rafi 117 rafi 117

Need advice on video card for PCI-E bus

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Need advice on video card for PCI-E bus

from Sins Forums
I have a Dell XPS 410 desktop computer and want to get a video card so I can get better performance with games (SoaSE, Frontlines Fuel of War).  What video cards should I be considering?
 
The Nvidia 8800, 9600, and 9800 lines look good.  The Nvidia 260 and 280 look even better but seem to need a PCI-E 2 bus. 
 
Any advice or suggestions?  I don't want to fiddle with overclocking or SLI.
technical
16,587 views 33 replies
Reply #26 from Sins Forums Top
Some of the advice and warnings i've seen on here scares me alot.

Forget about the 8800GTX/GTS640/GTS320, they're outdated and obsolete.

You will not be satisfied with the 8600GT/GTS, it does not perform good enough to make a notable difference from your old one.

The advice offered about the PSU is the most worrying here. The 8800GT or Radeobn 4850 are both actually fully capable of being run on a 400W PSU. And no, it will not explode in your face if it's not up to the task unless DELL has seriously messed up (which they can't afford to do in their XPS line of machines. Last time I checked, DELL use quite good PSU's, and as long as it has the PCI-E 6 pin power cable that most modern graphics cards require, it's going to be alright. The worst thing that can happen (counting out the rediculous "blow up" and "catch on fire" scenarios) is that some parts won't power on, such as harddrives or CD-Drives (they are usually the ones that give up first, since they don't rev up until quite late in the boot-up sequence, and they draw alot of the power when they do, pushing the PSU off the edge).

My advice to you is this. Find out more about your current configuratiom. post more detailed info so we can help you easier. What CPU have you got? motherboard chipset? current video card? What kind of budget do you have? And most importantly, is there a 6/8 pin PCI-E cable loose from your PSU? Looks like this: http://www.techaddicts.net/reviews/da750/da750.15.jpg with either 5 or eight pins. Without it you probably won't be able to use a modern video card without an extra adapter, that requires two Molex connectors (the ones that are used for optical and harddrives) to convert into the 6pin connector.

Phew, lengthy post. Please ask if anything is unclear to you, and I will get back to you with appropriate links to reviews and/or relevant Wikipedia articles.
Reply #27 from Sins Forums Top
The 8800GT or Radeobn 4850 are both actually fully capable of being run on a 400W PSU.
End of quote


Yes, if that 400W PSU has high +12V rails - which tends to be only in the case of extremely reliable manufacturers like Corsair's 450Ws. I seriously doubt anything offered by Dell is going to have anything more than 15A. Wattages mean nothing by themselves, but they do give an allusion to what sort of amperages exist on what rails. Short of misleading manufacturers putting more amps on +3.3V and 5V to up their wattage totals, they're not a bad indicator, but only the best 400W PSUs (I'd be comfortable with very little less than 20-25A) will run something like a 8800GTS or 4850.

The OP should _not_ do _anything_ without checking the PSU's rated amperages. That should be the second thing he does behind making sure it has a PCI-E plug in the first place.
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Reply #28 from Sins Forums Top
!!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!!
We opened up my computer (and put it back together properly too, I'm posting from it) and found a number of things:
1) My PSU puts out 375 w DC - so it needs to be replaced
2) My computer appears to have one PCI-E x1, one PCI-E x16, and one PCI-E x8 - so I cannot SLI
3) My computer has a lot of room, The video card could be up to: 12+ inches long, multiple inches high, and 4.5 inches wide - so space is not an issue.
Reply #29 from Sins Forums Top
Today I purchased an ATI 4850, as well as a 650w power supply.

Thank you to everyone who helped me choose this card.
Reply #30 from Sins Forums Top
If you have $50 to spend, get the 8600GT/8600GTS.
If you have $130 to spend, get the 9600GT.
If you have $150 to spend, get the 8800GT.
If you have $200 to spend, get the 4850.
End of quote

Those prices seem a little low. Ordering the parts new from Dell when I bought my new XPS, two 8800M GTX 512 MB cards and a PhysX processor set me back $1000 OVER the price of a 256MB NVIDIA card of a type I don't remember.
Obviously, desktop cards are cheaper, but I highly doubt you could get a new 8600 series card for $50 bucks, and DEFINITELY not an 8800 series for $150, my 8800s were $500 each...
Reply #31 from Sins Forums Top
Ordering the parts new from Dell when I bought my new XPS,
End of quote


Ever think that maybe the problem is that you are ordering from a company that screws consumers over as hard as they can in just about every way, including on your prebuilt system? Dell is not a parts supplier for a reason.

Anyone who knows anything about hardware will tell you if you're going to fall into the enormous gaping trap of buying prebuilt "cut as many corners as possible" PCs, to buy the absolute cheapest everything and replace it.

8600GT
9600GT
8800GT
4850
Reply #32 from Stardock Forums Top
Hey, I have the same exact Dell XPS 410. I wish to upgrade my computer's Video card also. I noticed rafi 117 upgraded his video card to the latest ATI 4850. I PMed him asking how the installation of the 4850 and the new PSU went since I'm planning on doing the same. No reply from him for days. Does anyone know to how get in contact with him?
Reply #33 from Sins Forums Top
Hey, I have the same exact Dell XPS 410. I wish to upgrade my computer's Video card also. I noticed rafi 117 upgraded his video card to the latest ATI 4850. I PMed him asking how the installation of the 4850 and the new PSU went since I'm planning on doing the same. No reply from him for days. Does anyone know to how get in contact with him?
End of quote


no, but it should be fine if you use the same stuff. at least the XPS isn't proprietary..