[heartgrave]

hello all i am looking to upgrade my graphics card. i guess the one i got now is pretty good from what i hear but im a gamer and i like my graphics to be top notch. being new to this site im not sure if my system specs i put in on the sign up page are shown so here are my specs:

Manufacturer: Dell
Model: Inspiron 537
Processor: Pentium Dual-Core Cpu E5200 @ 2.50GHz 2.49GHz
Memory: 4GB
System Type: 64-bit operating system
Hard drive: 500Gig

everything below deals with graphics card device specs
Graphics Card: ATI Raedeon HD 3450
Chip Type: ATI display adapter (0x95c5)
DAC Type: Internal DAC (400MHz)
Approx Total Memory 2041MB

i play world of warcraft and rift (currently in beta) which are very 3D intensive games with alot of... i guess u can say everything going on, on screen. world of warcraft isnt as bad with the graphics as rift is and with world of warcraft i got the settings set to high (with the choices being Min, Low, Med, High, Ultra and Cutsom) and have NO lag. Rift on the other hand i have set to minimum graphics and still get a bit of lag here and there. what graphics card can i use or upgrade to from the current 1? can i use more then 1 card on this system to help better my gameplay? and is it ok to mix match cards (use 1 from nvidia and 1 from ati for example)?

thanks alot

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Hi heartgrave
The specs for your computer show your MB has 1 X pci-e X16 slot which rules out the Sli or Crossfire option unless you also swap the MB, two other things that will determine your options are your budget and the output of your PSU.
Unless you have previously fitted a better brand and more powerful PSU you will presently have a stock 300W generic type, this will not power the type of quality GFX card you are looking for, post the requested info and we will make some suggestions for you.

[phillpower2]

Hi heartgrave
The specs for your computer show your MB has 1 X pci-e X16 slot which rules out the Sli or Crossfire option unless you also swap the MB, two other things that will determine your options are your budget and the output of your PSU.
Unless you have previously fitted a better brand and more powerful PSU you will presently have a stock 300W generic type, this will not power the type of quality GFX card you are looking for, post the requested info and we will make some suggestions for you.

[heartgrave]

english? all i want to know is what card i can upgrade to and if i can have more then 1 card placed in my computer and if mix matching them is possible without blowing something up lol.

budget isnt an issue and psu is what exaclty? and how do i find its output?

"your MB has 1 X pci-e X16 slot"
and how can u tell all that info just by what i have put up there?

thanks

Edited by heartgrave, 08 February 2011 - 01:10 PM.

[phillpower2]

english? all i want to know is what card i can upgrade to and if i can have more then 1 card placed in my computer and if mix matching them is possible without blowing something up lol.

Your PC specs are here http://www.dell.com/...537&cs=22&s=dfh
This information dictates what card you can upgrade to, the PSU (power supply unit) and pci-e X16 slot (where your GFX card goes) is all in the specifications, as for your budget not being an issue, well it doesn`t tell us that so we have to ask.
We can do some research now and make some recommendations, this will include for a card and a PSU if necessary.

[phillpower2]

GFX card http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125363
PSU http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139005
How to swap your PSU http://www.soft30.co...anual/power.htm
Before you purchase a PSU it is advisable to measure the present one, this will ensure the new one fits in your mini tower case.

[heartgrave]

english? all i want to know is what card i can upgrade to and if i can have more then 1 card placed in my computer and if mix matching them is possible without blowing something up lol.

Your PC specs are here http://www.dell.com/...537&cs=22&s=dfh
This information dictates what card you can upgrade to, the PSU (power supply unit) and pci-e X16 slot (where your GFX card goes) is all in the specifications, as for your budget not being an issue, well it doesn`t tell us that so we have to ask.
We can do some research now and make some recommendations, this will include for a card and a PSU if necessary.

thanks alot for all your help

[heartgrave]

alright is there an equal card for a bit cheaper... i know i said budget isnt an issue but im also not looking to spend that amount on something i dont necessarily "need"

thanks again

[phillpower2]

Not quite an equal but almost as good;
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814161338 or http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127490
The 1st card will fit in a micro atx case so it will fit in yours, you will need to upgrade your PSU to be able to run either of these cards.

[heartgrave]

thanks alot again so whats the difference between http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125363 and these 2?

from what i see the http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125363 has a mini hdmi slot and thats a negative for me so its not just the price that turns me away from it its the mini hdmi too...

of the 2 u posted whats the better of the 2?

Edited by heartgrave, 10 February 2011 - 05:03 PM.

[phillpower2]

The links in the last post do not work.
The difference between the 1st card I suggested is it is faster but as it is that much more expensive it comes at a price.
Out of the 3 cards this is the best option when you compare the price to performance ratio and the 193 positive feedback reports at newegg which show it has a good track rating http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127490

[heartgrave]

so i just went to go take my computer apart to see the dimensions of the psu and to clean out the dust and see what id be up against and 1 little minor detail prevented me from doing so... RIVETS!!!
they look just like this... how do i get them out? im great when it comes to the virtual side of computers but when it gets down to mechanical crap and the guts and machine parts of a computer im just plain stupid

thanks all in advanced

[heartgrave]

The links in the last post do not work.
The difference between the 1st card I suggested is it is faster but as it is that much more expensive it comes at a price.
Out of the 3 cards this is the best option when you compare the price to performance ratio and the 193 positive feedback reports at newegg which show it has a good track rating http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127490

lol sorry about the broken links lol i just copy and pasted the ones u posted lol... i was looking at the card too i like it.

i have to say thank u so much for putting up with me and helping with all this i really appreciate all your work thanks alot

1 other question i guess i have and that is will this card (the one thats linked in the quote above) be worth my time and money or will it just be a miniscule upgrade? how will i tell if it did anything for me? the other thing im seeing ... my current graphics card (listed in my first post) has 1 gig more memory then this 1 is that good or bad?

Edited by heartgrave, 10 February 2011 - 06:06 PM.

[phillpower2]

my current graphics card (listed in my first post) has 1 gig more memory then this 1 is that good or bad?

Possible misunderstanding on the available memory on your present GFX card;


Your present GFX card details which were obtained from the Dell spec sheet;
Graphics & Video
Integrated Intel® GMA 4500 graphics* up to ATI RadeonTM HD 3450 256MB graphics* options available
The suggested card details;
Chipset Manufacturer ATI
GPU Radeon HD 5770
Core Clock 875MHz
Stream Processors 800 Stream Processing Units Memory
Effective Memory Clock 1200MHz (4.8Gbps)
Memory Size 1GB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR5
This card is far superior in every aspect compared to the HD 3450, manufacturers would love to put better quality GFX cards in their computers but it would also mean putting in bigger and better quality PSUs to support the card, this would dramatically increase the retail cost of their machines which in turn would make them harder to sell, a good example of this is Dells own Alenware systems http://www.alienware.com/

[heartgrave]

the psu and gfx card should be here any day now

thanks so much

[phillpower2]

You are welcome
Let us know how you get on or if we can help in any way.