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New Dell PC with a graphics card problem

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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My father recently purchased a Dell Studio XPS 8100 for me to upgrade from a *insert 6 year old Emechines PC model here*. Needless to say, it a rather large upgrade and I'm eternally grateful to him. *Don't worry...I have to pay him back in full >_>*

Anyways, here's the specs and you'll know what's up and why I am here.

CPU Intel Core i5 750 2.66 Ghz
Memory 8gb Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333 mhz
Hard Drive 1TB 7200RPM SATA
Operating System Windows 7 64 Bit
Graphics Card Nvidia G310 512 DDR3
Power Supply 350w

There's a DVD drive in there too but I believe these are the main specs of the PC. Here is my problem, I enjoy a bit of PC gaming, mostly older stuff but sometimes I pop in Dragon Age or Aion, or some other stuff. Nothing extreme.

I'm looking to up the graphics card first to get the PC up and running well. I know it won't max out anything new the way it is and with that power supply but I am okay with that.

I have skimmed the other topics here but could not find a user with a similar PC to the one I am getting.

Let me let you in on what I am "gaming" on now....

CPU P4 3. *something* Ghz
Memory 2GB DDR2
Graphics Card Nvidia 9400 gt 1gb DDR3
Power Supply 300w

So, all in all, I'm looking for a decent graphics card that is better than the G310 and the 9400 GT that can run on a 350w power supply, alongside a i5 750 and 8gb of DDR3 ram.

C'mon....shouldn't be that hard XD
Thanks for any replies!

More about : dell graphics card problem

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Graphics card Master
Power supply Expert

Both 9400GT and G310 are low-end cards for gaming,but since your PSU is 350W i barely can recommend a good graphic card,is it possible for you to get a 500W+ PSU ?

As long as it would fit in the case, which I can say anything exact about it since I wont have the PC until May. If that is all that is standing in my way, I guess I could put getting a new card off for a while.

Okay, say that I get a 500w PSU....what then would be a decent card for my set up?
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Graphics card Authority
Power supply Master

That system is sold with the option to upgrade to a GTX 260, with no mention of psu upgrades.
I wouldn't go that far with a 350 watt psu, but it should be capable of powering a 5770 without the need for a psu upgrade.

Alright, thanks for the excellent advice. I keep hearing absolutely excellent things about the 5770 so that's definitely my next choice in GPUs. I'll try it first but the next item in the shopping list is definitely at least a 700w PSU for future upgrading.

Also, does changing the PSU void Dell's warranty? The system came with a two year coverage.
Graphics card Authority
Power supply Master

Ramadonis said:


Also, does changing the PSU void Dell's warranty? The system came with a two year coverage.

If you need to call them for hardware support and tell them that you have an upgraded psu , they'll ask you to replace it with the original in order to rule it out as being the problem.

Cool, as long as upgrading the PSU doesn't void anything.... I'll ask them to be 100 percent sure.

So from what you two awesome guys have suggested... this is what I gather. The stock 350w PSU can handle a ATI HD 5770 with no problem but upgrading the PSU would be recommended.

If that is the case... I'll order one ASAP... any preferred brands I should look into or is it all the same?

I spoke with Dell and the insisted that both the GTX 260 and the HD 5770 would work just fine on my new system. I'm still getting a new PSU though. Are they difficult to install? How can I tell which one would fit my case before I purchase it?
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