I have an odd video card question

SixPapaCharlie

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My primary PC is a Dell optiplex 990.
Its the small form factor so think ~3 inches thick.

I need a video card. Nothing special 1-2 Gb
What is the magic term I need to search to get video cards that will fit in my tower?

Low profile seems to be in the mix but that seems to refer to the length not the depth.
Most video cards seem to be too deep for my tower.

I switched over to Corel Video Studio and it can handle 4K but it stutters a lot when editing.
My machine is solid but the onboard video capabilities are not ideal.
 
You're not likely to find one or at least not one that's more powerful than the integrated graphics. What processor does it have?
 
External GPU, perhaps?
 
What form factor? Looking at the spec sheet, the desktop and minitower versions can support a full sized PCIe x16 graphics card, while the small and ultra small ones can support a half sized one. The PSU is the big limit - 265 watts isn't a lot. I wonder if the PSU is something that can be swapped out?

Working smoothly with 4K video isn't trivial.

EDIT: sheesh, I really can't read today. Small form factor. So half sized. Okay.
 
Looked up the tech guide for that machine, looks like just a regular old PCI-E x16 slot, and Newegg actually has a filter for videocard dimensions in length, you might find something here. Better than the onboard video? Probably by a small bit. Hope this helps!
 
790 or 990? OP says 990 but that Newegg link is the 790. Either way you're looking at a PCI-E x16 card. And now I'm reminded of this...

[yt]
 
You could swap out the processor for one with better graphics, such as the Core i7-3770, which comes with HD4000 vs. your HD2000. I don't know how much of an improvement it would be with 4k video, but the 3d graphics score is about double, and the cpu itself is a bit faster as well. They both seem to have the same LGA1155 socket, but do your own due diligence to make sure your motherboard supports it.
 
Bryan, you're not going to be happy with this answer, but unless you can do something about that power supply - I don't think you can support a graphics card beefy enough to make you happy editing 4K video. OptiPlex is Dell's business machine - designed to be purchased in multiples of one hundred and individually sit on some middle manager's desk in an unmarked office building somewhere south of DFW.

Now I'm not saying you need to hipster out, wear skinny jeans, drink kale smoothies, and buy some expensive-ass Apple rig - but if you're gonna do this right, I think you need a minimum of a GeForce 1050 in that thing, and the specs on it say you need 300 watts. I'm tempted to say buy the card and install it to see what happens - it's entirely possible you can get away with your 240 watts - but 4K video kind of takes you out of the realm of $300 budget desktops, and be prepared to open your purse strings juuust a bit to do this right. :)
 
Almost forgot... check your BIOS settings and make sure your proportion of RAM dedicated to video is maxed out. May help and doesn't cost anything :cool:
 
Bryan, you're not going to be happy with this answer, but unless you can do something about that power supply - I don't think you can support a graphics card beefy enough to make you happy editing 4K video. OptiPlex is Dell's business machine - designed to be purchased in multiples of one hundred and individually sit on some middle manager's desk in an unmarked office building somewhere south of DFW.

Now I'm not saying you need to hipster out, wear skinny jeans, drink kale smoothies, and buy some expensive-ass Apple rig - but if you're gonna do this right, I think you need a minimum of a GeForce 1050 in that thing, and the specs on it say you need 300 watts. I'm tempted to say buy the card and install it to see what happens - it's entirely possible you can get away with your 240 watts - but 4K video kind of takes you out of the realm of $300 budget desktops, and be prepared to open your purse strings juuust a bit to do this right. :)


ummmmm can you see me?
 
The form factor is killing you on this. Maybe re-purpose the machine and build / buy another?
 
Bryan, you're not going to be happy with this answer, but unless you can do something about that power supply - I don't think you can support a graphics card beefy enough to make you happy editing 4K video. OptiPlex is Dell's business machine - designed to be purchased in multiples of one hundred and individually sit on some middle manager's desk in an unmarked office building somewhere south of DFW.

Now I'm not saying you need to hipster out, wear skinny jeans, drink kale smoothies, and buy some expensive-ass Apple rig - but if you're gonna do this right, I think you need a minimum of a GeForce 1050 in that thing, and the specs on it say you need 300 watts. I'm tempted to say buy the card and install it to see what happens - it's entirely possible you can get away with your 240 watts - but 4K video kind of takes you out of the realm of $300 budget desktops, and be prepared to open your purse strings juuust a bit to do this right. :)

I think it is time for me to leave the office and head home, I read happy editing 4K video as happy ending 4K video huge difference in meaning.
 
I think it is time for me to leave the office and head home, I read happy editing 4K video as happy ending 4K video huge difference in meaning.

LMAO! I had to go back and make sure I didn't accidentally write that!
 
Maybe it's an even video card you need, not an odd one. Just throwing that out there. But, I'm not an expert on that either.
 
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