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Upgrade my Dell XPS 420 graphics card? gtx 260/power supply?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Upgrade my Dell XPS 420 graphics card? gtx 260/power supply?

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rufuz   08-02-2009 at 07:00:26 AM

I have a question on what to upgrade my dell XPS 420 graphics card and power supply to? I mainly play Microsoft Flight Sim X on my pc but on medium to low graphics, but I would like to be able to max (or get close) things out (fps/graphics).

You'll have to excuse me, I'm not real graphic card/computer savvy individual , still learning! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here is what I am currently running if it helps:
Dell XPS 420
Vista 64bit
Q9400 (2.66Ghz, 1333FSB) Quad Core
8 GB DDR2 RAM (800MHz)
375 W power supply
24" monitor (1920x1080)
running currently ATI Radeon HD 3870 (512)-not very powerful for this game
PCIe x16 (graphics): 1 slot

Price range: $300 max for power supply and card.

I was looking at the EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 superclocked 896MB ($188 newegg) and a Antec EA 650 (650W) ATX 12V ($99 newegg).

Would this graphics card even fit into my XPS 420? I think the power supply would fit and it looks like the wires would all match up.

I hope I'm in the same ball park by thinking of getting these products for my XPS 420. Any help or suggestions would be great.
Thanks ahead of time.

rufuz

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ct1615   08-02-2009 at 07:06:22 AM
- 0 +

both will fit
you can probably get an antec PSU for less that will still do the job

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371007

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151027


Message edited by ct1615 on 08-02-2009 at 07:11:19 AM
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megamanx00   08-02-2009 at 07:28:02 AM
- 0 +

If there's enough room for a 3870 then a GTX 260 should fit (it's a little bigger).

------------------------------ Playing X-Men Origins: Wolverine Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @3.24 Brisbane | GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4 | 4GB Mushkin DDR2 1066 | Plextor 760A| 2x 3850 512M CF| WD 1TB Black| Fortron Blue Storm II 500W | APEVIA X-Dreamer Black | Win XP Pro & Vista Buisness 32bit
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rufuz   08-02-2009 at 05:55:29 PM
- 0 +

Thanks for the help.

Do you think the GTX 260 is enough or should I upgrade to a more powerful card? Is there a better card out there that will give me better performance?

thanks

Reply to rufuz
ct1615   08-02-2009 at 05:59:46 PM
- 0 +

the GTX 260 is an excellent card
here's tom's most updated list for best cards for the money

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2362.html

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invisik   08-02-2009 at 06:11:12 PM
- 0 +

Before you go buying a new psu/gpu i would recommend overclocking the cpu and gpu. A modest boost to the cpu will give you much more frames since FSX relies heavily on cpu. You might not need a upgrade just yet.

Message quoted 1 times
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rufuz   08-02-2009 at 06:40:05 PM
- 0 +

Interesting!
I have read posts where people have done this, how does one go about overclocking the cpu and gpu? Does it have any negative consequences for your pc?

Thanks

Reply to rufuz
ct1615   08-02-2009 at 07:54:32 PM
- 0 +

check tom's overclocking forum, they have answers for all your questions

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rufuz   08-03-2009 at 05:51:44 AM
- 0 +

invisik wrote :

Before you go buying a new psu/gpu i would recommend overclocking the cpu and gpu. A modest boost to the cpu will give you much more frames since FSX relies heavily on cpu. You might not need a upgrade just yet.




my motherboard is the standard one that came with my dell so I don't know if i can overclock it. would it be worth the upgrade $ to get the new gpu if I can't overclock my cpu?

Reply to rufuz
arunhn   10-01-2009 at 08:57:33 AM
- 0 +

I have the an XPS 420 with the same specs as you do and I play FSX all the time on medium to high settings without any issues. Have you tried changing your graphics settings to the NVIDIA recommended settings? That helped my frame rate improve a lot. It went from like 15fps to over 30. Check out the link below and change your fsx settings to match these.

http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_fsx_techtips.html

Arun

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