Help wit a low power video card

[drewdini]

Hey guys, I bought a dell "E510" a couple monthes ago and just now
decided that I need a video card. Problem, the power sluply in the dell
is a 300watt, and all the cards I was looking at take more. I could
replace the psu, but This is by no means my gaming pc, but really more
of a media, a few easy games, etc.
So to my question, would anyone hav any recomendations for a decent
pci-e x16 video card that would run on a 300 wat psu. Again let me say
that I do not need to play doom or anything like that, sims or wow, but
nothing killer. Thanks a lot.

Drew

 

[Mike T.]

Hey guys, I bought a dell "E510" a couple monthes ago and just now
decided that I need a video card. Problem, the power sluply in the dell
is a 300watt, and all the cards I was looking at take more. I could
replace the psu, but This is by no means my gaming pc, but really more
of a media, a few easy games, etc.
So to my question, would anyone hav any recomendations for a decent
pci-e x16 video card that would run on a 300 wat psu. Again let me say
that I do not need to play doom or anything like that, sims or wow, but
nothing killer. Thanks a lot.

Drew

You need to rethink this. Regardless of how crappy your current video
solution is, any significant video card upgrade is going to require a new
power supply. You might be able to find a "better" video card that doesn't
require a power supply upgrade, but it won't be worth upgrading TO, in
comparison to what you've got already.

And yes, I know you need nothing "killer". Problem is, modern PCI-Express
graphics cards are all pretty much "killer", unless they are not
significantly better than what you already have. Note I said, "unless they
are not significantly better than what you already have".

You've got another potential problem. Modern video cards get power from one
(or both) of two different connections. Obviously all power comes from the
power supply, but some is transferred through the mainboard, and some
(usually) comes from a line directly connected to the power supply. If you
buy a video card that will be worth the effort to upgrade, you will most
likely need a PCI-Express power connection on the power supply, to supply
power to it. I'd be willing to bet there's a 50% chance that your power
supply doesn't have it. AND, if your power supply is missing this vital
connector, your power supply is too weak to use an "adapter" to add a
PCI-Express power connector to it (if it even has enough spare molex
connectors, which is not a given).

Too late, but the time to figure out you needed the video card was before
you bought the Dell. -Dave

 

[drewdini]

Thanks for all the info, but I think you missed what I was asking. This
a verry new dell, but when I bought I left the video card box
unchecked, caus I had already spent to much, thinking I would just do
it later. So all is an upgrade over nothing. I went back to the dell
page, and what they were shipping mine with was either an Ati X300SE,
or an X600 SE, so I asume thoes caurd would be under the limits of the
psu. I was just curious if there were other cards around that range,
and what peoples experience with thoes cards were. Also what would be a
similar Nvidia card.


Drew

 

[Mike T.]

Thanks for all the info, but I think you missed what I was asking. This
a verry new dell, but when I bought I left the video card box
unchecked, caus I had already spent to much, thinking I would just do
it later. So all is an upgrade over nothing. I went back to the dell
page, and what they were shipping mine with was either an Ati X300SE,
or an X600 SE, so I asume thoes caurd would be under the limits of the
psu. I was just curious if there were other cards around that range,
and what peoples experience with thoes cards were. Also what would be a
similar Nvidia card.


Drew

You telling me that Dell shipped a box with NO video output?
Interesting. -Dave

 

[drewdini]

It hac crapy onboard, and I had the option to upgrade to thoes Ati
cards, but I was feeling cheap at the moment. The onboard video has
worked fine, but this computer is now being used at one of my other
offices, and sometimes when I get board I like to play a bit of Sims2
or WOW. All high end gaming is done at my house, but I just wanted
something.

Drew

 

[Mike T.]

It hac crapy onboard, and I had the option to upgrade to thoes Ati
cards, but I was feeling cheap at the moment. The onboard video has
worked fine, but this computer is now being used at one of my other
offices, and sometimes when I get board I like to play a bit of Sims2
or WOW. All high end gaming is done at my house, but I just wanted
something.

Drew

In that case, what I wrote earlier stands. Onboard video isn't so crappy
anymore. A dedicated video card will almost always beat it. But I
understood that you were looking for a significant upgrade. That'll be
tough to do, without replacing the power supply.

Have you tried Sims2 or WOW with the onboard video? -Dave

 

[Paul]

It hac crapy onboard, and I had the option to upgrade to thoes Ati
cards, but I was feeling cheap at the moment. The onboard video has
worked fine, but this computer is now being used at one of my other
offices, and sometimes when I get board I like to play a bit of Sims2
or WOW. All high end gaming is done at my house, but I just wanted
something.

Drew

There is an article here that measures power consumption on some
popular cards, and video cards vary between say 30 watts to 120 watts.
One penalty, is the video card still has a significant power
consumption when you are not gaming, so there is kinda a permanent
"tax" to owning a fancy video card - it shows up on your power bill.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gpu-consumption2006.html

Paul

 

[Michael Hawes]

In that case, what I wrote earlier stands. Onboard video isn't so crappy
anymore. A dedicated video card will almost always beat it. But I
understood that you were looking for a significant upgrade. That'll be
tough to do, without replacing the power supply.

Have you tried Sims2 or WOW with the onboard video? -Dave

Download and run 3dmark03 and 05. That will show what your present
performance is, and what graphics are capable of. this
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=329251.is
passive cooled, so should be low power. Google for online specification.
Mike.