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What card to get with a 300 watt power supply?

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Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Hello, I am currently looking to upgrade my nVidia 8300 128 MB GS card. I am using a dell inspiron 530 d. not the slim kind either.

Dell recommends the nVidia 9500 GT, however other people say that the ATI Radeon 4670 is a better card and wouldn't blow the mother board and power supply either? :heink: 

So how in the world would I know which one to go with? The 4670 says it is recommended to have a 400 watt or better power supply while the 9500 GT is 350 watt.

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jay2tall said:
4670 does not require any extra power connectors. I think you will be ok with it. But that is probably the most GPU you can get for your system.


Would I be any "safer" in buying a 4650 instead of a 4670?
Graphics card Master
Power supply Expert

Right now I'd still say you're fine, as long as it's the PSU Dell supplied and not a replacement.
And yes, you'd be safer with the less demanding card, particularly if the system is several years old because the PSU tends to lose efficiency as it ages.

coozie7 said:
Right now I'd still say you're fine, as long as it's the PSU Dell supplied and not a replacement.
And yes, you'd be safer with the less demanding card, particularly if the system is several years old because the PSU tends to lose efficiency as it ages.


It's one they supplied 2 years ago now when I bought the system.

However, I returned the first system they sent me (it came broke) and got a replacement. So I am still assuming it was sent "new".
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Nvidia Expert

From what I know here is the order of performance 4650<9500GT<GT220<4670

I believe the GT220 does draw slightly under what the 4670 does. It would be an option if it made you feel better.

jay2tall said:
From what I know here is the order of performance 4650<9500GT<GT220<4670

I believe the GT220 does draw slightly under what the 4670 does. It would be an option if it made you feel better.


How about the Radeon 3650 ? It's only 300 Wattage recommended also? It seems it can run Half-Life2:Episode 2 good from what I took a look at.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
or
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?omid=125&utm_id... ?
Graphics card Expert

jay2tall said:
From what I know here is the order of performance 4650<9500GT<GT220<4670

I believe the GT220 does draw slightly under what the 4670 does. It would be an option if it made you feel better.


The 9500 GT is only better (and only marginally so) if it is a GDDR3 variant and the 4650 is a DDR2, otherwise the 4650 beats the 9500 GT (again, only marginally).

I recommend an HD 4670. Its the best performance for the money, and its low power so it'll work on your system.

pepperman said:
The 9500 GT is only better (and only marginally so) if it is a GDDR3 variant and the 4650 is a DDR2, otherwise the 4650 beats the 9500 GT (again, only marginally).

I recommend an HD 4670. Its the best performance for the money, and its low power so it'll work on your system.


if I was going to spend the extra money to upgrade the power supply, would i be looking at a 400 or 500 watt ?

pepperman said:
You should be fine with your current psu; if you want to be absolutely sure, you can list your full system specs (cpu, RAM, # HDD's, etc.) and I can tell you for sure.


Dell has told me that putting in another PSU would be a big no no. That it is not recommended to install a higher wattage PSU on this system.

So with that said, they gave me the options of a 4350 HD, and the 4650.

Then they went on to say that http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Gaming_Vide... would work, it is is a 400 watt recommended one..

How confusing this is getting :fou: 
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