Recently got a PC (HP Compaq 8200 3.1ghz i5, 4gb Ram, 500gb hd http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/878674/HP-Business-Desktop-8200-Elite-XZ989UT/ ) and I know its a few years old and currently bone stock. I know what kind of Memory upgrade I'm doing but have no idea what video cards are compatible. I've done hard drive and memory upgrades before on macs but never upgraded a video card on pc. Let me know what you guys think is compatible with my system. Thank you in advance.

 

do you have a free PCIe 16x slot? thats what most gfx cards will fit into these days

 

It says I have 2 PCIe 16x slots. I wanna say one of them is free

 

then you should have no problem upgradeing the gfx card. do you know what version it is? eg 1, 2, or 3? if i had to guesss i'd say it's 2 because you said that it's a few years old

 

i just checked out the specs you posted, your gonna prob need to upgrade your power supply becasue it's only 320 watts. I'd recomend a 500 watt psu that way you can fit anythingg up to a gtx 960 in it. are you using this pc for gaming?

 

No just production. Can I get even more power supply than 500w and still have it work good with the system I'm running or is there a power limit on pc system?

 

@RunTheTrap
I'm not sure what is actually inside his pc but my power supply is only 300 watt and i calculated this site when i had to upgrade it few months ago. Everything works good. Of course will be a better choice to update the power supply, but maybe it's not really necessary...

http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

that my spec for 300 W supply;

HP pavilion p6000 case
i7-4790k
ga-h81m-hd3 (Micro ATX motherboard for fitting in my case)
16 GB of RAM
HDD 1 TB 7200 rpm
SSD Samsung evo Pro 250 GB
WD green 1 TB 5400 (was external HDD then converted to internal for better perfomance)
ATI Radeon HD 5450 (it's quite old now but it works like a charm with daw and OSX)
Basic 49 keys keyboard midi controller
Windows 7 Ice Extreme
OSX Yosemite 10.10.1

I'm gonna probably update the power supply when adding the watercooling system over the basic fan but for now it just works like this.

 

If you only use the gfx-card for production and not for gaming, the power supply does not need to be upgraded because the gfx card does not draw that much current. Save your money and get yourself a SSD harddrive instead -> faster working guaranteed!!!

 

There's no limit but it depends on your needs. For example if your hardware totally need 300w to work, then you must get a 300w power. You can use a 400w too. But it will produce only 300w for you. So you'll have less money although while having the same power. If you'll change your hardware soon, then you should think about getting a higher power supply.

 

Disagree. To maintain 300W of load, it's safe to get 600W of power as PSU performace degrade over time. Also at 50% and above, PSUs are most efficient.
Dedicated graphics for music production doesn't make much sense, sometimes it's useful, but mostly not. If you have to get one, buy passive/fanless one, such as HD7750 or GTX 750

 

You don't need a Graphics Card. You don't need a new power supply. Installing an SSD for your System Drive is the best bang for the buck upgrade, followed by Ram, then CPU. Make sure your HDDs are at least 7200 RPM. Better yet, use SSDs if, when, and where you can afford them.

 

you never get a 300w psu if you need 300w
it is always better to get at least 20% higher it gives you a better security (energy spikes)
and should never run on max energy output for more than 15min. not good for the psu!

get at least bronze certified or higher
and watch out that it fits you case

if you are not gaming (on an extreme level) and your budget allows
get a nvidia quadro (!K!) 1200/2000, they only need 50-65w MAX (even k600 is fine with 1gb of ram)
your energy savings pay for the card in a year

ssd for the win
1 Hdd for data
1 Hdd for bacup
1 External hdd for bacup

there are sites who could help you running the wattage numbers for your pc gear ;)
as andrew sugested higher is better (in the end it pays for itself)

 

Thanks for all the input fellas. You guys rock