Need graphics card help!

[JTH2027]

I'm not really a expert on this stuff so I need a little help. My PC is outdated I think and it has a pretty bad graphics card and I am going to update it. My PC is currently broken but getting fixed. Its a Dell Dimension E510 btw.

Specs:
Intel Pentium D 2.66 GHz
Installed Memory: 1GB
305w Power supply
Current graphics card is the default that came with it (ATI Radeon x600)

I am considering a ATI Radeon HD 4670 and a ATI Radeon HD 6670. Need help lol

I will also have to upgrade to a 400w power supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171046) I think

Im not looking to playing Battlefield or any other games that require great PCs. I really want to enjoy CoD4 with mods like death run and stuff like that for the most part and other games with similar system requirements.
Will the ATI Radeon HD 6670 work with my PC and will it run CoD4, etc decently?

Thanks for the help!

 

[blastingcap]

Welcome to AT Forums. Please fill out the form when asking for GPU advice: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2225141

I had an old Dell Dimension E510 with similar specs but slightly different in that my Pentium D was @ 2.8GHz and RAM was 2GB. The power supply, IIRC, is actually just 300W and I am not sure if that's max peak or max continuous.

I had a x300 I think, not a x600, but both are obsolete by today's standards.

I also owned and used a HD4670 a few years ago to power a 1920x1200 monitor. It would work fine with your PSU. You did not list your resolution (fill out the form!) but I'm assuming it's as ancient as the rest of your system.

Regardless of resolution, the problem is that your CPU is so ancient that it might not even be able to keep up with a HD4670 which isn't even that fast to begin with. I would probably just sell it or donate it and build a new rig if possible. You can probably get a decent combo deal at micro center or tigerdirect or something for a few hundred dollars (an AMD APU seems right up your alley) and gain a lot of energy efficiency in the process, which will help pay for the rig in the long run.

 

[JTH2027]

Thanks blastingcap. Like i said I am no genius on this stuff and my system is so outdated. How much you think I could sell it for lol.

 

[Don Karnage]

4670 will be fine.

 

[blastingcap]

Thanks blastingcap. Like i said I am no genius on this stuff and my system is so outdated. How much you think I could sell it for lol.

I don't know; my parents are usually the beneficiaries of my continual upgrades. I'm guessing $50 if you include the OS license (probably Win XP)? There are people out there who just want something to surf the web and write Word documents on.

If you really don't want to shell out the cash then you can definitely make do with the HD4670 as it is a competent video card (I played a lot of Team Fortress 2 on my Dell E510).

 

[JTH2027]

Ive looked around and if i change out my power supply to a 400w+ (You were right, mine is only 305w) and get the 4670 i should be able to play the games that I would like to play on PC. Counter Strike, CoD4, etc. I have a xbox and a PS3 so its not like this is the only thing I have for gaming.

 

[blastingcap]

Ive looked around and if i change out my power supply to a 400w+ (You were right, mine is only 305w) and get the 4670 i should be able to play the games that I would like to play on PC. Counter Strike, CoD4, etc. I have a xbox and a PS3 so its not like this is the only thing I have for gaming.

You do not need to switch to another power supply. I used an overclocked 6800XT (which requires an external plug, so it presumably uses MORE energy than a HD4670) and an overclocked HD4670 with zero problems on the same 300W Dell E510 PSU, and if anything I was using *more* energy than you would be using, as my CPU was running at 2.8GHz instead of 2.6GHz. Unless of course you are overclocking it.

Any older game such as CS, Team Fortress 2, Quake 4, and (probably; I have never played it) COD4 will do okay. But you will be at the upper limit of you CPU so consider it an end-of-the-line upgrade. For any future upgrades you would probably want to upgrade your entire system or risk having the CPU bottleneck what the GPU is capable of.

Video card power recommendations are absurd most of the time. They tell you to get a power supply of whatever wattage when it's the amps on the 12V rail that really matters. They wildly overstate what the card actually needs, to cover people who buy cheap and crappy power supplies that don't operate at their advertised specs. Dell PSUs are okay and usually made by Delta or something. My 6800XT's box recommended a 500W power supply. Lol. Whatever.

 

[JTH2027]

You do not need to switch to another power supply. I used an overclocked 6800XT (which requires an external plug, so it presumably uses MORE energy than a HD4670) and an overclocked HD4670 with zero problems on the same 300W Dell E510 PSU, and if anything I was using *more* energy than you would be using, as my CPU was running at 2.8GHz instead of 2.6GHz. Unless of course you are overclocking it.

Any older game such as CS, Team Fortress 2, Quake 4, and (probably; I have never played it) COD4 will do okay. But you will be at the upper limit of you CPU so consider it an end-of-the-line upgrade. For any future upgrades you would probably want to upgrade your entire system or risk having the CPU bottleneck what the GPU is capable of.

Oh ok. If I ever get serious in to PC gaming I will buy a new PC but I have a 2 consoles and all I really want is the ability to play the CoD4 mods and games like Counter Strike. Battlefield 3 on PC would be nice but I can probably dream on cause I dont have the money for that kind of system.

 

[borisvodofsky]

First, make sure you have PCI-express.

Then purchase a 6570, it has UVD 3 which is great for video playback for DXVA, so your cpu does zero work while running high res videos and utube.

There's a 10$ rebate available on amazon for it right now too.