[Solved] Video upgrade for playing WOW, and possible HDMI out to TV

Since the latest WOW pre cataclysm patch I've had to lower my in game video settings to their lowest settings to keep things working. It's hardly sustainable. The card I'm looking at the Radeon 5770 HD (Sapphire) but I'm not sure the difference on Sapphire, XFX etc etc. Also, what kind of power supply is reccommended that will fit and work in my system as I've never actually upgraded a power supply? I did some prelim info gathering and found I only have a PCI-E x15 v1.0 slot, and the specs list this as a Gen 2.0 card. Would it be backward compatible?

Below are direct links to my specs via CPU-Z and Belarc as well as some snapshots of the MB and Power Supply. If you need any other specs let me know.

Dell Dimension E521 Service Tag 6ct6kc1

http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/cpuz.html
http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/belarc.html

http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/power.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/mobo1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/mobo2.jpg

Card I'm considering: Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1 GB Model 100283-3L

Power supply I'm considering: Corsair Model CMPSU-450VX

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to rplieth

Both good choices. The card is backwards compatible and Sapphire and XFX are both good brand names and have comparable products.

Reply to rolli59

I have a 5770 from xfx with a amd 5600+ and 6gb of ddr2. i can run wow on high-ultra setting at 1440-900 and my fps doesn't dip below 30.

Reply to calidus

The 5770 requires a 6 pin connector right? so you would need to get a new PSU. I know in the past dell made it very difficult to upgrade a PSU if it was a dell brand one, I dont know if they have changed their pratices. But the card will be backwards compatiable, just make sure that its PCI-Express 2.0 not 2.1 some users are having issues with 2.1 cards in 1.0 slots.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Antec 1200, Asus P5K Premium, Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 4.05GHz, Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, DDR2 @ 1057, 3x 6400AAKS Raid 0, 2x Radeon 4780 in Crossfire, 760,900 and 825,950, SilverStone ST1000-NV
Reply to Snipergod87

Snipergod87 wrote :

The 5770 requires a 6 pin connector right? so you would need to get a new PSU. I know in the past dell made it very difficult to upgrade a PSU if it was a dell brand one, I dont know if they have changed their pratices. But the card will be backwards compatiable, just make sure that its PCI-Express 2.0 not 2.1 some users are having issues with 2.1 cards in 1.0 slots.

The card the OP listed is PCIe 2.0 and OP listed a new PSU. Reading before posting sometimes helps.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to rolli59

rolli59 wrote :

The card the OP listed is PCIe 2.0 and OP listed a new PSU. Reading before posting sometimes helps.

read??? i just want to post my opinion as fact! :na:

------------------------------ defeating idiot fan boys since 2008.
Reply to ct1615

rplieth wrote :

Since the latest WOW pre cataclysm patch I've had to lower my in game video settings to their lowest settings to keep things working. It's hardly sustainable. The card I'm looking at the Radeon 5770 HD (Sapphire) but I'm not sure the difference on Sapphire, XFX etc etc. Also, what kind of power supply is reccommended that will fit and work in my system as I've never actually upgraded a power supply? I did some prelim info gathering and found I only have a PCI-E x15 v1.0 slot, and the specs list this as a Gen 2.0 card. Would it be backward compatible?

Below are direct links to my specs via CPU-Z and Belarc as well as some snapshots of the MB and Power Supply. If you need any other specs let me know.

Dell Dimension E521 Service Tag 6ct6kc1

http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/cpuz.html
http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/belarc.html

http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/power.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/mobo1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~rplieth/mobo2.jpg

Card I'm considering: Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1 GB Model 100283-3L

Power supply I'm considering: Corsair Model CMPSU-450VX

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

good job on parts but one major issue, the E521 uses a BTX mobo (i owned one) so the card goes in fan side up rather then down. your PCI-E x16 slot does not have a free slot above it. so that means one of two things

1. get some metal cutters and mod your case

2. get a single slot 2.0 card like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814129150

very good PSU and will fit with no issue

------------------------------ defeating idiot fan boys since 2008.
Reply to ct1615

Quote :

good job on parts but one major issue, the E521 uses a BTX mobo (i owned one) so the card goes in fan side up rather then down. your PCI-E x16 slot does not have a free slot above it. so that means one of two things

1. get some metal cutters and mod your case

2. get a single slot 2.0 card like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814129150

@ ct1615

I'm not sure I'm understanding where or why I'm going to need an additional PCI-E slot... or what you're stating the physical contraints would be. My mobo model is an OCT103
http://www.freelandcomputer.com/images/P/CT103.jpg

The actual card I went with is the XFX 5770 and it has only one PCI-E connection:
http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products [...] lang=en-us

Can you dumb this down? :-)

Thanks,

Ryan

Reply to rplieth

He was just worried about the card not fitting because of the heatsink in the middle of the board, being a dual slot card it will overhang the slot that way.

Reply to rolli59

Best answer

ok look at your BTX motherboard linked above

now look at an ATX mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

see how the ports on the BTX mobo are on the right, so its placed on the left side panel if you are standing in front of the case

the ATX mobo is opposite, the ports are on the left, its placed on the right side panel

now look at the ATI xfx 5770 you linked. the fans side (pictured as the top) goes in fan side down on an ATX board since the card can only be installed one way. on a BTX board you must flip the the card over and it goes in fan side up. since the fan takes up a second slot, you need to have a free slot above your PCI-E x16 slot in a BTX board (or below in an ATX).

here is a perfect example of the DELL e520
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTbx4d [...] 070161.jpg

see how the mobo is on the left side panel, the video card is fan side up on the top slot. that is a single slot card, if he tried to install a dual slot he would not have the room without modding his case.

Message edited by ct1615 on 10-22-2010 at 12:12:51 AM

------------------------------ defeating idiot fan boys since 2008.
Reply to ct1615

I totally understand now, I was going down the path that it would hit some other component in the case... not the fact that the PCI-E is at the top peripheral slot and wouldn't allow for the dual slot card facing upwards. I found a pic of someone who has modded it, so I'll just seek out my tin snips and make it happen
http://img510.imageshack.us/i/bv2hp7.jpg/ Thank you all very much for your assistance!

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to rplieth

rplieth wrote :

I totally understand now, I was going down the path that it would hit some other component in the case... not the fact that the PCI-E is at the top peripheral slot and wouldn't allow for the dual slot card facing upwards. I found a pic of someone who has modded it, so I'll just seek out my tin snips and make it happen
http://img510.imageshack.us/i/bv2hp7.jpg/ Thank you all very much for your assistance!

Always nice to see that people can get creative to fix their problems, enjoy!

Reply to rolli59

Best answer selected by rplieth.

Reply to rplieth

fellow e521 owner.
there is a direct Dell upgrade power supply for your unit 375watts and 400watt upgrades,
model numbers: Dell # KH624 and PH344
there is also a 425watt upgrade but I have to look for part number.
my first choice would be to grab one of them before you look at aftermarket power supplies.
there is nothing wrong with upgrading with a Corsair 450watt psu or some other manufacturer,
most will fit and others make take minor adjustments to fit properly or close to it.
with these Dells I have listed, they are direct swaps.
Dell puts one of the best and under-rated psu's in the units.
it can hold whatever card you want including HD5770 or better.
and to be honest, depending on your set-up the standard 305watt psu that's in there now will run a HD56xx fine
and even your HD5770 but it might struggle with that one.
Dell psu's are that good..

Message edited by malmental on 10-22-2010 at 01:58:09 AM

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Reply to malmental