Upgrade Grapic Card in a Dell E520

madslane

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Nov 6, 2008
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I currently have a Dell Dimension E520, running a ATI Radeaon X1300, with a PSU of 305 watts with 22 amps on the +12v rails.

I'm looking to upgrade this with the release of Lich King next week, to be able to run WoW on max settings (current I can not). Looking to stay under $200 if possible, and I think I may have an issue of length due to where the graphic card slot is and the heatsink.

By length, I took my friend's 8800GTS (I wouldn't run it with the current PSU), and it was way to long (backend of it colliding with heatsink forcing an uneven sitting).

So can anyone help me? I was looking at some options and known provided length (don't want to pay for something I can't use). I'm trying to find a graphics card I could run full settings with the current PSU, would be more than welcome to buy both if I had the money but sadly I wouldn't be able to afford a PSU to the end of the month.
 

AlphaOmegaX

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Oct 24, 2008
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Having had an E521 I can safely say that the 8800/9800gt cards fit fine and will run on the psu stable if you get a molex/pci-e adapter.

That's about all i know of so far.

I believe you could squeeze in a 4850 or single slot 4870 but I don't know too much about the power requirements of those anymore, you may need to look into a new psu for those.
 

madslane

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It's not though. The back end of that card directly pushes up against the covering of the heatsink. Forcing the card not to sit properly.
 
This 9800GT uses a shorter then standard board then the reference board of the 8800/9800/9600 cards. It's only 7 1/2" long or so. However you'd be pushing your power supply to the limits and possibly beyond with it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125247
add this power supply for $50 and free shipping and you're good to go for under $200, even less after the rebate from the GPU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010320058%2050001516&name=Antec

*EDIT* i should add that as with all prebuilts that heat may be a problem, download a hardware monitor and keep an eye on your temps.