Upgrade on xps 7100

[chewiebonez]

looking to upgrade my gpu that is currently an hd4200 to something like the hd6850 and ive heard alot of great thing about it but im not sure if my system will really shine with such an upgrade.

athlon II x4 630 2.8 ghz

psu 460w

3 gb ddr3 of ram

anything else i should replace to make the 6850 really bang more?

 

[tsnor]

HD6850 will be an outstanding upgrade.

Only things I can think of ...

The xps7100 seems to have "Power supply: 460W internal" That should be plenty for an HD6850. I'd double check that is the PSU in your PC just so no surprises. (I didn't think any prebuild manufacturer was smart enough to put a reasonable PSU in a PC shipped with HD4200 graphics, +1 Dell if they did.)

What native monitor resolution do you have ? If not 1920x 1200 or 1920 x 1080 then think about getting a new monitor. If bigger than 1920x1200 then go one video card bigger (e.g. 6870, 6950).

Don't forget to set each games resolution up to your monitor's native res and set the right level of detail,etc., for your 6850. Should be a huge difference.

Do you have DVI or VGA connection ? (Many flat pannels support both VGA and DVI but only came with a VGA cable. You want to be using DVI to get the most from the 6850 (things like cleartype fonts using subpixel addressing need digital (DVI or HDMI) so get a decent DVI or HDMI cable)

Finally, there is never a good time to buy, there is always something better just around the corner. But the reviews on the new AMD/ATI 7000 cards are great. And the high end unit, the 7970, ships in January, so by March prices should really be falling across the board .... maybe. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7970-benchmark-tahiti-gcn,3104.html

 

[chewiebonez]

HD6850 will be an outstanding upgrade.

Only things I can think of ...

The xps7100 seems to have "Power supply: 460W internal" That should be plenty for an HD6850. I'd double check that is the PSU in your PC just so no surprises. (I didn't think any prebuild manufacturer was smart enough to put a reasonable PSU in a PC shipped with HD4200 graphics, +1 Dell if they did.)

What native monitor resolution do you have ? If not 1920x 1200 or 1920 x 1080 then think about getting a new monitor. If bigger than 1920x1200 then go one video card bigger (e.g. 6870, 6950).

Don't forget to set each games resolution up to your monitor's native res and set the right level of detail,etc., for your 6850. Should be a huge difference.

Do you have DVI or VGA connection ? (Many flat pannels support both VGA and DVI but only came with a VGA cable. You want to be using DVI to get the most from the 6850 (things like cleartype fonts using subpixel addressing need digital (DVI or HDMI) so get a decent DVI or HDMI cable)

Finally, there is never a good time to buy, there is always something better just around the corner. But the reviews on the new AMD/ATI 7000 cards are great. And the high end unit, the 7970, ships in January, so by March prices should really be falling across the board .... maybe. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7970-benchmark-tahiti-gcn,3104.html

Yeah ive got the 460w psu i checked that earlier today and i also have 1920x1080 monitor and its hooked up already with a high end hdmi cable. im really only going to play swtor so you think that card is more than enough power to run it smooth.

 

[tsnor]

swtor - you'll have a perfect config. The athlon II x4 630 will be small for some games, but it's huge for swtor. The HD6850 into a 1920x1080 should be great.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/star-wars-gaming-tests-review,3087-5.html

 

[chewiebonez]

Thanks for your help. Im going to place an order for a 6850 you have any choices on what brand to get?

 

[tsnor]

I trust the newegg ratings, and look for a vendor who has the most positive, then read the comments. You will find plenty of reviews. The IO connectivity will difer a bit bwetween cards, so get the one you need (dvi, hdmi, display port, whatever). For me better ratings is worth more than a few dollars difference. I don't know which, if any, vendors have their own PCBs for the 6850, it might be worth reading a few reviews to find better 'low noise' or 'shorter' or 'cooler' solutions than stock. For me a factory OC card is not worth much, but it's a plus.

I'd guess the 6850 is strong enough you'll be using it for a few years, so a good long warranty might have value to you.

Enjoy

 

[andrewcarr]

Sapphire graphics cards are known to be some of the best and this one only costs slightly more than the other cards newegg has for sale.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908