Video Card upgrade

[Nystul]

I'm only a pseudo-techie. Once in a while I get the urge to upgrade my PC, but it doesn't happen often so when I get said urge I'm pretty much completely behind the times and our of touch with whats out there.

So here's the skinny. I've got a desktop PC and I'm looking to upgrade the video card. System specs:

Dell Dimension DM061
Intel Core2 2.13GHz
4GB Ram
Vista home premium
Radeon XL1300/X1550 series video card (PCI express, 256MB ram, 594mHz)

I've looked into the NVIDIA vs Radeon debate and it looks like NVIDIA is perhaps the best way to go? I think this is the first Radeon I've ever owned actually. I'm looking for something in the $150 price range but there seem to be so many options/variables that it is overwhelming. I'm not someone who's going to overclock/liquid cool/etc my rig or anything. I just want a good card at a reasonable price that will last me a while and allow me to run things like the new Mass Effect game etc and occasionally have fun by boosting all the stats of some slightly older games that I have to make them all kinds of shiny.

Thanks for any suggestions (especially for a site that compares cards in a way that a lay person can understand).

[Caiyuo]

I can't really say specific cards since I'm not much different than you in terms of current-tech familiarity, but Tom's Hardware is a great source for things like this. Here's something that should help:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...card,2544.html

More specifically this page: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rd,2544-3.html

Someone else can likely help you pick a specific card in that price range.

[Isiolia]

A possible issue you may run into is your power supply - a potential hurdle for the majority of Dell/HP/Acer/whatever type systems. Yours is listed as having a 305W PSU here - Dell had a chart for model number vs product number or something which said the DM061 = Dimension E520.

Anyway, without upgrading that, it'll put a limit on the cards that your system can support.

With that in mind, you may want to take a look at the ATI HD5670 - performance that's comparable to an nVidia 9800GT, but at lower power requirements. Currently the best card that doesn't require an extra power connector. On the nVidia side, in that category, there's the GT 240, which isn't quite as powerful, but still viable.

Working without your power constraints, these wouldn't really be front-runners, but I'm honestly not sure offhand how much your system can support. On the plus side (I guess), the 5670 is more of a $100 card and the GT 240 an $80 one.

Either should be a substantial upgrade over your current card, and let you run current games.

[Nystul]

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82e16814133279

how about this? It's an "energy efficient" model of the 9800GT. I can get it for around $100, and the 9800 has pretty good benchmarks on that Tom's site.

Do the energy efficient models perform comparably to the standard models?

[Celeras]

Are you in a hurry? Fermi (nvidias newest generation card) is expected out next month, and will drop the price of almost everything else.

As for a link that makes it easy to understand for you: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...1200,1702.html

All the newest cards, bars show the sum of average FPS in multiple benchmarks(so bigger=better), run on pretty much the highest settings. If you see the abbreviation SLI or CF, that means its a dual video-card system using TWO of the listed card. Other than that it should be pretty lay person proof

[Isiolia]

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82e16814133279

how about this? It's an "energy efficient" model of the 9800GT. I can get it for around $100, and the 9800 has pretty good benchmarks on that Tom's site.

Do the energy efficient models perform comparably to the standard models?

Those should also work for your needs - the green/low power/whatever edition 9800GTs are underclocked compared to standard 9800GTs, so performance will be a little lower. However, they'll be better than a GT 240. I mentioned the GT 240 due to the reference design being low-power, but if you can find a good 9800GT green edition, then that'd be better. I would expect it to still be pretty comparable to the 5670 though.
Arguably, the ATI is newer tech, has some nice bells n' whistles, whereas the nVidia is repackaged older tech - though still decent performing.


I'm not real sure Fermi will change things much. Even if prices drop some, the low power requirement still limits models. A GTS 250 or 5750 would already be within his budget, but even if they went down $20, they'd still be significantly more power hungry cards. Prices may go down a little, but at this price point, probably not that much.