What is the best Low Power/Low Profile ATI video card ??

[Tom55116]

I would like to upgrade my 2 year old video card which is an ATI 4350.

Is there a better ATI card now that is low-profile and consumes about 20 Watts
at full load like the 4350?

I need to keep the power consumption down to a minimum as my Dell has
only a 250W power supply and I am already running an Intel E8600, 3 internal
2TB green drives and a 300GB Velociraptor in it.. It's been running fine for almost
a year now with all this installed and running..

So is there a newer 20W-ish ATI video card I could upgrade to?
Does any website publish ATI Wattage draw specs?

Thanks for the help..

 

[shadow187]

20W? No. However, Dell PSUs are a bit better than your standard OEM PSU, and can handle some mid low-end cards. An HD5570 should work fine; an HD5670 low profile would be pushing it.

 

[jaguarskx]

The HD 5570 consumes under 20w and it is approximately as powerful as the HD 4670, maybe a little slower.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5670-hd5570-hd5450_6.html#sect0


Here's a low profile version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102875.

 

[shadow187]

xbitlab's power consumption readings is odd. It doesn't line up with Tom's;

*Edit

Following that chart, it seems the HD5570 and HD4350 both pull the same power (4670 - 4350 = 16, 4670 - 5570 = 16).

 

[Tom55116]

Wow... Thanks guys! You've been really helpful...

I was starting to think the ATI 5450 was my only upgrade option but its still only a 64bit card..

I was thinking of going fanless since I already have 4 HDs in the Dell and my current 4350
is fanless. Is this a bad idea? I surf, use Microsoft Office, play MAME games, and watch HD
movies. I don't play any of the newer games so I am definitely always in the orange part of
jaguarskx's posted graph shown above.

Also, on newegg the only fanless/lowprofile cards are made by HIS and Powercolor.
Are these brands any good? I heard Sapphire is always the best brand to buy??
I don't want to get a card from a bad manufacture that gives me the speed but has
blurry text rendition or artifacts during video playback.

I am upgrading just to get a snappier Windows GUI and better HD video playback. Will
the 128bit ATI 5570 be twice as fast as the 64bit ATI 4350?

 

[jaguarskx]

Both brands are good. I would probably choose the HIS though.

The HD 5570 is almost equal to the HD 4670, so that represents a significant improvement over your HD 4350.

 

[Tom55116]

Best answer selected by Tom55116.

 

[Tom55116]

Thanks jaguarskx..

I think I am going to get this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-161-342&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=100&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

If you notice a better option that is both LowProfile/Fanless let me know..
And thanks for saving me from ordering a 5450!

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey