Best graphics card to run WoW etc with old 305w/22amp Dell PSU

[Mikey787878]

hey all,

ok originally i was trying to choose between really high powered stuff x1950xt/8600gst to really beef up my aging machine BUT through these amazing forums i discovered that would fry my weedy old dell psu. Now i know i could get a new psu (though not too easy as its Dell so best i can find is 470w/26amp which still not good enough for x1950xt) BUT this is prob more hassle than i need esp as really i mostly play just World of Warcraft n Lord of Rings Online. I play both at a Res of about 1440x900 (widescreen) n would like a decent framerate (currently between 12 n 21 in WoW!) Sooooooo what pci-express graphics card can i buy that can achieve this, esp in LotRO, that will run safely on inbuilt Dell 305watt/22amp PSU???

system:
Dell Dimension DIM5000 3.20Ghz CPU
3gig ddr2 ram

i think current graphics card is 128mb ati x300SE or similar

help?!

cheers

mike

 

[goldenboy]

dude.i would say a 7600gt would do nicely.its a great performer,very cheap and low power consumption

 

[lostandwandering]

^I agree. Dell tends to under-rate the wattage of their power supplies so ignore the wattage recommendations for the card. I have the same PSU in my D4700 and I know it supplies 22amps on the +12v rails and the 7600GT only requires 18 (I think, check me on that). If WOW is your main game, you should have no problems. You may also be able to get a 7900GS in there too but it may push things a little.

 

[Martell77]

You might consider the X1650XT. I run WoW on the pro version of this card and it runs great ( I played the LOTRO Beta on my card as well, no issues). This should do even better as it has GDDR3 and faster clock speeds, my Pro just has GDDR2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161049

Note: there is a cheaper version of this card, but it has a smaller fan so I would recommend this as it has a better stock cooling solution. According to the specs it should work fine on your machine.

I can run WoW, Oblivion and Doom3 without issue.

 

[Mikey787878]

but how do you know it'll be ok on my system? It's a little old so i'd hope/guess it would be but where are you guys getting your info re/the cards' psu requirements from? Looked at that newegg page n can't see it anywhere?

 

[Martell77]

One of the reviewers mentioned it, but you can go to the manufacturers website and check the specs. For the card I mentioned you can go to www.ati.com.

The review mentioned that you only need 19 amp on the 12v rail.

 

[Martell77]

Was going to get you a better link but can't seem to find it now. The one I do find is actually saying just a 450W supply. I had seen a req for the 19amp but IE didn't save the site address. I'll look some more when I can, sorry.

 

[evongugg]

PNY has some low power graphics cards.
This will work with 20 amps (or 350W)

PNY 7950 GT 512MB PCIe

http://www2.pny.com/7950-GT-512MB-PCIe-P1945C14.aspx

 

[cleeve]

I wouldn't run a 7950 GT on a 350w PSU unless it was a real solid name brand.


1440x900, eh? A 7600 GT might handle that in WOW, but not so much Lord of the Rings Online.

I'd bet your PSU would probably handle a 7900 GS though. That'd be a decent card for both, and shouldn't stress out your PSU too much.

 

[Mikey787878]

cleeve - why not? re/7950gt?

have done some digging (much more ino on nvidia cards than ati) n source says 7950gt rated at at least 350w/20amps. My Psu is 305w/22amps but ppl say there's plenty lee-way on wattage as dell underates their psu's.

7900gt and gs both listed at 350w/20amps also

hmmm all comes down to power i guess as tests seem to put it that 7900gs loses to 7900gt (narrowly) n 7900gt loses to 7950gt (bit less narrowly)

???? So if 7950gt is safe i might have a winner.....

 

[goldenboy]

where do u live?im looking at selling my 7900gt asap...

 

[kpo6969]

hey all,

ok originally i was trying to choose between really high powered stuff x1950xt/8600gst to really beef up my aging machine BUT through these amazing forums i discovered that would fry my weedy old dell psu. Now i know i could get a new psu (though not too easy as its Dell so best i can find is 470w/26amp which still not good enough for x1950xt) BUT this is prob more hassle than i need esp as really i mostly play just World of Warcraft n Lord of Rings Online. I play both at a Res of about 1440x900 (widescreen) n would like a decent framerate (currently between 12 n 21 in WoW!) Sooooooo what pci-express graphics card can i buy that can achieve this, esp in LotRO, that will run safely on inbuilt Dell 305watt/22amp PSU???

system:
Dell Dimension DIM5000 3.20Ghz CPU
3gig ddr2 ram

i think current graphics card is 128mb ati x300SE or similar

help?!

cheers

mike

Good choice.

 

[Mikey787878]

goldenboy - cheers for the offer but i'll get a new one i reckon just to get max lifetime out of it

thanks though

 

[spuddyt]

how good a game is LOTRO?

 

[cleeve]

cleeve - why not? re/7950gt?

Well, the GT has more transistors than the GS, 4 more pipelines, and the core runs 100 MHZ higher than the GS. This means it should require more power.

Frankly, I'm surprised a manufacturer recomended only a 350w PSU for a 7950 GT. If it works great, but if it crashes in games you know where to start looking for the problem.