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

[rplieth]

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.

 

[rolli59]

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

 

[calidus]

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.

 

[Snipergod87]

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.

 

[rolli59]

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.

 

[rplieth]

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/graphiccards/hd%205000series/5770.aspx?lang=en-us

Can you dumb this down?

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[rolli59]

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.

 

[rplieth]

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!

 

[rolli59]

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!

 

[rplieth]

Best answer selected by rplieth.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey