[Porkins76]

Hi,

 

Just wanted to ask the community a quick question. I am currently using a AMD Radeon HD 5700 Series video card. Think it is like 5750 or something. I am just curious about what card I could safely upgrade it to. I have a Dell Motherboard Product # ONWWYO with Chipset: AMD RS780/RS880. I also have a 460watt power supply.

 

Just wondering if I could safely support a series R7 card? I looked at the specs for the R9 cards and it seems they need a 500 watt power supply. Basically I'm trying to get my rig to be able to run Elder Scrolls Online adequately. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks so much.

 

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Porkins76,

 

 

Best to give complete make and model number of PC for us to help. Motherboard model does not show correct.Dell's site has options to scan system for upgrades.If PC is old sometimes makes it hard to support newer Video cards ( Like R9) with CPU on system, may cause what is called bottlenecking, be more determined by seeing specs better first to give you an idea on what is best for PC. .https://davescomputertips.com/how-to-determine-gpu-vs-cpu-bottlenecks-and-possible-solutions/ 

 

 

http://accessories.u...direct=1&~ck=mn

Edited by jds63, 12 August 2015 - 02:46 PM.

[jds63]

Porkins76,

 

 

Best to give complete make and model number of PC for us to help. Motherboard model does not show correct.Dell's site has options to scan system for upgrades.If PC is old sometimes makes it hard to support newer Video cards ( Like R9) with CPU on system, may cause what is called bottlenecking, be more determined by seeing specs better first to give you an idea on what is best for PC. .https://davescomputertips.com/how-to-determine-gpu-vs-cpu-bottlenecks-and-possible-solutions/ 

 

 

http://accessories.u...direct=1&~ck=mn

Edited by jds63, 12 August 2015 - 02:46 PM.

[Porkins76]

Not sure if something like this is what you were looking for. Thank you so much for your response by the way. I didn't know Dell's site had a place to scan system for upgrades. Will check that out too.

 

OS Name    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version    6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description     Not Available
OS Manufacturer    Microsoft Corporation
System Name    STEVE-PC
System Manufacturer    Dell Inc.
System Model    Studio XPS 7100
System Type    x64-based PC
Processor    AMD Phenom™ II X6 1075T Processor, 3000 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 6 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date    Dell Inc. A06, 9/10/2010
SMBIOS Version    2.6
Windows Directory    C:\Windows
System Directory    C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device    \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale    United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer    Version = "6.1.7601.17514"
User Name    Steve-PC\Steve
Time Zone    Eastern Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)    8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory    8.00 GB
Available Physical Memory    4.99 GB
Total Virtual Memory    16.0 GB
Available Virtual Memory    12.5 GB
Page File Space    8.00 GB
Page File    C:\pagefile.sys
 

[jds63]

Few different models of AMD R7. AMD R7  360, 370,  260X, 265 and 250. Should all be fine on PC now that i am able to get a better look at specs, only one PCI-e x16 slot on this system.

Matters how much willing to spend and amount of gaming or graphics you do if worth even trying the AMD R9 over the R7, of course a better card the  R9.

 

Of course out of the AMD model R7 the 370 is better one, few different variations of it according to amounts of RAM and speed. https://www.google.com/search?q=AMD+R7+Video+cards&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=AMD+R7+370+Video+cards  

 

 

As i could not seem to find amount of wattage and Amps for this card needed from a Power Supply, both wattage and amps are what you need to make sure of, might always want to go slightly above what is required by a Video card as to factor in other hardware installed. If do decide stick with either companies, ASUS, MSI .Need more help on this, feel free to keep asking.

[Porkins76]

Few different models of AMD R7. AMD R7  360, 370,  260X, 265 and 250. Should all be fine on PC now that i am able to get a better look at specs, only one PCI-e x16 slot on this system.

Matters how much willing to spend and amount of gaming or graphics you do if worth even trying the AMD R9 over the R7, of course a better card the  R9.

 

Of course out of the AMD model R7 the 370 is better one, few different variations of it according to amounts of RAM and speed. https://www.google.com/search?q=AMD+R7+Video+cards&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=AMD+R7+370+Video+cards  

 

 

As i could not seem to find amount of wattage and Amps for this card needed from a Power Supply, both wattage and amps are what you need to make sure of, might always want to go slightly above what is required by a Video card as to factor in other hardware installed. If do decide stick with either companies, ASUS, MSI .Need more help on this, feel free to keep asking.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to respond and provide all of this help! And it has been very helpful.

 

I was looking to spend up to $250 or so at most but certainly don't need to go that high. I was thinking also of one of the AMD R7 cards tops. Maybe even and R5 if they are still around. Basically am just trying to be able to play Elder Scrolls Online and don't think my current card would handle it as it is 2 generations I believe under the specs.

 

If I did go with an R7 card would go with a lower end model. I don't know my ampage on my PS but did see it is 460watts. As I was looking up cards I saw that R9 cards require 500 watt power supplies. I didn't see a wattage specification for any of the R7 cards I was looking at though. But if you think I could handle an R7 I will keep researching those cards.

 

Again thank you so very much for your help!!!

[Porkins76]

Was thinking about going with this card. I'm just nervous about the power supply. I didn't see any recommended specs. I will keep doing some research to see if I can find a recommended wattage. Maybe check ASUS's web site.

 

Again thank you so much.

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814121965

Edited by Porkins76, 12 August 2015 - 10:17 PM.

[phillpower2]

Hope you don't mind the interjection folks 

 

You want this upgrade to not only perform well but also to last, to help ensure both I would suggest a slight budget increase to around $280 which would allow for a PSU upgrade and a better quality video card, for better gaming and video quality a minimum 256-bit video card would be better.

 

Example upgrade suggestions: GTX 770 video card and EVGA 500W bronze rated PSU

[Porkins76]

Hope you don't mind the interjection folks 

 

You want this upgrade to not only perform well but also to last, to help ensure both I would suggest a slight budget increase to around $280 which would allow for a PSU upgrade and a better quality video card, for better gaming and video quality a minimum 256-bit video card would be better.

 

Example upgrade suggestions: GTX 770 video card and EVGA 500W bronze rated PSU

Thank you so much Phillpower for your input. Yes I will take all the advice I can get. I do have a few concerns/challenges with going your route however. First is budget. Second is I feel relatively comfortable installing a video card but a power supply is something I don't know if I would tackle. So I would have to pay someone to install it which would also tack on a few extra dollars. Also, considering my mother board would it  support both the card and power supply you suggested? Cause I know I couldn't afford a new motherboard on top of the rest.

 

That being the case. Would you mind sharing your input on the previous option about the card I posted. It would be considerably less money and I do feel.... somewhat positive my current power supply would handle it. It is 460watts which isn't too far from the 500watt one. However I don't know much about power supplies if that is a huge difference or if the 500w one comes with far superior features.

 

Your feedback is greatly appreciated Phill thanks!

Edited by Porkins76, 13 August 2015 - 05:19 AM.

[phillpower2]

You are welcome Porkins76 

 

To address your concerns:

 

As you will be aware you get what you pay for and you will not get anything other than an entry level video card for less than $200 unless the card is on special offer, see benchmarks here

 

Swapping out a standard ATX PSU is not as difficult as you may think, we would walk you through it and provide links to tutorials to help.

 

From research which lead me to here, your present PSU is not adequate for an R7 360 video card as they require 500 Watts & 33 Amps on the +12V rail, if you take off the side of the computer case you will most likely find that the present PSU is the AcBel brand, I personally would not use such a PSU as a doorstop let alone near my computer.

 

RE your question relating to the MB and any potential upgrades, you will note in my reply #7 that it says " Example upgrade suggestions: " this was to emphasize the sort of quality and performance that you should be aiming for so as to avoid disappointment, please see my canned text below for considerations that I always mention to members who are considering a GPU upgrade;

 

Please note that before purchasing an add on video card that the following must be considered;

 

Is the present PSU (power supply unit) powerful enough or will it also need upgrading.

 

What type of case do you have, full tower, mid tower or SFF (small form factor) this is important as you must make sure that there is enough room inside the case for the upgrade/s, upgrading a SFF type system can be difficult as they often use propriety components such as smaller and differing shape PSUs and they only have enough room inside the case for a low profile type add on card.

 

 

Cannot comment on the particular card at your link other than to say that it having no reviews does not instil confidence in me 

 

An article you may find of some help here

[Porkins76]

Thank you so much Phill for your great feedback and advice! It would appear going the original route I was thinking would not be the best one. What I will do is research some cards similar to yours as well as power supplies. And yea if I would go far as going through with the purchase I know I would need assistance installing the power supply. I will just need to look over my budget some. I might have to wait until I can afford both the better card and power supply at the same time.

 

Regarding the type of case I have I really could say. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between one from the other.

 

I am gonna mark this topic as resolved at this point and perhaps start up another discussion after I do more research on the cards and PSU's that you are recommending.

 

Thank you so very much for your help!

 

Steve

[jds63]

Your Welcome for my input ! My interjection is with a power supply size that you are worrying about, as like one Phill mentioned it's a standard size of   3.3" x 5.9" x 5.5" (H x W x L) should fit fine in that Dell case, as long as stick with this size should be fine.We can guide you here or provide guides to help you install one, first time i did one i thought the same as you, but not that hard at all just follow same way see one you have in there now.

 

AcBel brand, believe Korean some other Asian company, real standard stuff to save money on retail builds,shame on Dell.

 

I also see we suggested NVIDIA now over AMD which both are good brands, i tend to favor NVIDIA, but i felt your chipset was AMD so would be fine. Although some of ratings of R7 were not that good compared to other AMD cards.

Again seems like not going to play many games or possibly do any other graphic intense programs may need higher end card and you always get bit more wattage then what you exactly need for your hardware devices.Example have a 460 W PSU now, buy a card that needs 400W PSU.

Edited by jds63, 13 August 2015 - 02:04 PM.

[iammykyl]

Gday.

For future reference, size of PSU supplied in the Studio XPS 7100 > http://www.aquamoont...product_id=4049

[phillpower2]

You are most welcome Steve 

 

Any further questions along the way feel free to ask here, one of us will be around somewhere 

[Porkins76]

Dear Phil and everyone else who was kind enough to respond to my first post.

 

Just wanted to say I did go with the video card that you had specified Phil. I did end up going with a 600watt power supply however and not the 500w. I read somewhere on the specs that the card did require a 600w one.

 

I will admit though that I totally caved and had it installed for me. I did pay for it but feel good about the whole process.

 

Here is my question though. How will I be able to tell the improvement since I know the term bottlenecking has been mentioned here and there. I did load all the games I currently run and it was difficult at first glance to see any difference. Am just curious.

 

Anyhow I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone for the help. Was a fun project and I think I learned a thing or too also.

 

Steve

 

[phillpower2]

Hello Steve,

 

Bottlenecks are caused when the performance of one or more components are far inferior to that of others, not the case here and the only one thing that could have been better for you was if the present Ram was 1600MHz as opposed to 1333MHz.

 

You can put your new card and other components to the test with Valley benchmark (free) which you can download from here

 

Glad to hear that you have learned things along the way and as ever you are welcome 

 

BTW: Your two threads were merged to keep all of the relevant information in one place to avoid any confusion