Graphics Card Upgrade

sco0ter

When I was thinking of buying this and upgrading the card I was told by dell live support the PSU didnt have the needed connections (or power) to be able to install a 8600GT never mind the 8800 series.

Mobeer

The 8800 GTS does fit in the case, but it seems that it may need you to change the PSU.

See:
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_upghw&message.id=107990&c=us&l=en&cs=19&s=dhs
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_upghw&thread.id=107064&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

Edit:
In response to sco0ter, Dell sell this machine with the GeForce 8600GT as an optional extra!

john2303

i am getting the inspiron 530 with 2gb of ram

i get it this morning and i didnt really want to spend much more than £50

BillScarab

Do you know what card is coming with it? For £50 any card you buy won't be a vast improvement on what they ship with. You may be better seeing how you get on with it and saving for a couple of months until you can afford a bit more. Alternatively you could look at second hand cards on ebay.

If you look here you can do comparisons between different cards to get an idea of the difference in performance.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/vga-charts/3dmark06-v1-0-2-hdr-sm3-0-score,230.html

steve_w

Hey I've got an Inspiron 530. A mate gave me his graphic card as he didn't need it anymore - its a Radeon 9600XT but it wouldn't fit in any of the slots. I downloaded cpu-z to see if it could tell me what type of slot I've got but when I click on mainboard it doesn't show anything for the graphics interface. Is that because my PC's only using onboard graphics at the moment?

This was a cheap sub £300 pc so I don't want to spend too much on it. Basically all I want to do is play Age of Empires 3 which I've had for a couple of weeks but haven't had a chance to play it yet. Whats the cheapest upgrade I can do to play this game ok? Or how can I find out what slot I've got?

Cheers

fox2319

steve_w wrote: »

Hey I've got an Inspiron 530. A mate gave me his graphic card as he didn't need it anymore - its a Radeon 9600XT but it wouldn't fit in any of the slots. I downloaded cpu-z to see if it could tell me what type of slot I've got but when I click on mainboard it doesn't show anything for the graphics interface. Is that because my PC's only using onboard graphics at the moment?

This was a cheap sub £300 pc so I don't want to spend too much on it. Basically all I want to do is play Age of Empires 3 which I've had for a couple of weeks but haven't had a chance to play it yet. Whats the cheapest upgrade I can do to play this game ok? Or how can I find out what slot I've got?

Cheers

What colour is the single slot in the PC? If it's brown then it's AGP, if black (I think) it's PCI-E. I think a 9600 will probably be an AGP card and your machine may need PCI-E.

HTH

steve_w

Ah yes it was black. So I can be fairly sure its PCI-E then?

Would this be a worthy upgrade on a budget?

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/PCI-E/Radeon+X1550+Series/ATi+Radeon+X1550+512MB+PCI-Express+?productId=28238

Thanks again

AceCobra1

I have not been following computers for ages! But just wondering, do u guys think my 7900GTX SLI should outperform a 8800 GTS right? I mean 2 is better than 1 lol. I also have a Duo Core 6400 which I have o/c to 2.4GHz, think 3GB of ram... one thing, I play my games on my 40" Full HD TV which played most games inc. C&C Tiberium Wars etc. at full settings... fear etc. but I have noticed recently that my games have been slowing down slightly and can't play at full settings on 1980 x 1020! Which is bit annoying lol. I was thinking of upgrading to Quad core but think it is bit expensive and would be bit daft since I mainly play strategy games. I am reverting back to my 17" TFT soon so hopefully should be able to play it at max settings again! BioShock is one I am most looking foward to!:rotfl: Then a trust 22" TFT will be for matched betting :money:

sco0ter

AceCobra1 wrote: »

I have not been following computers for ages! But just wondering, do u guys think my 7900GTX SLI should outperform a 8800 GTS right? I mean 2 is better than 1 lol. I also have a Duo Core 6400 which I have o/c to 2.4GHz, think 3GB of ram... one thing, I play my games on my 40" Full HD TV which played most games inc. C&C Tiberium Wars etc. at full settings... fear etc. but I have noticed recently that my games have been slowing down slightly and can't play at full settings on 1980 x 1020! Which is bit annoying lol. I was thinking of upgrading to Quad core but think it is bit expensive and would be bit daft since I mainly play strategy games. I am reverting back to my 17" TFT soon so hopefully should be able to play it at max settings again! BioShock is one I am most looking foward to!:rotfl: Then a trust 22" TFT will be for matched betting :money:

Ummmmm Errrrrr..... Im sure the OP will thank you for your most usefull post