Thinking of getting a temporary gfx card

[Stat1c]

I was all set to splash out on a new high end system but I was persuaded by you guys to wait until the next gen cards come out.

However, I'm worried that might be months and I want to play Battlefield 3, MW 3 and other new games in the mean time.

I have a Dell XPS 420, the only upgrades being new case, motherboard and memory.

Could I add a cheap gfx card that could keep me going a couple of months? BF3 actually runs ok on medium settings, though gets destroyed in online games with big maps.

Any advice?

 

[Stoner81]

What is your budget?

Stoner81.

 

[drunkenmaster]

The XPS 420 is available from Dell for a starting price of £549, although our test unit costs a rather more wallet-lightening £1,349

That is from one of the first links for XPS 420, if you want some help, help the people who might help you.

List your spec, we can't possibly know what spec you have just from listing a Dell name, and you say you've upgraded it.

Without me spending loads of time looking that could be a 12 year old Dell with a P4 in it, or something from last year with a Quad core i5 750, you could have a 320W psu, or a 1000W psu, and that all directly effects what people would tell you to do.

If you have a decent CPU, a VERY fast dual(i3 Sandy basically) or almost any quad, then you've got more than enough gaming power for the vast majority of games, so a 7970 wouldn't be a waste, when it comes, and a 5850 would make a good fairly cheap stop gap. If you have a dual core E6600 or something, and a 400W psu, and 2gb mem, and you currently have a x1900xt, then that changes what you'd get recommended.

Specs, then advice.........

 

[Stat1c]

I'm getting a complete new system when the new cards come out, just need something to last me a couple months or whenever the new cards are out.

SPEC of my machine atm:

Base
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad-Core™ Processor Q6600 (2.40GHz, 8MB, 1066MHz)

Memory
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]

Keyboard
Dell™ Enhanced USB Multimedia Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)

Monitor
Monitor Not included

Video Card
SINGLE 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT card

Hard Drive
500GB Dual Hard Drive Raid 0 Stripe (2x250GB - 7200rpm)

Floppy Drives
19-in-1 Media Card Reader

Microsoft Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English

Mouse
Dell Optical Scroll Premium Mouse

Modem
No Modem

CD/DVD Drives
16x DVD +/- RW Drive

Sound Cards
Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio

Speakers
No Speakers

Shipping Documents
XPS 420 English Documentation with UK/Irish Power Cord

Gedis Bundle Reference
D01X403

Microsoft Application Software
Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English

Standard Warranty
Base Warranty - 1 Year XPS Premium Hardware Support (incl. Gaming and On-Site Support)

Hardware Support
Base Warranty - 1 Year XPS Premium Hardware Support (incl. Gaming and On-Site Support)

AntiVirus & Security Software
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English

Order Information
XPS Desktop Order - UK

Dell System Media Kit
XPS 420 Resource DVD

Accidental Damage Support
No Accidental Damage Support

Motherboard is Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L iG31 Socket 775

PSU is Compucase Z-Power 650W PSU

 

[Stat1c]

Bumppp

 

[Stat1c]

Bump

 

[garsands]

Whats with the bumps

Oh wait I see no reply from 1am to 5am

Just buy the best card you can afford now & enjoy it.

Then when the new cards come out if you must have one sell your old/still new card & buy the next new card.
Repeat for the next 20 years.

Otherwise you will always be waiting for the next new thing & never get to enjoy your computer.

& if you don't do that well I have just given you a FREE BUMP so it's WIN WIN WIN.