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Would any video card increase my gaming performance on my old PC now?

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Check out my Dell E510 specs in my signature. and I have one PCIx16 slot. Not the PCI x 2.0. I was just wondering if there was a video card out there that would increase gaming performance on my dell e510 system. Since I already upgraded it.

This is how I upgraded this desktop in the pass 2-3 years.
from 1 GB to 4 GB RAM
from ATI 256 MB x600 SE to a ATI 512MB to a 4670 to a X (possible upgrade??)
from 305 PSU to a higher quality 400 Watt CPU (to a possible upgrade with a new video card)
from Pentium 4 3.0 GHZ to a Pentium D 3.4 GHz

Is this as good as it is going to get for my precious dell E510? Or would upgrading my video card and maybe my power supply increase gaming performance. Or would the Pentium D 3.4 GHz just bottleneck any upgrade for the 4670 ATI.

Conclusion: What is the best video card upgrade without upgrading my power supply. What is the best upgrade with upgrading my power supply?

More about : video card increase gaming performance

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Graphics card Master
Gaming Expert

can you put a core 2 duo in that motherboard? if not its not worth investing any more money into it, buy a new pc. if you can put a core 2 duo in it, it may be worth dropping an e7500 CPU in and an AMD 6850 vid card should run on that psu, would want to check the specs on the 12v rail though. That should allow you to play the latest games without much trouble.
Graphics card Master

But doesn't a e7500 bottleneck a HD 6850 ? ( unless you overclock it ).

@OP
Tell us your PSU brand and the model if you want us to choose a GPU for you. But seriously, I do think any of the GPUs released today are going to be a bottleneck for that Pentium D.

What's your mobo and do you know what the socket type is for the processor ?

iam2thecrowe said:
can you put a core 2 duo in that motherboard? if not its not worth investing any more money into it, buy a new pc. if you can put a core 2 duo in it, it may be worth dropping an e7500 CPU in and an AMD 6850 vid card should run on that psu, would want to check the specs on the 12v rail though. That should allow you to play the latest games without much trouble.


I put in the best processor I could have (the Pentium D 3.4 GHz). There is no other I can put inside that will give me a performance boost.

The reason I invested in this computer for such long is because the programs and games I play are not that high on requirements (Modern WareFare 2, StarCraft II, WoW).

Here is the link to my PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Looking at those 6850 cards on new egg, I really doubt I even have room for any card like that. I currently have this card in:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And there was only like 1 inch of space left.

I would have to cut some of the plastic off the corner on the stock dell e510 heat sink.



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Gman450 said:
But doesn't a e7500 bottleneck a HD 6850 ? ( unless you overclock it ).

@OP
Tell us your PSU brand and the model if you want us to choose a GPU for you. But seriously, I do think any of the GPUs released today are going to be a bottleneck for that Pentium D.

What's your mobo and do you know what the socket type is for the processor ?



Just gave the link to my PSU below. My mobo is still the dell e510 stock mobo. socket type is a LGA 775. Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p...
Graphics card Master

Oh sorry, I just saw your sig and found that you have a Corsair ( VX ? ) 400 W PSU. I might suggest you list us your budget now, so that we can give you preferable upgrades.

Gman450 said:
Well, since you have a LGA 775 socket, then its okay for a Core 2 Duo or even maybe a Core 2 Quad considering you have the money for the upgrade.

The link takes me to ebay and shows the Pentium D, not the PSU.


Here is the link to the PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I meant to say I already gave it it below in an earlier post. Sorry about that.

I already looked it up though. My Dell E510 will not support a Core 2 Duo or a Core 2 Quad, since I am still using the stock motherboard. Pentium D 3.4 GHz was the best I could do with what I had.

That is why I got it. I even heard some stories about people trying to upgrade there Dell E510 to a Pentium D 3.6 and it would not work. The Pentium D 3.4 is the limit as far as I know.


The only room for improvement I see in my computer right now without building a new one is upgrading the video card and/or PSU. CPU and RAM are upgraded to max as far as I know.
Graphics card Master

Okay, the PSU you have there is a nice one. I can see that it has the 80 plus certified compatible. Its too bad that you can't upgrade your CPU. In what games are you expecting an increase ? The HD 4670 is a 'not bad card' but I don't think I can give you any other recommendations since you can't upgrade your processor. Can you try and change the mobo ?

Gman450 said:
Okay, the PSU you have there is a nice one. I can see that it has the 80 plus certified compatible. Its too bad that you can't upgrade your CPU. In what games are you expecting an increase ? The HD 4670 is a 'not bad card' but I don't think I can give you any other recommendations since you can't upgrade your processor. Can you try and change the mobo ?


I told myself if I have to upgrade the mobo I would call it quits on making this a better PC. Since upgrading the mobo would require an upgrade to the CPU and maybe the RAM. And probably the heatsink and fans since I am using a stock Dell e510 mobo and case.


Games I was looking to improve would be World of WarCraft, StarCraft II. Not very high requirement games.


So does it look like there is no GPU out there that would increase performance? Is there no card beyond a 4670 that would work better with a Pentium D 3.4 GHz?
Graphics card Master

Sorry, but I guess I'll have to say no. You shouldn't waste money on buying a mobo, considering that you have upgraded to the max !
Build another PC, I suppose.

As for the GPU, well, no I don't think I can provide you another one without having some bottleneck.

Gman450 said:
Sorry, but I guess I'll have to say no. You shouldn't waste money on buying a mobo, considering that you have upgraded to the max !
Build another PC, I suppose.

As for the GPU, well, no I don't think I can provide you another one without having some bottleneck.


I really appreciated your help. Thank you for much. BTW, what do you mean by some bottleneck? Do you mean that the 4670 is as good as it gets for me? And that any other CPU above that would be the same?

Looks like my glory days of upgrading this Dell E510 are over. And I do not regret it one bit. It has been good for me. And I am going to keep using it till it dies.

Gman450 said:
Bottleneck means
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottleneck

Well, that is if you need a lot of info :lol: 
bottleneck generally means that if you put in a GTX 590 in a P4, then there would be bottleneck as it is obvious.
So, yeah, what you said is right, HD 4670 on any other CPU, would perform the same.


So 4670 is the best my Pentium D 3.4 GHz can handle. Any other card above that will give no performance boost?
Graphics card Expert

I dunno why people are focusing on the PSU for... you aren't running dual/triple video cards...

Anyways, your only avenues to upgrading are RAM VID card, and HD, till they stop making DDR2/PCIx16.

I like upgradeing Hard drives alot because it is the "slowest link" in the PC chain. Adding a SSD(sometimes with a expansion card) to a older machine can make it perform like a badass sometimes. Adding more RAM in your case probabley wont do much. So that leaves VID Card.

You can enjoy the newest vid cards as much as you want till you cap off your PSU(doubt that thou, you got plenty of power, and you can't X2/X3 xfire)

Have fun :) 

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Graphics card Master

Shpati said:
So 4670 is the best my Pentium D 3.4 GHz can handle. Any other card above that will give no performance boost?


I'm afraid so.
If you could have changed your CPU, that would have been lots of other options.( GPUs I mean )

Gman450 said:
I'm afraid so.
If you could have changed your CPU, that would have been lots of other options.( GPUs I mean )


Well thank you for your help. That is the dagger in the heart.

Lets see how much longer I can keep this Dell.
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