Best card for dell e521 ?

[Xare_55]

Iam looking for a new Graphics card for my dell e521.

I think the best I can get is a Radeon HD 4670

Right now I have a Ge Force 7900 GS - It uses 82 watts of power and the HD 4670 only uses 59 watts.


I do have a 4 pin molex connected to my Ge Force right now, but I hear the HD 4670 does not need one.


Is the 4670 really the best card i can use with my 305 watt power supply ?


If so should I get the 512 or 1 gig memory version ?


I have room for a double slot card in PC case.

 

[delluser1]

I have room for a double slot card in PC case.

Only if you've done some modifications.

 

[Xare_55]

Only if you've done some modifications.

opps, your right.

I just opened up my case to check and a 2 slot card wont fit.

The fan is directed twords the heat sink lol.

I thought it was the other way around. I have plenty of room below my card.

But none above it. Bummer.


I guess I need a single slot 4670 like this one :

512 memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102820

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102842
1 gig memory


The 2nd one is better yes ?

 

[delluser1]

It's not powerful enough to make use of 1 gig of Vram

 

[Bluescreendeath]

I wouldn't want to risk running a 9800GT or 4830 on a 305watt....and especially not the 4770

 

[Xare_55]

the 4770's all look like 2 slot cards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%20106792627%201067947628&name=Radeon%20HD%204770


Then there is this 4830 that runs at 110 watts

But it does not look faster then the 4670

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150336




This 3870 looks like it would fit and it runs at 105 watts

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102732R


The core clock is at 800 but memory is slower then the 4670

 

[Xare_55]

1152x864


AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4200+ @ 2.4


The power supply is 18 amps


4 gigs of RAM


1 hard drive

1 dvd burner ( i never use )

 

[Xare_55]

get the 9600GT I linked, it will work well with your CPU and screen resolution

I could overclock the 4670 to about 800 Core...

Why are the 9600 GT better if the specs are slower ?

 

[Xare_55]

ATI and Nvidia go about different ways in how their respective video cards work. So comparing stats from one to the another is the old "apples and oranges" routine. If you look at reviews the 9600GT actually competes against the 3870 in terms of performance. Often beating it in most games. Here's a chart from one of Tom's recent tests, the higher the score the better.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-2009/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-1680x1050,1197.html

*you can select different tests to see for each benchmark

Ok I understand, thanks for that link.


Maybe I should get this 9600 GT: it says it runs at 40 % less power

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130485

 

[Xare_55]

Ohh even better, check this one out !


its a 9800GT /w 30% lower power usage, no 6 pin needed it looks like.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133279