Graphic card advice on old system

[nfcs2008]

Hey guys i currently want a new graphic card to play Battlefield 3 and my current graphic card system do not support the game so I would like some advice on which card should I get with budget around 50-80 pound as I trying to get it to work at minimum or medium setting.


My system current setting

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7400 @2.80 GHz
6GB RAM
System Model : Inspiron 545s
Window 7 Professional 64 bit
Graphic card: ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 series

Many thanks in advance

 

[d_brennen]

You are limited by the PSU and the small size of the case. It is the small form factor one isn't it? With the 250w or 305w PSU?

 

[nfcs2008]

yeah my PSU is in 300w for my 545s it is a pretty small case would it help if i upgrade it to 400 w?

 

[d_brennen]

TBH any card that has more than 1 x 6 pin PCIE power connector is going to be a bit of a stretch. Not only power supply wise, you have to think how and where that power is going to be dissipated

There is a GTX550 ti or the GTX 460 Green Edition that might just shave under the limit

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/03/15/nvidia-geforce-gtx-550-ti-1gb-review/1

Using a test setup as follows

Intel Core i7-965 processor (3.2GHz: 133MHz x 24)
Asus Sabertooth X58 motherboard (Intel X58 Express with three PCI-E 2.0 16x slots)
3x 2GB Corsair TR3X6G1333C9 memory modules (operating in dual channel at DDR3 1,600MHz 9-9-9-24-1T)
Corsair X128 120GB SSD running v1 firmware
Corsair HX1000W PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Antec Twelve Hundred Chassis

They record a draw from the wall of 248 watts for the whole system. Your components will draw less, but equally your PSU in there is not going to be as efficient or robust as the HX1000 Dell produce desktop PCs to be used "as is"

You might get away with that card or something like an ATI HD5770/6770, but do so at your peril. You could have course upgrade the PSU too (not sure if it is a standard ATX design is it?) but I'd just cut my losses and save for a new build PC, with choice components that are future proof(ish) and can be easily upgraded

 

[nfcs2008]

I think i should wait till i have the money to get build one myself, it is quite costly to upgrade this dell machine , thanks for your advice d_brennen

 

[Troezar]

Agreed, save up as Dell make it difficult to upgrade anything and you will end up with a much better pc.