GFX Upgrade for Dell Dimension E520

[Sideman]

My sister has decided she wants to upgrade the Nvidia 7300 LE that came with this machine that she bought early last year, (she wants to upgrade the CPU from the 1.8Ghz E6320 also), and I was wondering what the best card to replace it with is?

I think she has about £200 to buy both, so I was thinking of getting one of the ATI 3800 series from OC, but not sure what one to get, or indeed if anyone would recommend anything else.

My main concern is the stock PSU, which I think is just over 300 watts, although I understand some people have used newer and more powerful cards with the original PSU, and not had any problems.

Cheers

Paul

 

[Monkeynut]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...4&name=Corsair VX 450W ATX PSU (CMPSU-450VXUK)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail

 

[goujon945]

I would too recommend the VX450, but maybe stretch to a 8800GT, really cheap 2nd hand.

 

[TheRealDeal]

Why not just overclock the cpu up to decent speeds and then get these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS

Will see a big performance difference in games and the psu should last a lot longer. Comes in under 200 pound and for me will be a bigger step up in performance but would rely on getting those cpu speeds up a good bit. Not sure how good dells are for overclocking though.

 

[Sideman]

Thanks all for your responses.

I've started a similar thread asking about the CPU upgrade.

I did tell her that a new PSU might advisable so I'll inform her she will need one.

Cheers

Paul

 

[goujon945]

Not sure how good dells are for overclocking though.

Afraid they can't be oc'ed at all

 

[Sideman]

Afraid they can't be oc'ed at all

Yep, very true!

Someones advice in the CPU upgrade thread said they can't see the need to upgrade the CPU, as the only games being played at the moment is the Sims 2(and hopefully, once a suitable GFX card is chosen, Racedriver Grid, although she might want to buy some other titles too, baring in mind she has a 10% discount from OCUK).

On this advice, she seems happy to forget about the CPU for now and spend a little bit more on the GFX card together with one of the recommeded PSU's

So, does she go for a new 8800GT or the Powercolour Radeon 4850, both of which have been recommended in this thread?

 

[Monkeynut]

4850 is faster.

 

[Superjeep4x4]

How much ram does her comp have? I ask because if she is only running 1gig then upping to 2 would add performance I would think and be a pretty cheap upgrade with prices as low as they are on DDR2.

 

[Sideman]

How much ram does her comp have? I ask because if she is only running 1gig then upping to 2 would add performance I would think and be a pretty cheap upgrade with prices as low as they are on DDR2.

She's already added more ram and now has 4gigs, although being Vista Home Premium 32bit, she's not going to make use of it all.

It looks like she's going for the Powercolour 4850, and either the 450 or 650W Corsair PSU as recommended.

Once again, thanks for all the advice.