Video Card Recomendation

[bmwgs]

My G Force 7950 went south, so I had to reinstall my original G Force 8300.  Frame rate went crazy and had to lower the settings.  I would like to get another video card for this computer, keep in mind I plan on having a gaming computer built in the near future, so I don't want to do any crazy modifications to this one.

My power supply is 350 watts, and I would like to get the best I can for this system without having to resort to changing the power supply or adding additional cooling.  I went to newegg and see if I could find another 7950, but after getting bug eyed looking at all the numbers I didn't find one.  I would like to try something else anyway, just for a change.  I also noticed I have on-board sound.  I am thinking about installing a sound card.  Would this help?  Any recommendations for a video card?  Remember I'm not a computer geek, but I have installed a video card before.  Keep it simple please.

My system is a Dell XPS 410


                   Physical Processors:       1
                     Logical Processors:       2
                       Processor Vendor:       Intel(R) Corporation
                         Processor Name:       Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU          6600  @ 2.40GHz
                         Additional Name:       x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6
                            Popular Name:       Core 2 6600
                                Frequency:       2520 MHz

[Masherbrum]

ATi - X1950 Pro
Nvidia - 8600GTS or GT

Ati card draws almost 110 watts
Nvidia's draw about 70.

Also, it depends on what your 12v rails are running.   You should be able to safely run these.   

[Fulmar]

Was that 7950 factory installed?  Through some Googling, I found that 7950 GT to have PSU requirements from 400-450.  Inadequate power supplies can damage cards.

[kilz]

giving us your PSU info like make mod seiral number watts whole nine yards i am sure on of us can look it up and find out what your 12v rail is. should be a lable on your Power Supply Unit (PSU). get that info in here and watch the magic work in this post

[BaldEagl]

ATi - X1950 Pro
Nvidia - 8600GTS or GT

Ati card draws almost 110 watts
Nvidia's draw about 70.

Also, it depends on what your 12v rails are running.   You should be able to safely run these.   

I think the 8600's have gone away replaced by the 9600's.

I'd try a 9600 GT or 9500 GT 512 depending on budget and power requirements.  Look for (in order of preference):

High DRAM bus (i.e. DDR4/DDR3/DDR2)
Fast memory clock
More pixel pipelines
Fast core clock

If you go ATI look for the same things.

[PFactorDave]

9500 GT 512 depending on budget and power requirements. 

Any reason why you single out the 9500 GT 512?  I only ask because I was just in my local Best Buy about 30 minutes ago and they had both the 9500GT 512 and the 9500GT 1gig in stock.  The 1gig version was only $10 more.

[Masherbrum]

I think the 8600's have gone away replaced by the 9600's.

I'd try a 9600 GT or 9500 GT 512 depending on budget and power requirements.  Look for (in order of preference):

High DRAM bus (i.e. DDR4/DDR3/DDR2)
Fast memory clock
More pixel pipelines
Fast core clock

If you go ATI look for the same things.

Good point, thanks for the "addendum".   Makes his job clearer.      Bald

[Boozeman]

My power supply is 350 watts, and I would like to get the best I can for this system without having to resort to changing the power supply or adding additional cooling. 

Reasonable choice:

ATI: HD4830
NV: 9800GT

If you want to maximise the match between your CPU and GPU

ATI: HD4850
NV: 9800GTX

[Masherbrum]

Reasonable choice:

ATI: HD4830
NV: 9800GT

If you want to maximise the match between your CPU and GPU

ATI: HD4850
NV: 9800GTX

ATI: HD4850 - 450Watt minimum w/ a 6-pin PCI-e
NV: 9800GTX - 450Watt minimum

These two cards using his current PSU will be destroyed by being underpowered. 

[bmwgs]

Was that 7950 factory installed?  Through some Googling, I found that 7950 GT to have PSU requirements from 400-450.  Inadequate power supplies can damage cards.

No it was not factory installed.  I bought it second hand.  Thats probably why it went kaput.

Fred

[PFactorDave]

The 9500GT runs on 350watts, but it needs 18Amps according to the specs.

[bmwgs]

giving us your PSU info like make mod seiral number watts whole nine yards i am sure on of us can look it up and find out what your 12v rail is. should be a lable on your Power Supply Unit (PSU). get that info in here and watch the magic work in this post

OK, here it is.

PSU

DEL PIN KH624
Model: L375P-00
Output 375w  I thought it was 350.  I put my glasses on this time.

P/N:PS 6371-1DF2-LF

Serial #  !B! 00647812
Level 3

Input 100-120v-9A

Hope this is enough?


Thanks,

Fred

By the way Kilz, Im going to be in Fairbanks in eary July.  We need to get together for a beer.
I'll buy.

[TheZohan]

i was reading and alot of the XPS 410's came with 7950 GX2's was your a GT or GX2

also the price on those are outrageous? 150-250 for one a GT and 200-600 for a GX2.. 

you can get a new power supply with 6-pin and a better card for that ..

my HD 4850 was only 121.00 at newegg

[PFactorDave]

Near as I can tell, your power supply would support 18Amps.

http://www.txcesssurplus.com/servlet/the-3495/Dell-Dimension-Precision-Power/Detail

[bmwgs]

i was reading and alot of the XPS 410's came with 7950 GX2's was your a GT or GX2

also the price on those are outrageous? 150-250 for one a GT and 200-600 for a GX2.. 

It came with the 8300 I'm running now.  I bought the 7950 GT second hand and installed it.  It worked great for the last year, but went south last week.

Fred