Looking For Advice On Good (Not Great) Video Cards

Owenashi

I have a Dell Inspiron 620 with a 300w PSU and I was hoping to use some birthday cash to get a video card for it after almost a year of owning it. I've read in a couple of places online that it could support a Radeon 6670 without needing a PSU swap but I could use some confirmation on that as well as advice on what other cards would be (more) suitable. I'm not looking for a high-end card but something that could let me play SW:TOR reliably at say medium settings for the most part without hurting the computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

urahonky

I can't really help you TOO much as I'm not sure what sort of PSU it is (and whether or not it has the PCI-e power adapter) but I can say that the 6670 won't work. From the specs from ATI's website:

400 Watt or greater power supply recommended (500 Watt for AMD CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)

It would PROBABLY work but I don't like taking my chances with power supplies.

Pirusu

Video card companies always WAY overestimate power requirements for GPUs, because they have to take into account everything else in the system. A 6670 also does not require power from the PSU (so no PCI-E connector needed)

A 6670 should run fine in your system, but if you want the best bang that your system can handle, I'd suggest a:

Radeon 7750

If you can look at your PSU, and the label should tell you how many amps are on the +12v rail. Hopefully it's got at least 20A.

If it does, I'd suggest the 7750 over the 6670.

Owenashi

I found a page that shows off the PSU in my Dell, including the sticker on the side with the stats. Here it is for those that can probably understand it's stats better then I can.

urahonky

e: nevermind

I forgot that you're looking at video cards that don't require it.

Pirusu

Two rails, one with 17A and one with 9A.

You should honestly be okay with a 6670 or a 7750, as long as you aren't overclocking anything.

Owenashi

Yeah, don't worry, I'm not really into overclocking (or know what it properly means). I just want something reliable and present a game like SW:TOR as something more then frame-skipping blobs of color. I guess it sounds weird not to want the latest hot card compared to most computer owners but..

urahonky

Go with the 7750. It's a stout card and should last you a long while.

Owenashi

Checking a 7750 on Tiger Direct says that it's requirement is 450w. Can it still be handled with a 300w or am I safer with the 6670?

Pirusu

You'll be fine with a 300w. Like I said, the estimates on power requirements are vastly overestimated so they can cover their bases as far as overclocking, and other power-hungry system components (which you don't really have).

urahonky

I'm also pretty sure that's the "Recommended" wattage.

slurpeepoop

I don't know if this will help, but I go to this site every single time I build/add to a system.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Just plug in your info, and it will give a pretty good idea of how many jiggawatts you'll need to megahurtz your resomolutions.

Owenashi

Thanks for all the help so far. I think I'll aim for the 6670 unless there's a 7750 on sale. I'll let you guys know how it fares after I get it installed. BTW, is it better to download the current drivers for the card from the card's manufacturer or Radeon itself?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Stormwatcher

And Never, EVER install drivers from the CD.