GPU Advise for old Dell Precision T3500?

[gryffinwings]

Hi, I could use some recommendations for a used GPU, I can't quite afford to buy what I would like a Nvidia GTX 1070, so I am on the look out for something used. I'm not particularly picky AMD or Nvidia, as long as it works for the applications I will be using it for.

Gaming (Battlefield 1 and similar games)
Photo Editing
Video Editing

I'd like to keep the budget as close to $50 dollars as I can without going too old for a graphics card, I am willing to save a little to get what I need. My wattage will be 525 watts with the stock power supply. Currently installed is an AMD FirePro V3750, I don't know anything about it. Thanks for any advise or recommendations.

 

[MrTeal]

That's a tough one. $50 isn't much of a budget, but your platform is pretty old. There would be cards out there of the 7950/285/380 vintage that you may be able to snag for the price, but you run the risk of a card that's be at 100% utilization for the last 5 years. You won't find a 960 for that price or close to it, but a GTX 950 would work.

Really though, nothing you put in for $50 will compare to a 1070, but at 1080p and reasonable settings you should be ok with BF1. Anything is better than what you have in there now, which is basically the same thing as an HD 4670.

 

[SPBHM]

with this limited budget I'm not sure,

but something like a r7 260x/7790 2GB I think is as low as you should go for BFV on low (and low res), and maybe you can get it for that....

 

[gryffinwings]

Seems like a better budget would try for up to $100, how about a GTX 950 or GTX 1050 if I can find it in that price range used?

I would be playing games in 1080p anyways.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Check Hot Deals sub-forum. There's a few budget gaming cards available for a little over $100, including a GTX 1050 3GB EVGA card.

 

[MrTeal]

Seems like a better budget would try for up to $100, how about a GTX 950 or GTX 1050 if I can find it in that price range used?

I would be playing games in 1080p anyways.

For $100 you can find a 1050 new, and easily find a 4GB 960 used. Around $100 is also around the lower end of what you see 1050 Tis go for on eBay, so if you don't mind used and can snag a good deal that's an option too. All those cards should be more than enough for BF1 at good settings though.

 

[Shmee]

For around $100 or a little more I would recommend an r9 290 with non reference cooler, should be doable around that price, but it would depend on the quality of your PSU and if it has 2 PCIE 6+2 pin connectors or not. Most of these will have a 6 and 8 pin, some 2 8 pins.

Also, on the Nvidia side you could try for a 970, but typically these will be a bit more. Be careful of fake scam cards.

 

[Shmee]

Or, even better, probably your best option for around $100, is a used RX 470 or 570.

 

[gryffinwings]

Or, even better, probably your best option for around $100, is a used RX 470 or 570.

I was doing some research on the RX 470 and I ran into some people having issues regarding the this card and Legacy BIOS, do you know anything about this?

 

[MrTeal]

For around $100 or a little more I would recommend an r9 290 with non reference cooler, should be doable around that price, but it would depend on the quality of your PSU and if it has 2 PCIE 6+2 pin connectors or not. Most of these will have a 6 and 8 pin, some 2 8 pins.

Also, on the Nvidia side you could try for a 970, but typically these will be a bit more. Be careful of fake scam cards.

The 575W supply in the T3500 would handle a R9 290, but it only has a single 6 pin so you'll need adapters to power the card. It's standard ATX so it could be replaced as well.

Size is also a concern. Ref blower and Tri-X 290's made it difficult to close the fold down HDD mount. You might also need to dremel or cut away some of the plastic from the RAM shroud or remove it entirely to get it to fit depending on the card. You can mount the card in the top X16 slot, but that brings it close to the PSU which can be detrimental for cooling.

 

[Arkaign]

That Dell comes with two possible PSUs. Can you read the listed specs on it and post if it has the two 6-pin PCIe connectors or not?

We're looking for watts and 12v+ amps ratings.

 

[MrTeal]

Apologies, the larger PSU is a 525W, not 575W. Single 6-pin connector for the GPU.

That is the cutting of the ram cooler to allow longer GPUs to be used. You also need to remove the blue card holder on the left there.

I've run a R9 290 on that stock PSU 24/7 without issue, but it's just a bit more work to get it up and running.

 

[gryffinwings]

Apologies, the larger PSU is a 525W, not 575W. Single 6-pin connector for the GPU.

That is the cutting of the ram cooler to allow longer GPUs to be used. You also need to remove the blue card holder on the left there.

I've run a R9 290 on that stock PSU 24/7 without issue, but it's just a bit more work to get it up and running.

What other work did you have to do to get it working?

 

[MrTeal]

That was pretty much it. They're really nice machines; you couldn't buy just a case as well built as the T3500s for what you can often see these go for.

 

[Arkaign]

That was pretty much it. They're really nice machines; you couldn't buy just a case as well built as the T3500s for what you can often see these go for.

Definitely. I'll add the little known but also absolutely awesome Lenovo S20 and S30s, and the bananas D20/D30. You can truly get some monster machines for a song. The S30 with the 610W has 8 and 6 pin pcie connectors as well. The HP Z4xx is alright, but I really prefer the Dell and Lenovo models more, PSU and design seems a bit better with the S30 probably being the best of the lot.

A couple of examples

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/163217300220

S30, Socket 2011 E5-1620 3.6Ghz/3.9T, 8GB, W7 Pro /W10 Pro COA (use license to install either), 8 Ram Slots for Quad Channel, 610W PSU, USB 3.0/3 PCIe 3.0 x16 Slots/7 SATA 6Gps Ports w/Raid/Hardware Gbit LAN, toolless case, nice heatpipe cooling. Run throttlestop for easy all core full turbo on locked CPUs, or overclock of unlocked Xeons. Runs all V1/V2 2011 Xeons. $119 (!!)

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/232893317367

D30, dual Socket 2011 Xeon, 32GB Ram, 1100W PSU, 16 Ram Slots, SSD+2TB drives, etc, ~$300. Can run a pair of 12 cores easily for 24C/48T and 512GB of cheap ECC DDR3 for ludicrous expansion. Super backbreaker to move though lol.

Also see S20s with unlocked 6C/12T 3.2Ghz Hex Core and 12GB-24GB go for about $200ish.

The S20 is the equivalent to the T3500, and the S30 is the equivalent to the T3600. Socket 1366 and 2011 respectively. But like I said, for every ten T3x00 you see, you see one or two S20/30.

 

[gryffinwings]

That was pretty much it. They're really nice machines; you couldn't buy just a case as well built as the T3500s for what you can often see these go for.

Does the R9 290 require 2 six pin power connectors? So adapting a Molex or Sata power connector would work right? If that is the case.

 

[Arkaign]

Does the R9 290 require 2 six pin power connectors? So adapting a Molex or Sata power connector would work right? If that is the case.

The 290 and 290X I've had actually had 8+6 pcie. Because the T3500 uses a 3 way split rail system for 12v+, what you'd want to do is use one 6+6 to single 8 pin adapter, and one SATA to 6 pin adapter. That way most of the load falls on the 12v+ rail designed for GPU load via the 8 pin, and the remainder comes via the less robust SATA power cabling. I try to avoid using sata to pcie whenever possible, but at least this way it's not taking the brunt.

 

[gryffinwings]

The 290 and 290X I've had actually had 8+6 pcie. Because the T3500 uses a 3 way split rail system for 12v+, what you'd want to do is use one 6+6 to single 8 pin adapter, and one SATA to 6 pin adapter. That way most of the load falls on the 12v+ rail designed for GPU load via the 8 pin, and the remainder comes via the less robust SATA power cabling. I try to avoid using sata to pcie whenever possible, but at least this way it's not taking the brunt.

Let me make sure I am understanding you correctly.

Use an adapter to change the single 6-pin to 8-pin and use a sata to 6-pin to get the 6-pin. Am I correctly understanding what you are saying, the 6+6 is throwing me off what you are saying.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Arkaign distributes valuable advice. However, you can find RX 460, 750ti, or GTX 950 for $70.- on ebay. Then you don't have to worry about running power adapters. Good luck buying a 290 or 290x for that price. Most of the sold listings on ebay put the R9's at $100.- plus. The other downside to the R9's is mining was all the craze then.

The R9 is definitely a better performing card IF you get a good one and you can make it work in your box.

 

[gryffinwings]

Arkaign distributes valuable advice. However, you can find RX 460, 750ti, or GTX 950 for $70.- on ebay. Then you don't have to worry about running power adapters. Good luck buying a 290 or 290x for that price. Most of the sold listings on ebay put the R9's at $100.- plus. The other downside to the R9's is mining was all the craze then.

The R9 is definitely a better performing card IF you get a good one and you can make it work in your box.

The only issue I have is that I have to be careful in selecting an RX 460/470 card as a lot of them are UEFI only cards and do not work on Legacy BIOS systems which is annoying.

 

[Arkaign]

Let me make sure I am understanding you correctly.

Use an adapter to change the single 6-pin to 8-pin and use a sata to 6-pin to get the 6-pin. Am I correctly understanding what you are saying, the 6+6 is throwing me off what you are saying.

Sorry for any confusion. Some T3500 have dual 6 pins, some single. If you have the one with dual, then the adapter that combines two 6 pin to one 8 pin is the way to go if possible, then feed the 2nd sixer with the SATA to 6 pin adapter.

However if you have a single 6 pin to start with, I'm not super comfortable recommending using adapters to manage feeding 8+6 pin pcie, as the 290/290x are pretty thirsty and the tri-rail t3500 stock PSU may have issues feeding it. IIRC it is 18a/18a/16a for 12v+, and a 290 by itself can pretty much drain one of those rails completely to the point of strain/tapout. A PSU with a single 48a rail would fare much better even with merely similar wattage.

 

[gryffinwings]

Sorry for any confusion. Some T3500 have dual 6 pins, some single. If you have the one with dual, then the adapter that combines two 6 pin to one 8 pin is the way to go if possible, then feed the 2nd sixer with the SATA to 6 pin adapter.

However if you have a single 6 pin to start with, I'm not super comfortable recommending using adapters to manage feeding 8+6 pin pcie, as the 290/290x are pretty thirsty and the tri-rail t3500 stock PSU may have issues feeding it. IIRC it is 18a/18a/16a for 12v+, and a 290 by itself can pretty much drain one of those rails completely to the point of strain/tapout. A PSU with a single 48a rail would fare much better even with merely similar wattage.

Here's a picture of the power supply and what it's rated at, I've also only found one 6 pin, so maybe the R9 290 isn't the best idea, what about the R9 280?

I do have a single molex and FDD rail that isn't being used at all, everything else is hooked to the SATA rails. Could that be used to convert to a second 6 pin?

 

[Arkaign]

The 280 is a rebadged 7950, and the 280x a rebadged 7970GE with incredibly minor tweaks. I wouldn't recommend either despite how awesome they were in the past due to 7xxx driver support being fairly weak now (ditto Nvidia Kepler 7xx, 750ti the exception being a Pascal lol). The 290/290x are an entire gen newer, and very close to 3xx overall.

For that PSU, I'd truly recommend posting a WTB in our FS/T for an Nvidia 1050ti or 1060. Both would be a fantastic match for the system at 1080p, and they're a good bit more power efficient than the AMD equivalents. I've seen some pretty sweet deals come through.

You'll notice on your PSU listing that instead of a single fat 12v+ rail, it lists three separate smaller ones. These cannot easily combine to feed a device needing in excess of ~150w, so that makes feeding 280x/290/780ti type cards really tough. Be a good bit easier if you had the one with the dual 6-pin plug, but as is, I'd go for a 1050 to 1060 level card, with potential fallback to a 960 4GB in a pinch. Avoid 2GB cards. 3GB passable, 4-6GB great.

 

[gryffinwings]

Looks like what I'd like to use won't work, I need something that requires less power connectors.

The 280 is a rebadged 7950, and the 280x a rebadged 7970GE with incredibly minor tweaks. I wouldn't recommend either despite how awesome they were in the past due to 7xxx driver support being fairly weak now (ditto Nvidia Kepler 7xx, 750ti the exception being a Pascal lol). The 290/290x are an entire gen newer, and very close to 3xx overall.

For that PSU, I'd truly recommend posting a WTB in our FS/T for an Nvidia 1050ti or 1060. Both would be a fantastic match for the system at 1080p, and they're a good bit more power efficient than the AMD equivalents. I've seen some pretty sweet deals come through.

You'll notice on your PSU listing that instead of a single fat 12v+ rail, it lists three separate smaller ones. These cannot easily combine to feed a device needing in excess of ~150w, so that makes feeding 280x/290/780ti type cards really tough. Be a good bit easier if you had the one with the dual 6-pin plug, but as is, I'd go for a 1050 to 1060 level card, with potential fallback to a 960 4GB in a pinch. Avoid 2GB cards. 3GB passable, 4-6GB great.

Seems like I am truly limited to what I can get for my system, due to the power supply, maybe I'll look into a better one later. Thanks for the advice so far. What do I do if I find that I purchased a card that comes with a single 8 pin connector and not the 6 pin, I've seen those in the GTX 960 cards as well.

 

[Arkaign]

Looks like what I'd like to use won't work, I need something that requires less power connectors.


Seems like I am truly limited to what I can get for my system, due to the power supply, maybe I'll look into a better one later. Thanks for the advice so far. What do I do if I find that I purchased a card that comes with a single 8 pin connector and not the 6 pin, I've seen those in the GTX 960 cards as well.

It's definitely a question of safe long term plans and deciding between the possible options. The 960 uses far less power than a 79xx/280/290, so I'd feel totally comfortable using a 6 to 8 pin adapter.

Example deal :

https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/sop/d/msi-gtx-960-4gb-armor-2x/6707523752.html

Cable needed :

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-2-Pack-6-Pin-Adapter/dp/B01DV1Z32Y

Power consumption test :

https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/msi-geforce-gtx-960-gaming-oc-review,7.html

Notice that an SLI Pair of 960 OC editions STILL used less power than a single 280x / 290 / 780!! A single one was in the ~120 range, and subtracting the power fed by the pcie slot itself, you're well within safe range from a 6 pin source and 18A 12V+ rail