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upgrading video card

keniikenii Member Posts: 2

I want s decent video card that can handle most games but the problem is that i cant pick one well mostly worried about the power supply(210 watts).

I have a dell Optiplex gx280 SD

If anyone can find one that suits my computer it would be great

Comments

  • noquarternoquarter Member Posts: 1,170

    You can't do much with a 210W PSU. Nvidia's low end stuff takes too much juice. You could probably squeeze by with a $65 Radeon 4670 as they only draw 50W, and your system would probably need about 160W total which'd barely fit your 210W PSU..


    If you can't afford that, a 4650 is like $40 and it's unlikely that you'd notice the difference between a 4670 and 4650 on a P4 so that's an option too.


    You really ought to pick up some more RAM for your system though, it looks like you have 2x256MB sticks in the only 2 memory slots so you'd want to get 2x1GB sticks for 2GB DDR2 total to replace those.. that's $45.


    Honestly you need to replace everything including case, basically a whole new PC :(

  • keniikenii Member Posts: 2

    i have 2 gigs of memory but i heard that i cant change the power supply so i wanted to know if theres a video card that requires less watts.I can handle most games its just the video card thats a bother i just  want a video card that can handle low power supplies.

  • noquarternoquarter Member Posts: 1,170


    Originally posted by kenii
    i have 2 gigs of memory but i heard that i cant change the power supply so i wanted to know if theres a video card that requires less watts.I can handle most games its just the video card thats a bother i just  want a video card that can handle low power supplies.

    Ah didn't know you had upgraded the ram, but yea pretty much no chance of upgrading the PSU in a tiny case like that.


    Your 3 options are 4650 @ 45W, and 9500GT or 4670 @ 50W. The 9500GT pretty much blows though.


    I was going to suggest a 5750 as a 4th option as it only takes 43W but for some reason it requires a 6pin PCI-e power connector which I doubt your PSU even has. If it does though, this is an option, even though it smokes the rest of your PC so would be underutilized.

  • madeuxmadeux Member Posts: 1,786

    One of the great features of the new 5XXX series from ATI is how processor independent it is.  I have the 5770 and couldn't be happier.  These cards run cooler, with less power, and offload a lot from the CPU.

  • TheHatterTheHatter Member Posts: 2,547

    If you have a 210w PSU, then it's really senseless to upgrade at all until you upgrade your entire computer. A decent dual core computer is going to have at least a 400-500 PSU w/ an integrated gfx card.

    Honestly, I haven't even seen a 210w PSU since I was 16.... and I'm 25. I mess with computer alot and have a side job fixing them for $20/hr.

    I was looking up your computer while I typed this out (my internet is being a slow ass tonight) and you really just need a new computer. No GFX is going to give you any performance gain on games that are 2yrs old +.

    Your processor is junk, your motherboard is junk, and your HD is a 5400 rpm. A GFX isn't going to help you.

     

    I've been wanting to build a Media PC (TV Only. DVR Blue Ray, etc.) that would double as my wife's gaming machine for WoW (longer DVI cable) and I was getting some pretty good build options with a limit of like $400. That's including a $150 BluRay drive and a $100 TV Tuner Card. I was also going for low profile stuff too, so you could probably even get a better build. If you get a new computer NOW, you're going to need at least a Quad Core... there are some cheaper ones out there. AMDs are nice price/performance for the low end models.

     

    If you skipped all that:

    Don't waste your money on upgrading your GFX card. You're not going to be happy. Period.

  • lisubablisubab Member Posts: 670
    Originally posted by kenii


    i have 2 gigs of memory but i heard that i cant change the power supply so i wanted to know if theres a video card that requires less watts.I can handle most games its just the video card thats a bother i just  want a video card that can handle low power supplies.



     

    If you plan to throw a lot of money onto a top display card, and plug it onto an old PC, you might be better off upgrading the entire PC and settle for a middle of the road display card.

  • madeuxmadeux Member Posts: 1,786

    just head over to newegg.com and snag a cheap 350-400 watt power supply at the same time you get a 5750.

  • TheHatterTheHatter Member Posts: 2,547
    Originally posted by madeux


    just head over to newegg.com and snag a cheap 350-400 watt power supply at the same time you get a 5750.

     

    That's not going to work and you know it. Don't lead him wrong. His machine simply isn't worth upgrading. It's trash, tbh. It's 5yrs old and wasn't anywhere near a gaming machine and light years from any top end parts, 5yrs ago.

     

    It's like trying to upgrade the gfx card in a netbook. Absolutely pointless. (btw NETBOOKS are more powerful than his machine)

  • madeuxmadeux Member Posts: 1,786
    Originally posted by TheHatter

    Originally posted by madeux


    just head over to newegg.com and snag a cheap 350-400 watt power supply at the same time you get a 5750.

     

    That's not going to work and you know it. Don't lead him wrong. His machine simply isn't worth upgrading. It's trash, tbh. It's 5yrs old and wasn't anywhere near a gaming machine and light years from any top end parts, 5yrs ago.

     

    It's like trying to upgrade the gfx card in a netbook. Absolutely pointless. (btw NETBOOKS are more powerful than his machine)

     

    Actually, it'll do more than you realize.  Can't remember if it was Tom's or Anands that did a report on CPU usage with the new ATI cards, they had their Quad Core clocked at 3.8ghz, then dropped the clock to the standard 2.66, and lost on average 1.5 fps.  That's phenomenal.  It's a relatively cheap upgrade that he can move to his next computer when he's ready/able to move on.

  • TheHatterTheHatter Member Posts: 2,547

    You're missing the key point.

     

    Where's he going to put the PSU? On the ground?

     

    Why spend that much money on something that's so old, when you can spend twice as much and get something that's almost completely new? A low end gaming machine that will give you top end performance......... really isn't that expensive.

  • noquarternoquarter Member Posts: 1,170

    But he could use the 5750 if he planned on replacing the rest of the stuff later on as well.. I mean, there's nothing stopping it from working in that mobo even if $90 of it is going to waste. Except that the PSU likely doesn't have the 6 pin power connector for it, and he can't fit a new PSU into that tiny case.


    He does need a whole new system but if his new system is going to use a 4670 (the best he can realistically put in this) then it doesn't hurt to buy just the graphics card now.


    It doesn't sound like he wants to spend the cash on an overhaul, but TheHatter is right, it can be done for pretty cheap, Athlon II X2 245, cheap AM2+ mobo, reuse your (slow) ram, Radeon 4670 (or a 9800GT for $30 more), cheapass case, 450W PSU, 500GB HD = $310

  • noquarternoquarter Member Posts: 1,170


    Originally posted by TheHatter

    Where's he going to put the PSU? On the ground?
     

    Been there, I ran a computer out of the box the mobo came in before lol :)

  • madeuxmadeux Member Posts: 1,786
    Originally posted by noquarter


     

    Originally posted by TheHatter



    Where's he going to put the PSU? On the ground?

     

     

    Been there, I ran a computer out of the box the mobo came in before lol :)

     

    lol I have a hard drive hanging outside my case right now because I'm too lazy to move things around to make room for it. heh

  • noquarternoquarter Member Posts: 1,170


    Originally posted by madeux
    Originally posted by noquarter  

    Originally posted by TheHatterWhere's he going to put the PSU? On the ground?
     
     
    Been there, I ran a computer out of the box the mobo came in before lol :)


     
    lol I have a hard drive hanging outside my case right now because I'm too lazy to move things around to make room for it. heh

    heh proper computer assembly is soo overrated.


    it occurs to me to ask this dude what games he's actually wanting to play.. if it's like, Rappelz or something, none of this really matters.

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