video card upgrade

I recently purchased a nvidia 7600GT video card and yet after 90 days I am ready to upgarde again. The problem lies with my motherboard my Dell E510 will only allow a single slot PCI-E card. I have narrowed it down to three ati 1950, nvidia7950 or 8600. Money isn't so much an issue as all are around $200. The fact that I would like the very best performance I can get out of one slot. P4 3.0 4gigs ram, sound blaster gamer sound card.

Are you running vista by any chance.
Mactronix

Thank you that's the way I was leaning what could you tell me about the XT GT that stuff I am rather new to this I would like 512m as I have a 22" moniter.

Yes I do first upgrade I purchased. I heard Ram makes it run and I went nuts maxed out the moutherboard.

I would say go with a Nvidia solution. The only reason I say that is that Dell puts pretty weak PSUs in cases unless you have a Dell XPS series.

I like ATI cards because I think they have better visuals, however their cards need more power. If you put a 1950Pro in your Dell it may pull too much off of the PSU. Dell computers really are not designed for high level gaming. And the 1950 Pro is a high level card. That is why Dell made the XPS series.

You may want to get a 7900GS. It is very power efficent and offers good performance. And it should be a quantium leap over your 7600GT. You can get 7900GSs on newegg.com for around $140.

Radeon X1950XT. definitly kicks the 7600GT's ass. especially for gaming.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102067
only $150 with $30 rebate. great price, and great performance. check out the core clock and memory clock. 16 pixel pipelines. definitly a nice card for the money. this is also a hard decision with the 7950's pixel pipelines, at 24.

depends on your power supply. What have you got?

reason I ask is, if you have a lower end psu you may be able to get away with a 7950. if your psu is good enough, then the 1950 can also be used.

Im no fanboy, and the 1950 is a better card...period. Tho like was said, make sure your psu can handle it. With one slot you could option for a good cooler, but make sure you have good airflow to remove the heat from the case

350w

The X1950XT 256MB can beat the 790GT 512MB as everyone else have stated.

Here's a link that shows just how much the X1950XT with a "mere" 256MB can do:

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articl [...] cid=3&pg=5

I'll just chime in to say the X1950Xt is the easy DX9 choice if you have no PSU concerns.

If power were a problem then the GF7900GS would be the cure.

So if you can get the x1950XT to work in your rig then go with that. Otherwise the X1950Pro and GF7900GS would be might next choices.

The GF7950GT may work with that PSU, but I haven't seen one for very cheap, in which case I'd say save the money and go with the GF7900Gs or X1950Pro and use the savings to get a new rig later.

For a little insight, this review should help give youan idea of performances;
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] 00gts.html

I contacted Dell online to ask what my options were and I was instucted any single slot PCIE card as long as it required a 350w power supply or less. What is the easiest way to tell ?