Upgrading GTS 240, around £90 Budget

Im planning on upgrading my GPU for my Dell 8100 and im not sure on which one to choose that will work. Im looking for a Gaming Graphics Card.

System Specs:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80 GHz
Installed memory (RAM): 6.00 GB
System Type: 64-bit Operating System
Hardrive: 1 TB
Current GPU: GeForce GT 240
PSU: 350w (I Think)

and these are GPU's i looked at:

GTX 275
GTX 450

Over Budget:

GTX 460

Any help on choosing a good GPU for Upcoming Games (BF3, MW3, AC Revelation etc.)

Reply to techno20

If i were you id save up the extra and get a gtx460 or HD 6850 at the very least. One problem I see here is the 350w PSU, that is not enough to even run a gtx450 and certainly not enough to power a gtx275. Your probably right on the limit of your PSU's power capability with your current setup. Are you SURE you have a 350w PSU? Can you open up the case and read us the specs? 12V specs are important.

------------------------------ INTEL CORE 2 Q6600 @ 3.49GHz, CM Hyper TX3, ASUS P5N-D, 8GB DDR800 RAM, Powercolour HD6850, 650w Antec Trupower New PSU
Reply to iam2thecrowe

I've been on other forums that talk about Upgrading GPU for the Dell 8100 and a lot of them say 350w PSU

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Reply to techno20

I'll think about what you said about gtx 460. I might aswell save up for it.

Reply to techno20

techno20 wrote :

I've been on other forums that talk about Upgrading GPU for the Dell 8100 and a lot of them say 350w PSU

350W is not enough for a modern high or middle end card. They loooooove electricityyyyyyy. :love: You should have at least 500w, and a stable single 12V rail. Preferably have an 80+ certified.
GTX 460 would be a good choice.

Reply to robjordy

so your saying I have to buy a New Power Supply aswell...?

Reply to techno20

if you want to run a better vid card, then yes, you will need a better power supply, even for a gts 450.

------------------------------ INTEL CORE 2 Q6600 @ 3.49GHz, CM Hyper TX3, ASUS P5N-D, 8GB DDR800 RAM, Powercolour HD6850, 650w Antec Trupower New PSU
Reply to iam2thecrowe

I was told by someone called 'malmantel' that "gtx 450 is your safest" (my safest bet*). and he also said that the Dell 8100 Power Supply is like a 400-450w.

Reply to techno20

yeah here it is, this is what he 'Malmental' said:

"Just to set things straight.
A Dell 350watt psu is more like a 400-425watt psu from almost anybody else.
The rating system on Dell's is a little different the 'most' others.
You do not have to change your psu unless you really want to of course.
Dell + Intel= nVidia in most factory set-ups for a reason but I won't get into that.....

DirectX 11 nVidia options on 350watt Dell psu (higher end) - GTS450 is your safest bet."

and so thought about 450 but i wasn't sure if it will be good for upcoming games...

Reply to techno20

Only way to know for sure then is to open the case i think. 450W will be just enough if it's a good brand PSU. ( not for the 460 though )

Reply to robjordy

GTX 450 will not be great for gaming modern games.

Reply to robjordy

ok, i'll check the case. But if it is 450watt should i go for GTS 450?

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Reply to techno20

techno20 wrote :

ok, i'll check the case. But if it is 450watt should i go for GTS 450?

Probably useless to open the case, now i have read what malmental said, it probably will be a 350 and i don't know about Dell 350W is 425W in real live. Malmental is probably right i think, he normally knows what he says.
But still i would save some extra cash to first buy a good PSU and after that buy a good GPU, otherwise you will always be stuck with low profile GPU's and not be able to play games at satisfying levels.

Reply to robjordy

Yh...Thanks for the Help though I apreciate it

Reply to techno20

No, open up the case, the dell 305W PSU has 18A on the +142V Rail, and the GTX 460 is quite a power hungry card, we need to be sure how much AMPs are on that power supply.

Also, get a HD 5770 instead of a GTS 450, it performs better, and uses less power.

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to be honest you will need to save your money for now,, you WILL need a more powerful power supply as the factory 350 will not be handle much more than what the base computer came with.

a 240GT is a pretty good card in its range and you will need to go up to a 460 to really notice a difference/make it worthwhile to spend any money.

you may just be best off for now with lower resolution and/or lower graphics settings until you have a bigger budget,, if you cheap out, you won't like the results

Reply to monkeysweat

Yummerzzz wrote :

No, open up the case, the dell 305W PSU has 18A on the +142V Rail, and the GTX 460 is quite a power hungry card, we need to be sure how much AMPs are on that power supply.

Also, get a HD 5770 instead of a GTS 450, it performs better, and uses less power.

thats a good call, 5770 or 6770, faster and uses less power. but you will want to upgrade the PSU either way i think.

------------------------------ INTEL CORE 2 Q6600 @ 3.49GHz, CM Hyper TX3, ASUS P5N-D, 8GB DDR800 RAM, Powercolour HD6850, 650w Antec Trupower New PSU
Reply to iam2thecrowe

Yummerzzz wrote :

No, open up the case, the dell 305W PSU has 18A on the +142V Rail, and the GTX 460 is quite a power hungry card, we need to be sure how much AMPs are on that power supply.

Also, get a HD 5770 instead of a GTS 450, it performs better, and uses less power.

HD 5770 requires 450 Watt or greater power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended (600 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode)

Will it work?

Reply to techno20

Yummerzzz wrote :

No, open up the case, the dell 305W PSU has 18A on the +142V Rail, and the GTX 460 is quite a power hungry card, we need to be sure how much AMPs are on that power supply.

Also, get a HD 5770 instead of a GTS 450, it performs better, and uses less power.

ill check the AMPS on the PSU

Reply to techno20

Don't think so. If Malmental is right the psu is 425W max, the card wants at least 450W, so . . .

Reply to robjordy

But why "if" when it would take less than 5 minutes to check?

Dell does underrate their PSU's, but just to make sure.

to upgrade an 240GT with that budget is damn near impossible is what I'm trying to say though,, anything that will be fast enough to actually matter will need a better power supply and anything fast enough to actually matter will cost you at least another 50.00,,, like a 460GTX or better,, a 450 is definitely an upgrade? yes. is a 450 speed increase noticeable? yes. Is a 450 so much faster than a 240 that I'm really going to love it and like the fact i upgraded? possibly not - leaning more to no.

so with both points above,, you are looking at a 200 dollar upgrade with power supply,, as stock PC power supplies, no matter which big brand sells em, does not cover much more than what they ship with.

Reply to monkeysweat

so your saying i should upgrade my PSU aswell

Reply to techno20

ok...I have looked at some PSU's on Amazon.co.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_s [...] SU&x=0&y=0

could you tell me which one is good and cheap

Reply to techno20

please let me know which one I should choose or should I choose any?

Reply to techno20

personally I use a 550 OCZ fata1ity (i know,, but it's decent),, i built my father in laws PC with an antec and i like the build quality a bit more,, anything typically 500-600 watts should be good,, 2x 6 pin pci express connectors will be required. Get something with a bronze rating at least

Reply to monkeysweat

I typed in this '550w PSU 2x 6 pin' and this is what came up:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/550W-Gold- [...] 770&sr=1-1

Reply to techno20

i can't find any other 2 x 6pin pci express.

Reply to techno20

ok Im planning to buy these two:

PSU: CiT 600W Power Supply Unit with PSU and Dual 12V Rails - Black Edition

link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/CiT-600W-P [...] 19&sr=1-16

GPU: Gainward NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 Graphics Card 768MB PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDMI

link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gainward-N [...] 19&sr=8-16

(or should i get the 1gb one?)

please let me know if theres any other better ones

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Reply to techno20

PSU ain't that great and i would take the 1 gig 460.
Maybe psu ; http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product [...] =428655031

Reply to robjordy

Grab this : 530W BeQuiet! Pure Power BQT L7 80Plus PSU

And this GPU :

EVGA GTX 460 1Gb SuperClocked

Message edited by Yummerzzz on 08-31-2011 at 06:16:12 PM

^^those suggestions good,, I don't know the bequiet brand as im in Canada,, but it should do the trick,, also the 460 is a nice card,, but like I said before,, you are going to be spending much more than you 90.00 budget,, just get the PSU now and get the card later (it may even drop in price in next month or so while you save money)

Reply to monkeysweat

I doubt the price will drop, so you should grab one while you can, but it really depends if your budget allows it, if not, get the PSU now, if so, grab both.

Message edited by Yummerzzz on 08-31-2011 at 08:45:20 PM

techno20 wrote :

ok Im planning to buy these two:

PSU: CiT 600W Power Supply Unit with PSU and Dual 12V Rails - Black Edition

link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/CiT-600W-P [...] 19&sr=1-16

GPU: Gainward NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 Graphics Card 768MB PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDMI

link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gainward-N [...] 19&sr=8-16

(or should i get the 1gb one?)

please let me know if theres any other better ones

dont touch that
PSU with a 10 foot pole. Stick to either Antec, Crosair, Seasonic or XFX, they are the most reliable brands on the market and they actually output their advertised power rating, many cheap/no name psu's will not produce their rated power and outright lie on their packaging. do some reading about psu's. you dont want to end up with something like this http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/art [...] ew/977/10. You need to ask yourself a question, do i want to learn the hard way? (like i did with a generic psu that blew up in smoke and destroyed my motherboard), or do i want a good psu that will last?

Message edited by iam2thecrowe on 08-31-2011 at 11:39:56 PM

------------------------------ INTEL CORE 2 Q6600 @ 3.49GHz, CM Hyper TX3, ASUS P5N-D, 8GB DDR800 RAM, Powercolour HD6850, 650w Antec Trupower New PSU
Reply to iam2thecrowe

so should i go for these ones?

PSU: http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com [...] ctId=43594

GPU: http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com [...] ctId=46085

Reply to techno20

or maybe this PSU: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product [...] =428655031

Reply to techno20

Ok heres what i came up with:

PSU: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product [...] =428655031

GPU - GTX 460: http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com [...] ctId=46085

or

GPU - GTX550ti: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nvidia-GTX [...] 521&sr=8-1

(and let me know if GTX 550ti is good aswell, if not then i'll go for the GTX 460)

Reply to techno20

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139028

*$42.99 + S&H after promo code and MIR

GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121434

*$119.99 + S&H after MIR (Free Dungeon Seige 3 game)

Total - <$175 (including all S&H after MIR)

These would be my suggestions for a bare minimum upgrade to notice a reasonable difference in quality/performance.

Reply to casualbuilder

P.S. Dell's suck...

Reply to casualbuilder

sorry, bad math...$167.31 after MIR and promo code. 117.14euro, plus additional shipping. noted not the best psu as far as efficiency, but a trusted company with enough juice for your gpu. I run ASUS in my rig and its amazing quality. This should be just outside your 90euro budget, but maybe within a week or 2 you could easily save the rest. Best of luck...ill stop spamming the thread now.

Reply to casualbuilder

Im European to let you all know... and I'm British, which means that I wont be paying dollers to an american website, newegg for example. Im looking for components which I will find around London or a website which I would have to pay British Pounds (£) for example: Amazon.co.uk, pcworld etc.

Reply to techno20

460 > 550 ti in games. Psu as allready stated.

Reply to robjordy

really? will keep that in mind. thanks robjordy for that little tidbit.

Reply to casualbuilder

gonna have to read this from the beginning and post a response.
didn't know so many people THOUGHT they new about Dell's...
LOL - check signature..

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------------------------------ A+, Net+, MCDST, DSCE (Dell)
Reply to malmental

malmental wrote :

gonna have to read this from the beginning and post a response.
didn't know so many people THOUGHT they new about Dell's...
LOL - check signature..

Sorry Mal...got food poisoning from their product one time...never got over it. Still have that "funny" feeling in my stomach every time i hear that name. i guess they are..."alright". lol

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Reply to casualbuilder

so...550 ti is better that 460???

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Reply to techno20

casualbuilder wrote :

Sorry Mal...got food poisoning from their product one time...never got over it. Still have that "funny" feeling in my stomach every time i hear that name. i guess they are..."alright". lol

I actually prefer to build myself but if you have no choice but to buy a mainstream pre-built then (certain overclocking) Dell's
are still better than HP, Gateway. But now you have an easier time modding the others than a Dell.
that's my somewhat non-biased opinion..
back to the thread..

------------------------------ A+, Net+, MCDST, DSCE (Dell)
Reply to malmental

NO,,,, 460 is better than 550

400 series is older than the 500 series,, but overall no real difference in capabilities other than speed -- a 550 is faster than a 450 and a 560 is faster than a 460,,, but it is the second digit to pay attention to,, except at the higher end where a 570 is actually faster than a 480,,, but the 465, 470 & 480 were technologically flawed,, anything lower than that in the 400 series was optimized,,that's why the 460 was hailed as being so good.

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Reply to monkeysweat

techno20 wrote :

so...550 ti is better that 460???

just stop......
tell me right now where you are, have you bought any power supply and/or graphics card.?
fill me in and up to date.

I need to know exactly what power supply you have in your unit right now.
Have you opened up the case and looked, if not then do so or, you can look it up by the service tag;
should be on the side, back or front bottom of the unit.
more specifically I'm looking for how many pci-e connectors that supply has..

The 550 Ti has only a need for 1 6-pin connection, it battles the 460 (768MB) and they pretty much equal out
with the 460 being slightly better still..
the 460 (768 or any other) requires 2 6-pin connections and therefore requires a supply upgrade.

Message edited by malmental on 09-02-2011 at 04:15:46 PM

------------------------------ A+, Net+, MCDST, DSCE (Dell)
Reply to malmental

monkeysweat wrote :

NO,,,, 460 is better than 550

400 series is older than the 500 series,, but overall no real difference in capabilities other than speed -- a 550 is faster than a 450 and a 560 is faster than a 460,,, but it is the second digit to pay attention to,, except at the higher end where a 570 is actually faster than a 480,,, but the 465, 470 & 480 were technologically flawed,, anything lower than that in the 400 series was optimized,,that's why the 460 was hailed as being so good.

dude really...?
only the 465 is/was 'flawed' (depends on your definition)... :heink:
some 465's could be flashed to a 470 but overall the 465 sucked anyways..
the 470 is /was a beast from the beginning with ROM update made it better.
480 had drivers issues that have long been solved.
the 480 and the 570 are a close battle, I'd have to go with the 570 too..
+1
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/309?vs=306

Message edited by malmental on 09-02-2011 at 04:23:13 PM

------------------------------ A+, Net+, MCDST, DSCE (Dell)
Reply to malmental

Forum Graphics & Displays : Graphics Cards Upgrading GTS 240, around £90 Budget

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AMD Radeon

Diamond Multimedia

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Please mind