Aspire TC -391 Upgrade Graphics Card I want to put in a AMD Radeon RX 550 graphics card.

Phil_111
Phil_111 Member Posts: 7 New User
edited June 2023 in Aspire and Veriton Desktops

I have a Aspire TC -391. It says I have a 250 watt maximum power supply. I want to put in a AMD Radeon RX 550 graphics card. Is my power supply adequate?

Thank You

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title and issue detail]

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    Your Aspire TC-391 uses an ATX12VO power supply design and the 250W is the largest Acer offers for it. According to AMD, the spec is: "Minimum PSU Recommendation 400 W", so no the card will likely not work. You might look into something like an Nvidia 1030, 1050, 1650, 2050… The key is that they not require separate power over what is provided by the PCIe slot.

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  • GonzoX450
    GonzoX450 Member Posts: 18 Troubleshooter

    Phil,

    I had no problem running an RX550 card in my TC-391.

    I would suggest a better card that I am using now though. It is more than twice as fast and only costs a little bit more.

    XFX Speedster SWFT 105 RX 6400 Gaming Graphics Card with 4GB GDDR6. Since it does not use an extra power cable it is IMHO the fasted card you could put into a TC-391.

    Do not bother with Drivers that AMD puts out because as soon as you do a Windows Update, those drivers will automatically be replaced by the Microsoft Radeon RX6400 drivers and they do not come with a driver utility software like the AMD ones do. Current MS drivers is: 31.0.12027.9001.

    The reason Windows Update does this is because of the way Acer set up / created the BIOS on this model of PC. Good luck on what you decide.

    Attached is a picture of my TC-391 with my XFX card installed.

    IMG_0676.JPG

  • GonzoX450
    GonzoX450 Member Posts: 18 Troubleshooter

    Correction:

    You can actually use the AMD drivers as I have found out. But it involves doing some changes to your Windows Group Policy Editor. I was very happy to find this info.

  • Phil_111
    Phil_111 Member Posts: 7 New User

    Thank you for the response. I installed a NVIDIA GT 1030 before I saw that there was a better model. Now, the GT 1030 is a little buggy so I'd like to return to the original integrated graphics card. When I look in Device Manager, I see that the only display driver is the GT 1030. If I plug the monitor into the original display port, will the computer know to re-add the AMD integrated driver?

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    Yes, the first boot and the different card will be recognized.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Phil_111
    Phil_111 Member Posts: 7 New User

    I turned off the computer, plugged in the monitor to the original display port and turned on the computer. Got a blank screen???

  • GonzoX450
    GonzoX450 Member Posts: 18 Troubleshooter

    I have two Acer towers Phil. My TC-391 Ryzen 5 has the RX6400 and my TC-390 Ryzen 3 has an Nvidia GT 1030 which ironically is barely faster than the onboard APU.

    The TC-390 had no problem using HDMI as output when I first installed it. And the default drivers that Windows installed "basic display drivers" worked fine. Once I did a system "Windows Update", those drivers were replaced by GT 1030 drivers. And wouldn't you know it, HDMI would no longer work. After initial boot up screen I got a black screen.

    I got around this and made it work by simply using the older style VGA cable or Display Port.

    My suggestion to you is to stick with AMD Cards. For now you can take out the Nvidia card and see if that fixes the problem. If not then IMHO you have three options. 1)Live with using VGA, 2)Used policy editor to force your system to use or not use certain drivers or 3)Stick with an AMD descreet card.

    If remember correctly I did use a Display Port to HDMI converter cable on my GT1030 and that also worked so that may be a fourth option for you. But I have since taken the GT1030 card out and replaced it with an NVMe SATA card since these boards only have one PCIE x16 slot.

    dstohdmi.jpg

    Good luck with what you decide. As for me, my next PC will NOT be an Acer.

  • Phil_111
    Phil_111 Member Posts: 7 New User

    Thanks, I'll give it a try.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    Onboard video is disabled whenever there's a GPU plugged into the slot. You have to physically remove the card to get the onboard working.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Phil_111
    Phil_111 Member Posts: 7 New User

    Thanks,

    Do you think the GT1030 is better than the on board video?

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    No, I think they benchmark very close to the same. That's why they shipped the 1650 GPU as one of the options in the TC-391 models instead of the 1050.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Phil_111
    Phil_111 Member Posts: 7 New User
    edited July 2023

    Thank You,

    Is the original power supply adequate for the 1650?

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    As long as you have the 250W supply and not the 180W it should work, since that's the combo Acer shipped.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Phil_111
    Phil_111 Member Posts: 7 New User

    I ordered a 1650. Thanks for your assistance.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    Let us know how well it works out.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.

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