upgrade to what?

[mfcphil]

I have a Dell pc with a Radeon X1300/X1550 graphics card, if I were to replace it with a more up to date card should I just stick with the radeon make all will any card fit in?

 

[Zepher]

Any card will fit if there is space inside the case for it.
Model of your Dell will help determine what is compatible.

 

[mfcphil]

Dell Dimentions E521

 

[Tews]

Expansion Slots
PCI: 2 Slots
PCIe x1: 1 Slot
PCIe x16 (Graphics): 1 Slots

You could put just about anything you want in there, depending on how much your budget is ...

 

[mickey megabyte]

according to this page, you've only got a 305 watt power supply unit.

so, high-end super-gaming cards are out of the question, unless you also upgrade your psu, but i don't think you're a gamer.

as Tews mentioned - what's your budget and what do you want to do with the new card?

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Be very careful with the PSU in that Dell. If you go into the high end cards the power draw could be devastating to it's rail ! I would open it up and read it's power and get back to us. Then use this little calculator to compute the new systems draw and make sure you have plenty of reserve !
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

 

[stormy13]

Specs here,

Dell Dimension E521 Product Details | Dell

specs on the 305W PSU here,

Dell Dimension E310, E520, E521, 3100, 5100 305W Power Supply - MH495 / NPS-305FB

Two rails at 18A each helps, but the 305W total will still limit what you can run off of it. Next question is, how much are you looking to spend.

 

[mfcphil]

Not sure if there is a 6 pin power suply in there so I will be after something that does not need that....

Saw some Radeon HD 5670 on Ebay.....will this be good for my system?

Asus 1gb Radeon Hd 5670 Pci-E 2.1 Hdmi Graphics Card

 

[mfcphil]

Processor AMD Athlon (tm) 64x2 Dual Core 4200+ 2.2ghz
Installed Ram 4 gb
32 bit operating system

 

[Tews]

With almost any of the newer cards, you are going to need a better power supply...

 

[mfcphil]

so is its unwise to upgrade?????

 

[Tews]

I didn't say that, only that if you do, be prepared to upgrade the PSU as well...

 

[mfcphil]

The ram and graphics cards seem rather easy to do, I would not know where to start with the PSU!

 

[mickey megabyte]

it's nice to upgrade - but do you need to?

what do you intend to do with your new gfx card?

the psu is a bit more of a complicated creature, as there will be several things you need to unplug/replug, but it's not rocket science.

 

[mfcphil]

I just wanted to update my pc, I started with the extra ram and thought the graphics card was the next EASY thing to do on the list

 

[mfcphil]

does anyone know how much power the Radeon x1300/1550 uses, maybe one of the newer card use less than that!

 

[linnemeyerhere]

mfcphil,
This litle trick of offering just enough PSU and other things allows all the manufacturers to have you trade in rather than upgrade. I ran into this very thing on my Gateway GT5220 and it turned out to be way more trouble than it was worth. Yes max'g out the ram and adding a small GPU will help but in the end, case design and component upgradeablity will hamper the build, IMHO. Go light on this upgrade and save back some bucks and stay here and get some great education on builds and start thinking about your ground up build ! We're here to help you and the learning process and quality differences in the components will blow your mind.

 

[Rhammstein]

You don't have to upgrade your Psu. It's like this, if you want a hardcore powerful graphics card, yes, you must buy a new power supply. If you simply want a mainstream card that can play most games (at low settings, they won't look great and may run slow) and have HD playback, HDCP, lossless 7.1 audio, etc etc, you can buy a low power card that can run off the power provided by the pci-e slot itself. These are very limited in performance, but it's simple, just don't expect to play the newest games.

I suggest this: Newegg.com - MSI VR5570-MD1G Radeon HD 5570 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Or this model with DDR3 memory, will game much better, and only about $20 more: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131342

These cards are basically Radeon 5770's cut directly in half in every way.

This will be pushing your power supply a bit, but I think it will work just fine.

If you want a high end setup, reply and ask for advice and list features you want or need.

 

[mfcphil]

mfcphil,
This litle trick of offering just enough PSU and other things allows all the manufacturers to have you trade in rather than upgrade. I ran into this very thing on my Gateway GT5220 and it turned out to be way more trouble than it was worth. Yes max'g out the ram and adding a small GPU will help but in the end, case design and component upgradeablity will hamper the build, IMHO. Go light on this upgrade and save back some bucks and stay here and get some great education on builds and start thinking about your ground up build ! We're here to help you and the learning process and quality differences in the components will blow your mind.

Sounds Like Pretty good advice.....last word on this one then.....if I put even a cheap lower end graphics card in, it would have to be better than the one Dell provided! wouldn't it?

Could anyone suggest a nice card which will improve my performance but not drain the power, I will save the higher end cards for my next pc

 

[linnemeyerhere]

mfcphil,
The answer is yes. I like what Rhammstein posted. Those make more sense and it keeps your dollars down so you don't have to re-wire the components with a new PSU. Then stay tuned here and you will have a blast learning and dreaming of the next self build. I can tell you with only 2 builds under my belt the excitement of pushing the button on a home build for the first time is incalculable.