New Graphics Card

Cmar-Ireland

Hi All,

I want to upgrade my gfx card to something more powerful with a budget of around €200.
I have a dimension 8400 3.0ghz with 2gig ram. Happy enough with the pc at the moment, so what gfx card should I go for? It's very confusing with all the different brands/specs/models

8T8

The Dimension 8400 uses PCI-Express & has a 350W PSU according to the service manuals.

For under €200 I'd recommend the ATI X1650XT as it does not need any extra power the €152 MSI branded version comes with a passive cooler so no fan = no noise.

If you want to save a bit more money you can get a X1650XT with an active fan for €134 which is pretty good value.

Further up the performance tables is the X1950 Pro for €171 and is very good in terms of price/performance, but it has more demanding power requirements. Your PSU might just be good enough as it has the PCI-e graphics card power connector but it's cutting it very close & there is still a chance it's not up to the job.

Cmar-Ireland

I dont mind having to change the PSU. They are pretty cheap. So based on a 400 or 500w psu, whats best?

Cheers

TerrorFirmer

You might have to take some tools to your 8400 case to make a new psu fit...

Also when you say 'cheap', you shouldn't skimp on the psu - you could end up ruining your whole computer. Then again, you mightn't, but it's not worth the risk on pretty much the most important part of your machine.

Also without changing psu 7600GT, X1650 etc all will work fine, I tried alot of them in my old 8400, you might even get away with a 7900gs (or x1950 as mentioned above)

Anti

If you are going cheap, get a hyper psu, They are cheap but are great psu's .

But like havok said, dells do not use standard psu sizes. so you might need to get the dremel out.

Cmar-Ireland

If it only a matter of trimming away some metal in the enclosure, then I don't mind doing that. I saw some Jeantech 500w psu's in PC world for about €100. Are these any good?

I like the idea of a passive cooler. I don't really want to add more fan noise to the system!

PSU aside, what would give the best bang for the buck for a wide variety of games for 200 yoyo's?

(I've read that some of the new games comming out require serious gfx power, Crysis for example, will the cards mentioned do this justice?)

Cheers

TerrorFirmer

I wouldn't worry about Crysis - by the time it arrives, you'll nearly want a new PC to play it well (3Ghz P4 won't be great for the game, and will most likely serve as a bottleneck faster then your card will).

I always thought Jeantech were supposed to be OK myself but apparently not, from what I've heard around here.

The best bang per buck in that price range would have to be an X1950Pro, I have one and I've no problems running any game at high settings at native res on my 17" monitor (1280x1024)

If I were you I'd also consider selling the 8400 as is, and saving for a new system based on Dual Core - even though most games right now run fine on single core, they are gradually taking advantage of it, and for the future it's the only way to play games like Crysis, which you mentioned.

Cmar-Ireland

I had thought about selling the system alright, but where do you stop. There is always something new to get!
My monitor is a 19" with native of 1280x1024 as well, so the X1950Pro the best choice so far?

8T8

Well the X1650XT will do just fine for games at 1280x1024 but the X1950 will allow you to add on further IQ enhancements like AA/AF (the X1650XT can to but there will be titles that will put it under pressure with AA enabled).

If you do not mind cutting up your case this is a decent budget quality PSU from Akasa 400W for €61 and is quiet in operation.

It is possible to get passively cooled X1950 Pro's as well though it is just past your budget like this Club3D model for €215.

This 400W power supply will power the X1950Pro as well and for €47 is not bad at all if you want to stretch your budget into the €260 mark.

Cmar-Ireland

My brother has the 7600gt in his pc and it runs well, so the x1950 would be a good step up from that?

8T8

Yes it would the X1650XT and 7600GT are identical in terms of performance though the X1650XT has better image quality in general.

What the X1950Pro would allow is use of higher AA modes past 4x in some games like 6x at 1280x1024 and better AF quality, it would also handle more graphically intensive games better so less likely you will have to adjust detail settings.

Cmar-Ireland

Right then, the x1950 pro seems like a good choice. Now where should I buy it for the best value? Is passive cooling something that can be added to any gfx card?


Cheers

8T8

Passive cooling is an option on some but not all cards but requires fitting and buying the kit of course.

The passive X1950 Pro and 400W Black Diamond PSU I linked to on Komplett in my post above is honestly is your best bet you wont save much money by doing it yourself even if a kit is available for the X1950 series.

christophicus

Juat a thought , but with passively cooled cards you need good airflow in your system and form my expeariance with dells then do not have that great an airflow.

Cmar-Ireland

Is there any point in holding off for a few months? I mean is there anything about to come out that would be worth waiting for. What's this about dx10 cards?

8T8

NVIDIA's mid-range DX10 cards are coming in mid April the 8600GS, 8600GT & 8600GTS, the GTS part according to some info is equivalent to the 7900GT in terms of performance.

The 7900GT is faster than the X1950Pro but at what price the 8600GTS comes in at is another matter and how big the gap in performance is between the GT and GTS.

ATI's parts are coming in March but their mid-range DX10 parts are not expected to trump NVIDIA's offerings.