posts: 4 New User

    Thankyou, very helpful ,I was going to give it to someone to do it for me, saved me some money Smiley Happy 

  • daniel12345678
    daniel12345678 Member Posts: 4 New User

    Would it not be worth getting a bigger case in order to fit a better graphics card in ?

  • Jeremyc33
    Jeremyc33 Member Posts: 6 New User
    I considered this myself and thought why stop there. Get a new motherboard as well without those pesky connectors in the way of a larger gpu. And perhaps a Mobo that takes ddr4 ram to future proof it a bit. But alas my budget was blown.

    I would wait until AMD releases their new GPU line on June 29th. If the cards are as good as they are rumoured to be and as efficient then it is likely you will be able to snag one with similar performance as the 970. And they may fit this rig fine as is.
  • daniel12345678
    daniel12345678 Member Posts: 4 New User

    If i might be honest I would have been better making my own PC from the start ,I feel ripped off.

     

  • Jeremyc33
    Jeremyc33 Member Posts: 6 New User
    Hi again Daniel,

    I understand and you are correct. The only reason I have this prebuilt was a trade for my ps4 so I don't have much into it. even with the Gtx 745 though it is playing fallout 4 better than an xb1. That isn't saying a lot for a machine that retails at over a grand though. It is frustrating
  • neewu
    neewu Member Posts: 6 New User

    Completely agree, I felt the same didn't quite realise, despite some research, how lacking the GPU was in comparison to the processor etc. but I have found that many of the games I play (older ones often pre-2010, such as empire total war) I can run on high/ultra for a lot of settings and get good performance. It's not the worst card in the world dependent on what you want to play/your personal aesthetical preferences, newer games from 2014-15 I struggle with unless all settings are on low (but I have to admit they are still playable for me and I play mostly RTS games).

     

    Also, I successfully upgraded to the Zotac graphics card I purchased above (slotted in easily), and got some decent performance increase despite it only really being an incremental upgrade, I can currently run Warhammer Total War which previously struggled on the 745 (OEM), so I may not upgrade to the one of the GTX Mini series for a while yet. Although I would definitely advise building your own instead which could definitely be done for less than £1,000 and have much better performance, I just didn't quite have the time/confidence to do so yet!

  • neewu
    neewu Member Posts: 6 New User

    I agree it definitely still performs better than the XB1 with Fallout 4! But this GPU is nowhere near on par with other specs of the machine, did you by any chance upgrade your GPU to the GTX mini series? How did it go?

  • Jeremyc33
    Jeremyc33 Member Posts: 6 New User
    Hi again neewu

    I decided to wait and see what the new rx 4 series has to offer before getting the mini. They look promising
  • neewu
    neewu Member Posts: 6 New User

    Hello again,

     

    I know this is many months later. But just thought I'd let you know I upgraded the GPU to an MSI Nvidia 1050ti OC 4GB edition, without changing the power supply, and adding a fan to help temps. It runs everything I play on a mixture of high-ultra/extreme settings ranging from 40-80fps and has gave me the much needed boost to play anything good quality at 1080p. This GPU is 6.8/9inches in length and fits in just about perfectly between the front audio connector and USB header. I have been using it for 3 months now with the stock 300watt PSU. I used multiple power consumption calculator with all the specs and discovered this PSU is fine with the HP Lite-on 300watt PSU due to the low TDP of 75watt on this card, up 20 from the 55TDP which the GTX 745 (OEM) had. I used multiple pc power consumption calculators to get an idea of what my version of the T3-710 specs were were pulling and I had more than enough watts for this card to be safe (plus had this confirmed in various reputable videos/online sources). I am going to upgrade the power supply (CORSAIR CX600 PSU I currently have) and go for a newer card (mini edition) soon and maybe add another case fan. Just gutted this PC doesn't have an additional data port for an SSD instead of having to the M.2 slot for an upgrade. Anyways hope that helps anyone reading this forum.

     

    Thanks.

  • SkaYlex
    SkaYlex Member Posts: 1 New User
    Hello,
    I know I'm 3 years late but I'm wondering about this pc 😁.
    I also have the Acer T3-710 pc with the gtx 745 graphics card.
    I would like to replace the gtx 745 with a more powerful graphics card but now the graphics cards have changed and I do not know if they are compatible with the pc can you help me?
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 31,454 Trailblazer
    You should be able to upgrade to pretty much any that fit in. You'll likely need to upgrade the power at the same time, as the other users in this thread have done. I don't think the BIOS is old enough to have the 4GB limit to graphics memory, but try and verify that first.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.