Need upgraded to best video for 755 Any suggestions?

Sorry my 755 is the Desktop format, not the small one.

ok, pretty sure on the 755 Desktop, you could have 2 possible combinations currently.  Because you may have a riser.  But going by the fact that you have a HD2400 PRO/XT installed, you surely have PCIe X16 but if you DON'T have a riser installed, you can only use Low-Profile cards.  The easiest way to tell without opening the PC is to see which way the card is laying now looking at the back of the PC where the monitor is hooked up.  If the Desktop is laying down, which it is most likely, hence Desktop, which way is the card and monitor connector laying. Left-Right or Up-Down ?  If its Up-Down, there is no riser card which means you are limited to Low-Profile vid cards.  If it is left-right, that means you have the riser card installed and therefore you can use Full HEIGHT, Half Length video cards.

Low profile i suggest you get something like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133210

Full height:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133191

Now they are truly the type of cards you want for CAD. Dells spec on the x16 slot are tough though as they say 25W only for the video card.  So i THINK that the FX560 is one of the lower wattage hungry cards. 

If you just prefer to spend less and get better than your current ATI card, and to be sure you are below the 25W threshold i suggest: (For FULL height)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134003

The 7600GS series will beat the HD2400 series hands down.

The current card is about 6.5 inches long. The pc is the largest one in the line up the Mini-Tower. From what I found on the tech spec site it says

ok, if its a Mini-Tower, you can use Full height cards.  So disregard the Low-Profile I mentioned.  Which you then have a 305w PSU, in reality its like having a 400-450w "Generic" psu.  And you dont have the 25w restriction either.  Its 75w which is the PCIe x16 spec prior to 2.0.  So I would surely get an nVidia Quadro like the one i posted above, the FX560 or you can try a nice 8800GT (NOT Quadro) too.  That is about the best with the stock PSU.  Again, 3d rendering/cad/design etc will run best/fastest on a Quadro compared to other normal gaming cards.

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@99bignick99 wrote:
Sorry to hijack this thread, but I also have an Optiplex 755.  It is a desktop model.  Currently, it is not equipped with either a video card (runs off the integrated Intel 3100 chipset) or a riser card cage.  The specification states maximum 25w power to the video card.  I have looked at a lot of video card manufacturers sites to get details on power requirements for various cards but none seem to provide this information.  I would appreciate any advice on how to determine which cards meet the power requirements.  I will install a riser card cage if it gives me the option to install a more powerful video card than the half height cards available.  Any assistance or advice will be appreciated.

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@DSMXP wrote:
Is there one up from the 560 you recommend?

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@99bignick99 wrote:
Thanks for this information and your prompt reply.  Really interesting reading.  If 25 watts is the limitation, then there probably is no use getting the riser card cage as the ATI 2400 XT is probably as good a video card as is feasible.  But one last thought before giving up.  25 watts seems to be the limitation of power that can be supplied through the PCIe bus.  Do you know if is possible to install a video card that requires more than 25 watts but has a seperate power input?  Many of the more powerful video cards have these.

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