power supply and video card??????

Fifty

Fifty

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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So I think Im going to get this computer, upgraded to the Q6600 processor.

I want to eventually get a video card for it... nothing super-fancy, maybe in the roughly $100 range.

I've been looking at different video cards and stuff and some talk about having t o upgade the power supply in order to run them.

I don't understand any of this stuff.

I'm wondering if someone could point me in the direction of good video cards around that price point that will both fit in that computer case, and that will not require any other upgrades (like a power supply upgrade).

power supply it comes with:

Power
300 Watt DC Power Supply
Backup battery: 3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell

case dimensions:

Dimensions
H: 14.2 inches (36.2 cm)
W: 6.7 inches (17.0 cm)
D: 17.1 inches (43.5 cm)
 
For $100, the HD3650 from Dell will do everything you need it to. I have the laptop version and it plays everything. It might'nt be the best deal, but it's convenient to get it in the computer and from Dell as it's not going to have problems with your PSU.
 
A 300 watt power supply is on the low end for many modern cards. Don't forget your power consumption is going to be the sum of your HD, CPU, video card, dvd drive, and motherboard. Even with a modest graphics card you're looking at about 100 watts of consumption at peak performance.

Here is a performance chart.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/3DMark06-v1-1-0-3DMark-Score,794.html

Similar to the card that tony suggested is the Radeon 3850 which consumes under 100 watts. This might be one of your best bets.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/591/13/

Good luck, and make sure you board has a pci-e slot free and power supply has an extra 26 amp rail.
 
Mulholland said:
Good luck, and make sure you board has a pci-e slot free and power supply has an extra 26 amp rail.
Click to expand...

what the heck does that mean!?

Why is this so impossible to figure out!?!?

Wanna make a billion dollars? Make freaking upgrade components that work in the type of computers most people actually have, rather than ones that only work in 10x10ft cases cooled with liquid nitrogen and a 9 trillion watt supply of power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Fifty said:
what the heck does that mean!?

Why is this so impossible to figure out!?!?

Wanna make a billion dollars? Make freaking upgrade components that work in the type of computers most people actually have, rather than ones that only work in 10x10ft cases cooled with liquid nitrogen and a 9 trillion watt supply of power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
Click to expand...
Good luck breaking the laws of physics first.

Mulholland said:
A 300 watt power supply is on the low end for many modern cards. Don't forget your power consumption is going to be the sum of your HD, CPU, video card, dvd drive, and motherboard. Even with a modest graphics card you're looking at about 100 watts of consumption at peak performance.

Here is a performance chart.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/3DMark06-v1-1-0-3DMark-Score,794.html

Similar to the card that tony suggested is the Radeon 3850 which consumes under 100 watts. This might be one of your best bets.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/591/13/

Good luck, and make sure you board has a pci-e slot free and power supply has an extra 26 amp rail.
Click to expand...
The HD 3850 needs way too much power for fifty's proposed system. 200W at peak will overload his PSU considering it would already have a Q6600 on it, as well as some other addons. Im fairly certain that if you buy the HD 3650 that dell is offering that they would throw in a more powerful PSU, like 400W at least. In that case, getting that gpu should be fine for now and will allow for an upgrade in a year or so to a more powerful one.
 
Yeah, I get your frustration, the first time I built a computer it took about two days to figure out which pieces went with which. Pci-e is a slot that most modern graphics card will fit into. You'd have to look at the specs of the motherboard to see if it has this slot in addition to the onboard GMA graphics device. Further, once you plug that card into the Pci-e slot you will need to plug a 26 amp cable into it so it will pull enough juice to function. Here you'll have to find a schematic of the PSU to see if the 12v 26a cable is included.

Of course dell does not want to make it easy to upgrade their computers. They'd be cutting out alot of planned obsolescence purchases.

Take a look at newegg through the link below. They have prebuilt PC's as well. I'll get back to you if I find anything.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=10&name=Desktop-PCs
 
Fifty said:
Once I buy a monitor though, the cost suddenly balloons to like $900. I really don't want to spend that much! :( That Dell would've cost me like $700
Click to expand...
Like stickciv said you could add the 3650, and it's only $100 more on the Dell website. Might save you alot of headaches later trying to upgrade.
 
Is the 3650 even OK? what sort of game capabilities am I looking at with that card and the Q6600??? How much does the 3650 cost independent of Dell (just so I know how much im being ripped off)
 
:( that was cruel! The reason I asked instead of lookin' is cuz I didn't know whether there was a difference between all the different kinds of "Radeon 3650" that seem to exist.
 
Itll let you do gaming, but not overly heavy. Lets just say, no crysis on high (or medium for that matter) settings for you. It should still be plenty to play the occasional game though.
 
HA, just kidding. Yeah it's a very capable card according to the benchmark chart that I linked you to before. It's about 3/4 of the way up the list(not the one with CF net to it) A 10 000 3d mark score is very respectable.

Edit; It's actually a bit lower than I thought. I misread it for the 3850. Stickciv is right in his analasis.

Edit*2 After looking into some cards for myself I found that a 3850 is 100 Canadian (about $80 US). They are charging you for a 256MB version of the 3650 a comparably much slower card. So you if you get the card for an extra $100 you're really getting ripped off.
 
I decided to get the computer I linked to in the OP, with the Q6600. Dell said that they do not upgrade the PSU for the $100 vid card, although anecdotal reports online seem to indicate that they may upgrade to a 350W on account of my upgrading to the Q6600, though the sales person (who, to be sure, seemed incompetent) denied it.

Big thanks to GB (stickciv), Mars (zelig), and Mulholland for all your help! On the basis of some usage statistics that GB and Mars have looked at, it seems like there are probably some video cards out there that will work. Once I get my base system then we'll worry about the video card from there. :)

Thanks!
 
That thing is fairly inaccurate. I know for a fact that my system wont boot with less than 500 watts yet it shows me only needing 450. Although I guess it really depends to a degree. Still, it use it only as a rough guide, even if its more reliable than manufacturer stated wattage needed.
 
I think it's good if you want a ballpark figure. But yeah, take it with a grain of salt. (Like all generalized hardware advice really).
 
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