upgrade gfx

[kyle33kt]

Hey guys hope im in the right place, buying a graphics card for my pc i have a dell studio xps 8100 intel core i5 [email protected] and 6gb ram windows7.

I currently have installed an ati radion HD 4670 1gb onboard with no power connection because currently i only have 300w psu

trying to play new mmo rift and have 11-22fps on lowest settings on 1680x1050 even with all shadows turned off.

my dell is a pretty small case atx size?
so what will i need to buy plz to atleast play medium settings without massive lag.

A power supply that will fit and a gfx card that will fit and be good enough to play games with half decent graphics options selected and hopefully not overheat.

any ideas would be great plz guys thanks

 

[95thrifles]

Hi, welcome to forums

I'll give you a few options for gfx card, its upto you how much you want to spend, in ascending order

100 - an ATi 5770
125 - a NVidia 460 - 768Mb
150 - an ATi 6850
200 - quite a few options - ATi 6950, NVidia 480 (Asus one on offer) NVidia 560

Of those latest 3, the 480 is most powerful but it does run relatively loud and hot the 560 is NVs latest generation and is a lot cooler & quieter but not as powerful and the 6950 is ATi's offering sitting in the middle in terms of performance, though theres a thread at the top about how you can possibly "unlock" it to a 6970 by changing the BIOS - if youre comfortable doing that sort of thing

PSU wise this is a decent little unit which should run them all

Also note though you may need a new case, as Dell and other OEMs arent averse to using non ATX formats in a bid to try and tie you into them

Anyway hope that helps, feel free to ask if youre not sure on anything

 

[Mojo]

I've found some benchies for rift here.
Assuming that based on previous reviews that the GTX480 slots in a few fps below the GTX570, you can see there is virtually nothing in it. I would as a result suggest the 6950. It runs cooler/consume less power than the GTX480, will run just as fast (within one or two fps) and will overclock/unlock like a beast.

 

[Jono8]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/293?vs=309

A standard 6950 is slower than a 480 GTX, by quite a bit in some games. Ofcourse you can unlock it and overclock it so it matches one, but then most can get a pretty nice overclock from a 480 as well.

It depends on whether you want to overclock/unlock e.t.c.

The bottom line, is that the fastest card out of the box for £200 is a 480GTX.

It is a conundrum as you have to weigh up that the 480 consumes more power and generates more heat than the 6950/560 (if that bothers you).

 

[Gib_Gib]

Just make sure your motherboard has a gfx pci-e slot first, it should do, but I never trust these onboard gfx motherboards

I currently have installed an ati radion HD 4670 1gb onboard with no power connection

 

[kyle33kt]

Thanks very much guys its a great help ill be buying the 600w stealth psu and will probly get the 460 card as its mid range and i can deffo play on medium settings and i want to spend around £200 all in

thanks again guys