Upgrade videocard XPS420

[nautilus808]

I have a HD2400 card now. The fan died a while ago. Looking to replace it with a card that has hdmi. Anything would be an upgrade. I dont do any gaming on the machine. What would fit inside and future prrof this computer? I can buy a new power supply if necessary. It currently has 375 watt PSU. Motherboard is model otp 406. I appreciate your help. My current specs below:

Processor
Model Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Hard Drive
Drive Size Free Space Utilized
C: 581.12 Gb 372.02 Gb 36 %

D: 15 Gb 10.6 Gb 29 %


Video Adapters
Model Memory
ATI Radeon HD 2400 128 Mb

Memory
Total 3072 Mb

Slot 4 512 Mb 800 Mhz undefined

Available Slots 0

 

[youssef 2010]

If you have a PCIe 1.1 slot on your board, you can buy the 5570 would be a great addition to your computer. It sells for about $60-65. Here are the links on Newegg. Just make sure that it has 1GB of DDR3 and not anything less. If you wish to buy the DDR5 version go ahead

For the Low Profile version with a fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102874&cm_re=5570-_-14-102-874-_-Product

For the Low Profile version without a fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161380&cm_re=5570-_-14-161-380-_-Product

For the regular version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131342&cm_re=5570-_-14-131-342-_-Product

If you want a low profile version with Eyefinity capability: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102875&cm_re=5570-_-14-102-875-_-Product

If $65 is too much I can recommend lower priced options. But if you want to future-proof this rig . I recommend the 5570.

 

[nautilus808]

Thanks for the quick reply Youssef.
Would I suffer at all from the 128 bit compared to the 256? I also read that the re was some compatibiltiy iussue with ATI PCIe 2.1 with PCIe 1.o, Is this a problem? Should I avoid ATI? I dont mind spending about $100 on the card and additional PSU if I need to upgrade the PSU. ANy other opinions on the card for this XPS 420?

 

[delluser1]

Thanks for the quick reply Youssef.
Would I suffer at all from the 128 bit compared to the 256? I also read that the re was some compatibiltiy iussue with ATI PCIe 2.1 with PCIe 1.o, Is this a problem? Should I avoid ATI? I dont mind spending about $100 on the card and additional PSU if I need to upgrade the PSU. ANy other opinions on the card for this XPS 420?

The slot is 2.0 compliant, nothing to worry about if you want an ATI card.
The PSU can handle any card that requires a single 6 pin connector, since you're not gaming I don't think you have anything to worry about there either.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150467

 

[deadlockedworld]

Hey nautilus,

Since you said that you are not a gamer, the 5570 is much more than enough power. Your 375w power supply could handle a bigger card than that -- so is not an issue.

The one you get should depend on what kind of plugs you need it to have. (such as if you need plugs for both a computer and TV) Personally, I would go for a regular version with fan and DDR3 (not ddr2). The DDR5 ram is faster yet, but again I don't think you will notice the difference in a non-gaming situation.

The amount of ram on the card is only important if you are running a bigger 1080p monitor. The "Eyefinity" designator on the one card is not important -- all of these cards are capable of multiple monitor support,

If you want an idea of how different cards line up with each other you can read Tom's article. The last page has a chart that may have your existing card.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card-game-performance-radeon-hd-6670,2935-2.html

I personally never had a problem with PCIe 1.0 and a 2.1 card, but I have heard that some others did.

p.s. Your memory line of "Slot 4 512 Mb 800 Mhz undefined" seems strange. Have you added additional older memory to this machine?

 

[nautilus808]

Pleasing about the dual monitors cos that is what i plan to do. Perhaps one day I would add a 1080P monitor, if so do I need at least 256 bit?
I have never added memory. The memory came factory installed. This is the details of what it says for the memory:
del Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Hard Drive
Drive Size Free Space Utilized
C: 581.12 Gb 371.96 Gb 36 %

D: 15 Gb 10.6 Gb 29 %


Video Adapters
Model Memory
ATI Radeon HD 2400 128 Mb

Memory
Total 3072 Mb
Available 28 %

Slot Size Speed Type
Slot 1 1024 Mb 800 Mhz undefined
Slot 2 512 Mb 800 Mhz undefined
Slot 3 1024 Mb 800 Mhz undefined
Slot 4 512 Mb 800 Mhz undefined

Available Slots 0

 

[deadlockedworld]

Oh good-- your memory is fine. I was worried that you had 3 1gb chips and 1 512k. While two different sizes isn't ideal, as long as slots 1+3 and 2+4 match its fine.

If you plan to dual monitor definitely go with 1 gb of ram on the card. the 128-256 bit difference would matter for gaming and higher-end things--but either should be good for just running a desktop across multiple screens.

The XPS 420 is a little bit strange in internal configuration because of Dell -- I would open it up and measure for size before purchasing a card. (like make certain that blue plastic thing I see in a google photo doesn't have to fit on the card)

Finally, and not to complicate things too much for you -- but the next level card up (the 5670) has dropping prices right now. If you find one close to the 5570 in price feel free to go for it.

A good 5670 for $59+shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161365


Edit: I was rereading and just saw your previous concern about ATI -- since you had an ATI card built into your original prebuilt system you are definitely better off getting another ATI/AMD card (as we all suggested). This way if something happens and you have to reinstall the system software your computer wont be as likely to have issues.

 

[delluser1]

The XPS 420 is a little bit strange in internal configuration because of Dell --

guess that depends on who's looking at it

(like make certain that blue plastic thing I see in a google photo doesn't have to fit on the card)

Serves two purposes; heatsink support and gpu support
Looks like this on the inside

 

[nautilus808]

I got the 5670. Thankd for the heads up on a great deal.

 

[deadlockedworld]

guess that depends on who's looking at it
Serves two purposes; heatsink support and gpu support
Looks like this on the inside


Well of course its not strange to Delluser Yea-- thats exactly what I saw when I googled. Wasn't sure if that thing would fit all cards or was custom. Even if it was special for that card it would be a simple fix to make it work.


Nice buy. That HIS is a very good deal.