I just ordered a Dell XPS Studio desktop for myself to replace a 5 year old Dell that's served its purpose.

The XPS is coming with a ATI Radeon HD 5450, but probably need something better to play newer games that will come out.

Any recommendations? Prefer to just spend up to $200 for my new card.

Cheers,

Zack

 

It isn't a current gen card (it's dx10), but the radeon 4890 is still a great deal for the performance it delivers.

 

on board video FTW! VGA all the way!

 

Nvidia GTX260?

 

That one looks pretty good. I know Dell computer's have a somewhat restrictive set up internally, but I'll see if it has enough space to fit that.

What's the general discussion between ATI or NVIDIA? Any reasons why I should choose one over the other?

I have a NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT in my 5 year old Dell right now, and it seemed to work great for the price I paid last year.

 

Second on the GTX260. I've had one for a few years now and it still rocks. It is a bit....huge though. You can get them all day every day for under $200.

Ooooorrrr, if you're willing to go up to $250, you can get one of the new Fermi cards, at GTX465. But to get it at that price you've got to order it this weekend.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130555

 

Thanks dude, I think I'm gonna go for the GTX260.

 

Good choice

 

Thanks Ken,

Any idea which company to buy from? There seems to be a lot of different GTX260's on amazon.

 

Here you go..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...CE&PageSize=20

$169.00 (with free shipping) and it goes up from there

 

And I'd get the Zotac (the $169 card) since it has 2 DVI and HDMI

 

Thanks Ken, I might have to pick up a bigger wattage power supply.

 

i thought you were a mac person?

 

I have my MBP. I needed to replace my desktop at home for my work and games. Since most of my steam games are on PC, it needed a replacement.

 

Once you select the chipset it's really down to minor features and warranty. Some are overclocked from the factory, some have better cooling, some have better warranties. But when it comes right down to it, those are all minor. You should be alright with any of them. I'll second the newegg recommendations too. Been ordering from them for years and I've never had a problem.

 

I don't think you'll be disappointed by upgrading to the GTX260 from a 9500GT. (P.S. Do it!)

 

New Dell Studio XPS 7100 computer is here.

Time to order the video card

 

You going to post any pics and what is the specs on that system? I too just order a new pc, its refurbish but I think it will get the job done. Just waiting for it to get here.

 

I'll post pics tomorrow. Freaking tired from work and bout to hit the bed. Also, gotta clean up tomorrow so I'll take pictures after I clean

 

Sorry for the lack of update. I worked on the computer yesterday.

The manufacturer's PSU was at 460W.

I replaced it with a Corsair 600W PSU and got a BFG GTX260 along with it. It was a tight fit inside the Dell case, but they all fit perfectly.

Overall happy with the purchase, was only about 280 together for the card and PSU, PSU being $100.

I'll post pictures tonight when I get off of my 12 hour shift.

 

Corsaid GS600 PSU
BFG GTX260

Sorry for the poor quality. Took it with my phone.

What are normal temps for the inside of a computer?

My vid card is at 111 degrees F, that doesn't sound too good to me.

Any recommendations on a way to cool it down a bit?

 

NVM, so the norm temp is at 111 deg F, so not too worried anymore. But wanting to find more cooling opportunities. Any advice is appreciated!

 

Thermalright makes some nice high end air cooling stuff. Also most people talk about Computer temps in Celsius. 43 isn't bad for a video card, but what is it at under load?

 

when he said 111 degrees I was thinking Celsius and my face went no way that's normal! yeah 43 Celsius is good.

 

liquid cooling?

 

Under load it runs at about 65 celcius.

I'll check out thermalight