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Card suggestion

H

Haui

Senior member
Video card suggestion

I would like to know some suggestions of a PCI-E video card I should get. I want to be playing Battlefield 2, WOW, Day of Defeat Source, things of this nature. My computer has the following specs:

Dell Dimension E521 Mini Tower desktop
AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core 3800+
2048M DDR2 RAM
160G SATA hard drive
16X DVD+-RW double layer CD/DVD burner drive,
Chassis 305 Watt DC Power Supply
19" Gateway FPD1960 8ms LCD with DVI 1280 × 1024 (native)

I would like to spend less than $150.

Now, I have it setup to dual boot, both XP Professional and Vista Home Basic. I believe performance wise, gaming will be better on XP, but I am willing to try and test both OS's.

What are some suggestions for this?
 
Do you know the specs on the PSU in that Dell case??

It's very important we know in order to give you a good recommendation
 
I've go almost the same exact system and was wondering the same. I'm worried my 300 watt PSU on my new HP being adequate but I am looking for a mid-range card. My onboard nVidia GEForce 6150LE isn't cutting it and holding my Vista score down. I'm partial to ATI. I don't need to play the latest games at high setting.
 
I'm not sure how easy the newer Dells are to upgrade, but my old one was an absolute pain. I would be wary of installing a new PS in a Dell if things haven't changed.

A 300 watt PSU really won't be enough. If you are willing to upgrade PSU and video card, it might work. You have enough ram, and fair processor for a pretty good gaming machine. My recommendation depends on both your budget and if you have an AGP or PCIe slot. With a PCIe slot, I would go with something like an 8800GTS.
 
You posted that your case is a MiniTower, is it ATX or mATX?
If it's ATX:

FSP AX450 PSU

X1950GT $120AR

7900GS $140AR


Personally i'd go w/ the 1950GT, it'll run those games fine at lower resolutions (1280 x 1024)

You could get by with a less powerful PSU than the FSP i linked, but you'd spend about the same for it (if it's worth having)
The FSP 450 is a great PSU for $50, and will power your system w/ plenty to spare.

 
Originally posted by: Haui
What about a 7600GS?
Click to expand...

You don't wanna go there

A 7600GT would be better, they're close to X850XTpe speeds plus have SM3.0

However, as you can see, it's only $20 cheaper than the X1950GT


EDIT....link added

 
SM3.0 is shader model 3.0

here is some info about it Click Here

the article is a few years old but it has some decent information

you could also just google it.
 
Just purchased an EVGA 7600GT for $119, plus tax. Now there is a $50 rebate I am turning in tomorrow, so for $70, NOT BAD!

Took an ad from Microcenter online and PMed it at a local Fry's. All they had to do was call Microcenter and verify that they still carry this product and bam 100% PM.
 
So Haui, are you upgrading your power supply to handle the 7600GT? I've read that Dell might use a proprietary power supply that may take a bit of work getting a regular PSU installed. Likewise for my HP. I just found out my HP uses a uATX PSU which is 1.5" shorter than an ATX (see my new post in this General Hardware forum).
You got a good deal on that video card. 🙂 After you install it post back here, especially if you don't upgrade your PSU. Thanks.
Beau
 
I put the card in, no problem at all. I have not tried a game yet, but it should work anyways right?
 
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