SOS cant find a Good Gaming Graphics card

bryceberger

Honorable
Dec 2, 2015
82
4
10,645
I have a 100% Stock Dell Inspiron 3847 with intel I5, 300w power supply. Thats the only specs I know of the computer. I wanted to know if there are any GOOD graphics cards out there that will run with my motherboard and power supply. I dont care what brand it is and how it looks. I play games such as BF4, BO1/2/3, WAW, CSGO, TF2, Minecraft, Arma 3, Warface, and more small to larger games found on steam.
 

king3pj

Distinguished
I'm actually not sure a 950 will run on the stock Dell power supply. Does it even have an available PCIe power cable? I think a 750Ti would be a safer bet since it's able to draw its power directly from the motherboard.
 

king3pj

Distinguished


I think most pre-built PCs have motherboards capable of running any GPU. They just put in crappy power supplies that are designed specifically to power the stock components with very little headroom. This is fine because probably 95% of people who buy a Dell workstation will never open the case to add their own hardware.
 
@bryceberger, Gam3r's opinion is spot-on. With a 300 watt power supply, the 750 Ti is your only viable option.

However, since I believe your Inspiron model is a mid-town and not a SFF, you should be able to upgrade the power supply (video below). Do not bother upgrading the power supply unless you're planning on buying at least a GTX 970 or R9 390. Also, you should only consider a GPU that is no longer than 10.5" (that length is a rough estimate). I think that if the card is too long (gigabyte comes to mind) or too tall (msi comes to mind) then it probably won't fit. I think a EVGA GTX 970 SSC or FTW would do nicely; model #'s 04G-P4-3975-KR and 04G-P4-3978-KR respectively. Just make sure that the place that you order the GPU from has a no-hassle return policy. Despite my comment in reference to MSI's tall heat pipes, it might be worth trying, simply because NewEgg is running a deal on a particular model of MSI GTX 970 for under $300.

EVGA G2 650
$69.99 after $20.00 rebate card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438054&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=evga_g2_650-_-17-438-054-_-Product



How to Upgrade Your Dell Inspiron Desktop PC with a Corsair TX V2 PSU and NVIDIA GPU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZo2QWXyakM
 
@bryceberger, I honestly don't know. Depends on your budget. But one opinion I have is that Arma 3 is going to run poorly no matter what GPU you upgrade to. I don't believe it recognizes SLI, but even with an i7 CPU and a single GTX 980 Ti, I think it runs just okay.