I need a low power and small video card

[hanscastorp]

I recently bought this computer

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...94514&cmpid=greatdeals

and have discovered that the integrated video card, ATI Radeon HD 3200 is insufficient for my needs. I would like to upgrade to a dedicated card, but the power supply is of a rather low wattage (300) and the motherboard and case are rather small.

Also, would there be many issues using an NVIDIA card on an ATI chipset?

Thanks

 

[FalseChristian]

No, there wouldn't be any issues at all. How about a Radeon 4550? I believe it's passively cooled and needs no external power plug. It'd be alot faster than that IGC you got now.

You want nVidia than how about a 9500GT?

 

[MarcVenice]

HD4350 should do the trick, I bet it comes passively cooled too.

 

[Insomniator]

Well it depends why the 3200 is insufficient. If it is because you want to play new games, then you better get a new power supply and something better than a 4350.

If it is for HD content.. then the 3200 should already be fast enough, it has hardware acceleration and HDMI.

 

[hanscastorp]

I don't believe that I have a PCI-E 2.0 bus. Can I still use the 9500GT? Would I just get lower transfer speeds from CPU to GPU?

Also, are power supplies generally just one size? If I were to get another, could I be reasonably sure it would fit in my case? Also, I have a new 350 Watt PSU, would that make any difference on the quality of card I could get?

 

[AzN]

4670

 

[hanscastorp]

does 4670 require dedicated power from the PSU? can I run it on a 300 W PSU?

 

[Piuc2020]

What exactly are "your needs"?

 

[CurseTheSky]

If you're looking to play games, you might want to state which games, what resolution, and which games you're looking into for the future.

Our suggestions are going to be completely different between a gaming computer and an office / Photoshop / HTPC machine.

 

[IlllI]

yes.. i think before anyone can help, we need to know what your needs are (as already stated )

 

[nerp]

I would recommend the 4670.

It's very fast for the price, requires NO additional power from the PSU and it's pretty small compared to other beefy cards like the 4850 and 4870. I'd stay away from the 9500GT. It's a DOG of a card and much slower than the 4670.

The 4670 is one of the lowest power using cards out there and would work in virtually any OEM machine like yours with a 250-350w PSU.

There don't seem to be any passive models available but the stock cooler on the reference card should be quiet enough unless you're gaming seriously and I don't think that the fan would drown out your speakers.

4670 prices should fall a bit in the coming weeks so you might want to wait until then to buy.

Whatever you do, don't get a 9500GT. It's SIGNIFICANTLY slower. Cheaper, yes, but you'd still be suffering from terrible performance in games.

 

[rogue1979]

HD 4670.

Cheap, low heat output, small, decent gaming performance and no external power needed.

 

[hanscastorp]

I enjoy playing older games such as Medieval 2: Total War, Oblivion, Civilization 4, etcetera. Thanks for the input everyone, I suppose i'll order the ATI.

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: hanscastorp
I enjoy playing older games such as Medieval 2: Total War, Oblivion, Civilization 4, etcetera. Thanks for the input everyone, I suppose i'll order the ATI.

Oh, the 4670 will walk all over those games. If you're gaming at 1280x1024, you can play pretty much anything out there with decent settings. Older games you can crank the goodies and get great fps.

I really think ATI designed this card for situations exactly like this.