Graphics card help/questions

[Outlaw]

I am looking to get a new graphics card for my older computer but I'm not sure which one. It's a Dell Dimension series that I have had for a few years now. I've bought a newer card than the one it came with before but now I want get a better one. Right now I'm trying to save up to build a system myself but I will still have this for a while yet before that happens so I'm trying to squeeze as much use out of it as I can.

Specs:
Dell Dimension E521
AMD 64x2 CPU 2.4Ghz
Nforce 430 motherboard
4GB RAM @ 800Mhz
500 watt power supply compatiable w/ this model.
Single rail design that is 12v/35a
22" 1680x1050 monitor

I am basically looking to get the best one it can handle without being bottlenecked by the CPU or somehow hindered by the motherboard. It also needs to be a single pci slot mounted card. Here is the case:
Edit: sorry the forum won't let me post links yet.
What I'm worried about is a card not fitting into the case. I don't want to have to return it cause it takes a long time and most places charge you a fee. Can anyone give me some suggestions on the best cards that will work?
Lastly, a couple of questions.

Is a card with 1GB ram worth it? I've heard some cards can't even use the extra ram.

What are some of the best manufactures as far as quality parts goes?

Thanks, sorry long post.

[vanidin]

What is the video card you put in there?
That would help determine what would be a worthwhile upgrade for you.
Also, to save me googling that nforce board, it's agp, right?

[Olo401]

You've got PCI-E 16x available so modern graphics card will work, and the case looks like it can fit a small or moderate-legnth card. However your power supply is only rated at 305W, which is a MAJOR problem. I'm not sure if your machine will be able to handle anything more than a very basic card.. say a GeForce 9500GT or Radeon 4650.

[Isiolia]

His comment makes me think maybe he's swapped in the Dell edition PC Power and Cooling 500W PSU (slightly shorter than standard ATX)...or something similar?

I second the "what card did you put in" question. Also, as it's an AMD system, it's very possible you could drop a Phenom into it to keep it viable even longer.

Far as a 1GB card, it's more a question of software. Not all games will see much benefit. You'll also tend to see better performance from a better chip versus a lower end one with a bunch of memory on it.

[Olo401]

Oooh I missed that.. yeah if he's got the 500W PSU in there he'd be able to run a 5770 without a hitch.

On the memory question.. You have to watch out if you're running 32-bit Vista because your available memory before a video card is gonna be something like 2.5-2.7GB. A 1GB card will cut that down quite a bit.

[Outlaw]

His comment makes me think maybe he's swapped in the Dell edition PC Power and Cooling 500W PSU (slightly shorter than standard ATX)...or something similar?

I second the "what card did you put in" question. Also, as it's an AMD system, it's very possible you could drop a Phenom into it to keep it viable even longer.

Yes, it is the PC Power and Cooling 500W power supply heh heh. Good power supply btw. I will definatly be buying from them again. The card is a EVGA 9500GT. Sinse I still can't link I will just type out the important details.

GeForce 9500GT
Cuda cores: 32
Graphics clock: 550Mhz
Processor Clock: 1400Mhz
VRAM: 512MB/128bit
Memory clock: 800Mhz
Memory bandwidth:25.6 GB/sec

It runs FFXI very well but it is a seven year old game though. It will also run other 5+ year old games fine but newer games don't even have a playable frame rate.

[Cjskater]

The best single slot card right now, afaik, is the Galaxy GTX 260+ Razor. I don't think it's being sold yet though... there is one on Ebay for $220 but it says shipped from Hong Kong so... yeah. The only other good single slot card I can think of is a HD4850 but it may be hard to find since most places only carry the dual slots still.

[Olo401]

The best single slot card right now, afaik, is the Galaxy GTX 260+ Razor. I don't think it's being sold yet though... there is one on Ebay for $220 but it says shipped from Hong Kong so... yeah. The only other good single slot card I can think of is a HD4850 but it may be hard to find since most places only carry the dual slots still.

Uhhhhhh no. The Radeon 4890 & 58xx cards blow this away easily, as does the GTX 285/295. And I bet if you overclock the 5770 it might pull close.

Edit: Oh wait you said "single slot". Yeah that's probably true since most of the high end cards these days are dual slot b/c of the heatsink.

[Meyor]

I am also in the market for a new mid/mid-hi end graphics card to upgrade my comp for some newer games.

Current Setup:
Dell Inspiron 530
Core 2 Quad Q6600 @2.4GHz
4GB OCZ Ram
Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS (to be upgraded)
20" Dell Widescreen (to be upgraded 24"-27")
Vista Basic 32-bit (upgrading to 7 premium 64-bit this week)

I have checked and I do have room for a double wide GPU. I have read the tomshardware lists but cannot decide on a card to get, and I trust bg more then those nerds over there anyway.

Thanks

[Mabubeezareel]

I am also in the market for a new mid/mid-hi end graphics card to upgrade my comp for some newer games.

Current Setup:
Dell Inspiron 530
Core 2 Quad Q6600 @2.4GHz
4GB OCZ Ram
Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS (to be upgraded)
20" Dell Widescreen (to be upgraded 24"-27")
Vista Basic 32-bit (upgrading to 7 premium 64-bit this week)

I have checked and I do have room for a double wide GPU. I have read the tomshardware lists but cannot decide on a card to get, and I trust bg more then those nerds over there anyway.

Thanks

Radeon 5770 is the sweetspot for price/performance ratio right now, though you may want to consider a 5850 if you're going to be gaming at higher resolutions due to a larger monitor.

[Meyor]

Thanks for the reply, I think I will get a 5770 Radeon. My only question now is which edition to get. Diamond, HIS, XFX, Gigabyte, MSI, Sapphire? Just get the most expensive one or is there really any difference in the units?

[Olo401]

Diamond is ATI's own brand name (I think?), so consider that your baseline. Sapphire's pretty decent on quality in my experience (I've had two of their cards and they're both solid). XFX, BFG & Powercooler are known to be high performance & usually good quality (esp. Powercooler).

[Deadgye]

They're all pretty much the same, the only really difference is the customer service. XFX comes with a double lifetime guarantee, while most others are just 1-2 years.

[Olo401]

Oooh we have a new development!! There's now a $100 5-series Radeon -http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...5670,2533.html

DirectX 11 compatible, HDMI ready, fits in a single slot. The testing puts it just behind the older 9800GT/GT240 in performance.

[Isiolia]

5670 looks like a fine choice for Dell owners n' the like that haven't ugpraded their PSU...or for HTPCs. Tempts me for the latter, but fan noise is a potential turnoff.

[Meyor]

After a little more research and shopping I have decided to go with the 5850 over a 5770. For only $100 more you get a lot more card it seems like. I feel better about the 5850 going forward until its outdated in a year. Power supply is my only concern, but since I have the quad-core model, it has an upgraded power supply, and worst case I have to get a new $100 psu that I should have upgraded a long time ago.

Going with the XFX for the double super warranty.

Thanks Again

[Meyor]

Newegg had a combo for the sapphire 5850 and a 600w power supply for only 289.99. $70 combo deal made the psu free. We will see what happens in a few days.

[Dmitry]

Just wanted to ask a quick question instead of making a new thread:

Would getting two of the 5670s and running them in Crossfire have comparable perfomance compared to a $200 card with the same specs?

[Isiolia]

Just wanted to ask a quick question instead of making a new thread:

Would getting two of the 5670s and running them in Crossfire have comparable perfomance compared to a $200 card with the same specs?

Is there a particular reason you'd want to do this versus simply buying a better single card?

I haven't seen benchmarks for a crossfire config on those cards, but it's generally preferable to go with a single card solution for compatibility reasons. Unless, of course, the combined performance of multiple cards would exceed that of currently available single cards - but that won't be the case with two 5670s.

[Olo401]

Just wanted to ask a quick question instead of making a new thread:

Would getting two of the 5670s and running them in Crossfire have comparable perfomance compared to a $200 card with the same specs?

Actually running dual 4850s or GTS250s would be a more powerful option for that same $200 price tag than dual 5670s. And for $300 you can get dual 5770s.