Best graphics card without a power connector...?

Sumanji · 23 May 2008 at 22:13

Hey,

My mate has a Dell Vostro with an 8300GS (I think) and wants something a bit beefier to tackle HL2, WoW and Dawn of War at his screen's resolution (1680x1050). But there are no spare power connectors in the machine to feed a high end card! What is the best card available now that doesn't need the additional 6-pin PEG connector? Would he be better off waiting for the next gen of mid-range cards to come out?

Cheers,

Suman

Topgun · 23 May 2008 at 22:15

You can get adapters to run the PCI-E card off two normal molex power connectors as long as the PSU has enough juice on the 12V rails. Most cards with the 6 pin connector come with one.

Sumanji · 23 May 2008 at 22:25

The system doesn't have any spare molexes at all... there are 2 x SATA power connectors and 1 x FDD power connector

grudas · 23 May 2008 at 22:41

i had the same problem with my brothers packard bell unit i just bought a new psu and 3650 256mb gfx which dont require any conectors so you can try that one i think is the best u can maybe im wrong...

BassPwr · 23 May 2008 at 22:46

You will be hard pushed to find many cards these days without the need for a power connector.

From a quick look you might want to look at the Nvidia GeForce 8600GT, some models do not need a power connector, and run from the motherboard power only, sell for around £50, but check carefully on each model if it needs a power connector or not.

It will do a better job than the 8300, especially at that res. The 8300 is an integrated graphics chip, so it cannot achieve the performance a dedicated graphics card can.

If you have a hybrid sli motherboard, then the 8400GS and 8500GT support geforce boost, as listed here http://www.nvidia.com/object/hybrid_sli.html

it means those models can combine with the onboard 8300 graphics chip

8400GS/8500GT offer a lot less graphics performance than a 8600GT though. Might be worth researching how much performance boost you might achieve by using the hybrid sli route though.

oweneades · 23 May 2008 at 22:46

I think you will be stuck with either a HD3650 (as grudas has suggested) although make sure its a GDDR3 model and not the slower DDR2 model, or a 8600GT.

I don't think there is much in it in terms of out right performance but I would check up on some reviews first to make sure the card you get is fast enough for the games you (your mate) actually wants to play.

BassPwr · 23 May 2008 at 22:48

Sumanji said:
The system doesn't have any spare molexes at all... there are 2 x SATA power connectors and 1 x FDD power connector

1 hard drive and 1 dvd rom/writer drive?

ttreaders · 24 May 2008 at 09:20

Wouldn't it be possible to replace the PSU?

hp7909 · 24 May 2008 at 09:46

I'd go with the 8600GT & as far as I can see all don't need the extra power (only 8600GTS does). Outperforms HD 3650 (see here)

oweneades · 24 May 2008 at 10:03

hp7909 said:
I'd go with the 8600GT & as far as I can see all don't need the extra power (only 8600GTS does). Outperforms HD 3650 (see here)

Whilst I do agree it should be noted that this review was done on cat 8.1 drivers which may have an affect on the performance.

Sumanji · 24 May 2008 at 13:49

ttreaders said:
Wouldn't it be possible to replace the PSU?

Lots of hassle, invalidates the warranty etc. etc.

3650 seems nice, and ATI Vista drivers are a lot better than nV's offering from what I gather? He's an ATi fanboy anyway, so I guess that's the best option

Cheers,

Suman

muon · 24 May 2008 at 14:20

HD 2600XT GDDR4 - RAM is faster than the 3650 and so is the core clock. Yes it doesnt have dx 10.1, but good luck running dx 10 anyway.

Janesy B · 24 May 2008 at 15:58

Sumanji said:
Lots of hassle, invalidates the warranty etc. etc.

3650 seems nice, and ATI Vista drivers are a lot better than nV's offering from what I gather? He's an ATi fanboy anyway, so I guess that's the best option

Cheers,

Suman

so changing the gfx card wont invalidate the warranty but a new PSU will. dell's warranty has never impressed me. i had a computer that had to be sent back to dell for reapir at a workplace and ended up costing more than just getting the part

mattyfez · 24 May 2008 at 19:18

IF the power supply can hack it, you could use a molex "Y" adaptor to give you an extra molex plug, job sorted.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-003-AK&groupid=701&catid=48&subcat=&name=Akasa%20"Y"%20Power%20Splitter%20-%20DAYGLO%20Blue

Lanz · 24 May 2008 at 22:34

^ I've used one of these on my crappy Dell at work to get a better PCIe card working.

muon · 24 May 2008 at 22:45

mattyfez said:
IF the power supply can hack it, you could use a molex "Y" adaptor to give you an extra molex plug, job sorted.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-003-AK&groupid=701&catid=48&subcat=&name=Akasa%20"Y"%20Power%20Splitter%20-%20DAYGLO%20Blue

But that splits the power. Note that you need to 2 molexes to feed a pci-e 6 pin output. Using a molex splitter isnt really that smart. Otherwise you could just split a single molex into 2 to feed that pci-e 6 pin wire.

edit: unless of course you mean split them for the hard drive and optical drive which if possible (distance) would work i guess.

mattyfez · 25 May 2008 at 21:20

Note I said.....

mattyfez said:
IF the power supply can hack it...

I dont know what you mean by "splits the power" If theres enough power available on the given 12v rail(s) and/or you spread the load out properly there is no problem.

Sumanji · 21 Apr 2009 at 12:17

Hey,

Sorry for the epic bump - my mate has suddenly asked me this same question again

what are the recommendations one year later? lol

Cheers,

Suman

reflux · 21 Apr 2009 at 12:23

Radeon 4670

Excellent card for the money.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-184-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1274

Lanz · 21 Apr 2009 at 12:25

Or the 4770 might not need power (it's meant to be released at the end of the month)