Advice Needed for Video Card

[da1daonlyone]

I bought a dell and i want to buy a video card. I dont know which one to buy because of the power supply "issues" and i dont know which one to buy. I want to buy one around $50-$200. Can someone recommend me something?

Here is the owners manual:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/inspd531/en/OM/index.htm

[ASharp]

What do you plan on playing? And...your link doesn't work. Trying using the "Insert Link" button instead. The button has a little blue and green Earth with a gray chain-like thing.

[da1daonlyone]

Sorry about that. I plan to halo 2, sports games ( these i know dont have large requirements) and maybe gta 5 when it comes out though that might be alittle to hopeful.

[ASharp]

Hm...power supply might present a problem since it's only 300W according to the Dell tech specs. I'm no pro in that field so maybe someone else can advise you on that. Popular card these days seems to be the X1950 Pro. It will put you back about $150 or so but should be able to run Halo 2.

I'm using an 8600GT and it can run Halo 2 relatively well on medium settings in lower resolutions. X1950 Pro will probably be able to run it fine as well. As for GTA...depending on when it comes out, requirements will probably be higher as time goes on. From past GTA's though, the requirements seem relatively low so there may just be hope for you yet. The power supply still worries me though.

[da1daonlyone]

X1950 Pro - looking at ebay how much memory is good enough for the power supply to run on.

[matkun]

The amount of memory on the video card has a negligible impact on the power usage.

If your playing at 1920xwhatever or larger resolution, it's worth it to get the 512 Mb version.. if not, then the 256 Mb version is just as fast.

[Vinman]

The Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB would be perfect, but if you're worried about the PSU, then remember that both the GeForce 7600 GT and Radeon X1650 XT 256MB are low-cost and don't require a PCI Express power cable.

[da1daonlyone]

well the price difference on ebay are around $50 more for 1950 and around $20 more for 512 mb. ill get the 1950 if i can get the money or ill stick with the 1650. thx alot for the help.

I just checked this out: Radeon X1650 Pro 512MB. Its around the same price, but with more memory. should i get this instead

[Vinman]

No, and be VERY careful when buying a Radeon X1650 card, as these are NOT alike.

The Radeon X1650 Pro is a low-end part based on the X1600, while the X1650 XT is a newer model with much higher performance.

And no, I do not understand why ATI did this.

You should also check out the Radeon 2600 HD line if you need the DX10 feature set.

[da1daonlyone]

So your saying the memory difference isnt really that big of a deal

[matkun]

So your saying the memory difference isnt really that big of a deal

Yep.. Memory plays a much lesser role (as long as it's atleast 256 MB) then the speed of the card's GPU.

X1950 Pro >> X1650 XT >> X1650 Pro

I'd say X1950 could deliver 50 FPS on average in most 2006-2007 games, X1650 XT ~30-40, X1650 Pro around 20.