~$75 to spend for low profile gaming PCI-X for Dell

[stultus]

I'm looking for a budget gaming card that's low profile and will work in a Dell Vostro 230 (low profile, dinky power supply). I had originally had them purchase an HD4670 (which was going to be great because it wouldn't require any extra power either), but just found out it's a slimline case and oops, card is too big. What are the good options out there? Any help appreciated!

 

[SlowSpyder]

Is this for gaming or more HTPC use? The card below should be decent for both, but if you don't care about gaming you could get by with less I'd think.

Would something like this work? Raedon 5570 for $85 w/$10 MIR + $6 shipping = $81 shipped.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131341

That'd be a very good HTPC card and probably give you about as good of gaming performance as you'll get with a low profile card.

*edit - That card also does NOT require any external power, so I think that might be a perfect match for a lower end power supply. Reviews are very good too.

 

[stultus]

It's for "gaming" -- Sims3 Looks like the 9600GT is Nvidia's answer.

I just can't figure out all these Radeon model names. Is a 5570 better than a 4670? More power? Gahhh...

 

[SlowSpyder]

Anandtech has a decent review on the 5570: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2935/1

It looks like the 5570 is very near the 4670 and 9600GT, though the 9600GT might be a tad faster overall in modern games. I don't know how intense SIMS3 is, I don't know if any of these cards will be plenty for it or not.

My guess is the 9600GT would be the best for pure gaming. The Radeon 5570 adds a lot of HTPC options, but if you're not using any of that it may not be of value to you.

One thing that may be worth pointing out is that Anand ran these benches with Catalyst 9.9. The current 10.3 drivers have brought out an additional chunk of performance for the Radeon 5xxx cards... though I don't know how much more performance to expect from the lower end Radeons. Anyway, that review should give you a good bit of information.