Inspiron 531 graphics/psu upgrade

[acmacl]

Hello,

Looking at throwing some dedicated video under the hood of this old dell. It's got a pcie x16 2.0 slot I can use, but I understand that the OEM 300w power supply isn't gonna get me too far so I'll replace that too.

Ideally any components I buy will be compatible with a new mb/CPU in 6-9 months so I don't terribly mind if there's a bit of bottleneck somewhere in the system.

I'm looking at about $150-175 for the card and whatever a good psu will cost. Any recommendations?

 

[deadlockedworld]

Hey there.

A new PSU and graphic card will be compatible with any new computer as long as you get one with a full-sized tower.

Tom's best GPU for the money articles are a great place to start your shopping:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

The best power supplies are manufactured by Seasonic, Corsair, Antec, and a few others.


Others may find better deals, but off the top of my head I would suggest:

Corsair CX500: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027 (PSU quality scales quickly if you choose to pay more -- you can get a silver or gold certified one with higher efficiency and less residual heat -- but this one will already be much much better than what came in your computer)

XFX 6870 (The sapphire model that is $10 cheaper than this is good too, but XFX has excellent customer service and great warranties. They once honored a mail-in-rebate that I submitted 3 weeks after the deadline)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521

If your case has room for it you might also want to purchase a larger case fan to expel the extra heat these higher performing parts will produce. (That should be like $5)

 

[acmacl]

Awesome, thanks for the links!

 

[acmacl]

Best answer selected by Acmacl.

 

[deadlockedworld]

Thanks! Feel free to reach out again if you have follow-up questions.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar