Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
13 Posts
0
134244
March 6th, 2012 09:00
What Graphics cards are compatible with my Aurora desktop?
Hello everyone, let me apologise if I am asking a question that has been answered before but I always prefer to get an answer to my particular question. Now my problem is I am totally unsure what graphics cards are compatible with my machine, I know that since Alienware make their machines so excellently by ensuring that everything meshes perfectly I am worried that any new hardware may damage the machine ( as you can see I am a novice at all this) I was wondering if it is possible for me to upgrade my NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 that came in the system to a new Nvidia Geforce GTX 460 and if so would it be fine with the system or would I run into problems adding a new component on my own ( though more likely getting an experience engineer to do it).
Thanks for any help you can give me
Conor Goulding (Ireland)
ConorGoulding
13 Posts
0
March 7th, 2012 09:00
well the computer was a gift so I don't have the original listing I only made this account yesterday when I started posting
DeathscytheHC
11 Posts
0
March 7th, 2012 10:00
Looks like your GTX 260 pulls 182 watts under load. You probably want to stick with a GPU with the same rating or less if you aren't sure which PSU you have. The new cards coming out this month are faster, run cooler and consume less power than the current gen of cards. The Radeon HD 7850 and 7870 perform as well if not better than the 560ti and use much less power. Looks like the 7850 pulls 172 watts and the 7870 is 182.
www.geforce.com/.../specifications
techreport.com/.../10
DeathscytheHC
11 Posts
0
March 7th, 2012 11:00
It's not a bad idea to go to the support tab at the top of this page and enter your service tag into your account under "My Products and Services". There is a pretty good amount of information you can find that is specific to your rig. The Dell site is a little hard to navigate through at times, but when you get used to it there is alot to see and learn. You can easily find your drivers and other software downloads you may be missing and not even know about. Browse these forums as much as possible too. There are quite a few very knowledgeable users posting here with some very good information.
ConorGoulding
13 Posts
0
March 7th, 2012 14:00
I did just look through the My Product and Services page, it didn't seem to give any information on the power supply though a lot of it was in short hand. I have tried using the parts and upgrades tool to see what would come up but it both failed to recognize my service tag and failed to do the automatic analyses. However I did manage to add it to my product list, it says it is simply an Alienware Aurora, I imagine if it was a R2 or R3 it would say so ?
Tesla1856
10 Wizard
•
17.9K Posts
•
71.3K Points
0
March 7th, 2012 15:00
If there is a visible small DPN (Dell Part Number) sticker on the Power Supply, we might be able to cross that.
Otherwise, simply remove the PowerSupply and look at the real large sticker for wattage (or just take a picture of it). The PDF Service Manual shows you how (it's not hard).
ConorGoulding
13 Posts
0
March 7th, 2012 17:00
Okay I had a look at the bit sticker on the PSU and it seems I have a unit that can go to a max of 875W, now that is FINALLY teased out will that Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 run all right in this machine, I won't run into any problems with anything else? Finally will it fit?
Tesla1856
10 Wizard
•
17.9K Posts
•
71.3K Points
0
March 7th, 2012 18:00
Yes, it should work.
bills889
133 Posts
0
March 7th, 2012 18:00
Isn't the GTX 460 a little old and outdated? A GTX 560ti or the new AMD 7870's seem like much newer and better options. The 7870 is a next gen card, even waiting for the Nvidia 600 series is a good idea. Buying an outdated card seems like a bad investment. Just my 2 cents...
ConorGoulding
13 Posts
0
March 7th, 2012 19:00
well if you were to balance cost with technology what would you suggest
bills889
133 Posts
0
March 7th, 2012 21:00
Whats your budget and ill come up with a few ideas
ConorGoulding
13 Posts
0
March 8th, 2012 07:00
Hmm €200 sounds appropriate as long as it would not mean I would need to change my processor
bills889
133 Posts
0
March 8th, 2012 12:00
Okay so that is about $260 australian dollars :)
That can get you a nice mid-range card. You can get the following:
GTX 560Ti (keep in mind that nvidia will launch the 600 series in 6 or so months)
AMD 7850 (just released, this uses less power and creates less then the a 560ti)
AMD 7770 (less performance than a 560ti but it's cheaper and usues very little power)
I personally think a next gen card like the amd 7000 series is the way to go. Although the 560 ti is great it just doesnt seem right buying it knowing that nvidia's next series launch is close.
Those cards above can handle any game at the moment at 1080p+high settings.
Fastest Alienwa
3 Posts
0
March 9th, 2012 07:00
Go with this setup and you can't loose:
Alienware Aurora R3 Tricked out
Intel I7-2600k O/C'ed at 4.5Ghz
8GB Vengeance 1866Mhz o/c'ed to 2100Mhz
2- Corsair Force GT 180gb Sata 3 SSD in raid 0 (read1174 - write 1120mb/s)
2- WD Velociraptor 150GB 10000 RPM drives
Asus HD 7950 Direct CU 2 TOP GPU OC'ed to 1100MHz > 3gb GDDR5
(no room left to crossfire freaking card takes up 3 ports)
ASUS 27 " VG278 LED/LCD 3D Monitor running @ 120Hz (this is the best in 120Hz monitors)
Razor Naga MMOG 5600DPI mouse
Nova Winner 3 mouse pad with micro mirrors (bad ass!)
Logitech Z5500 Sound system.
Razer Lycosa gaming keyboard
Fastest Alienwa
3 Posts
0
March 9th, 2012 07:00
I want to chime in on Bills889 observation.. I just installed an ASUS HD7950-DC2T-3GD5 Radeon HD in my Aurora R3 and It was worth every penny. One concern was space due to the card being 11 inches however it fit like a glove. However it was an issue whereas If I cracked the seal on the package and it did not fit; I would face a $75.00 restocking fee.. For all you Aurora R3 owners; If you can afford this card...You will smoke the competition. I have the 875 watt PSU and even If I had the weaker PSU Alienware offers; it still would handle this 7950.. Other mods you should consider is the Corsair Force GT SSD.. I have twin SSD's in RAID 0 and my Crystal 3D benchmark is 1174 mb/s read 1120 mb/s write..