Trying to compare two graphics cards

Well I've contacted many MANY places about this but I haven't gotten a full precise answer so I'm wondering if you guys could answer this.

I'm trying to buy a graphics card however these are the most hi-tech ones I could find that would work on my computer which would be better?

VisionTek Radeon HD 3650 - graphics adapter - Radeon HD 3650 - 1 GB (Dell Site)

EVGA e-GeForce 9400 GT - graphics adapter - GF 9400 GT - 1 GB (Newegg site)

EVGA e-GeForce 9400 GT - graphics adapter - GF 9400 GT - 1 GB (Dell Site)

Side by Side Comparison (Dell Site)

And I have an Ispiron 530 if that helps
My budget is under $100 as well

I'll probably use it for gaming the most so keep that in mind.

System Specs Below

You have to click on the big white "Spoiler:" box for the system specs to show up. That's how the Spoiler tag works. It's hidden unless you want to see it.

Your Power Supply being 300watts, doesn't give you many options for video cards. Depending on how old your power supply is, it may or may not still put out a total of 300W. Hard to say. Also, those video cards require 300W power supply with at least 18A on the 12V rail. Can't tell the specs on your particular power supply by searching for the Ispiron 530.

You'll notice that buying through Dell is more expensive. Check sites like www.tigerdirect.com and www.newegg.com as they usually have the best deals (usually).

Here's some other options, however these may require an upgrade of Power Supply.

Better card than the others, and only $10 more than Dell's 3650.
9800GT $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814187030

ATI 4650 $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161262

ATI 3850 $69
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814131096
450 Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended

Ok thanks for the heads up with the spoiler box,
The HD4670 is Faster than either the 4650 (that should be obvious buy hey its not always the case) or the 3850, well to be honest it depends a bit on what you are doing but in general unless you are trying to run a 22" + screen at max resolution the 4670 wins most times.
Also it uses less power than the 3850, no extra power cables needed on the 4760.
A lot of this will depend on the games you want to run an dyour screen size/res.

mactronix

My vote goes to the HD4670.

Most of the cards your recommending are awesome however don't they require an upgrade of my power supply, I really don't want to upgrade my power supply, I just need a card that will put me through a couple months before I get a new computer.

By any chance can you give me the link to that card? The 4670 one.

the Sapphire brand does require a 400 Watt power supply however I can't see anything on the MSI Brand however judging on the others in the catagory it also seems like it uses 400 Watts.

I'm not going to lie to you all, the HD4670 cards look great and give a bang for it's buck however it still seems like most require a 400 Watt power supply. Sadly it seems impossible for me to find a card that supports a 300 Watt power supply. If you find anything though tell me and please make sure it says 300 Watt power supply and not 400 Watt.

Ignore that - the card will work fine. The Dell PSUs are surprisingly powerful, and the power requirements on the cards are often overstated. The 4670 uses around 50-60 watts full load, and gets all of its power from the slot. It will work great in your system, and is the one that I would choose. No PSU replacement required.

Heck - I'm on a computer right now running a 3870 (450W required) on a Dell 375W with no problems at all.

Are you sure it won't overheat or anything like that?

I know you want to be sure you are doing the right thing but these are the facts.
The 4670 doesn't need any extra power cables it draws all its power from the PCIE slot.
The PCIE slot supplies 75 Watts as a standard
The 4670 draws about 50 Watts http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect0
Dell PSU's are solid units that are more powerful than a standard OEM unit
Honestly you can run that card easily
Mactronix

As mentioned that's an over-estimation by ATi to dissuade people from using a crap generic bargain-bin power supply to power it. DELL while being mediocre overall, use solid power supplies that are underrated number wise but are much better than generics of the same power ratting, so it should be fine for this. The HD4670 would be fine.

As for the original question the HD3650 would outperform the GF9400GT (it's more on par with the 9500GT which has twice the SPUs), but they are definitely much lower performers than the HD4670.

Something to consider, there is also an HD4650 not just the 4670, and if you look at the power draw of the actual cards, the 4670 is only slightly more than the 3650 and less than the HD2600XT;



I would say the HD4650 would likely put you in the same ballpark as the HD3650.