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Thinking about upgrading my Graphics Card in the future (Need advice)
Hey all,
I bought a Dell Inspiron 570 just under three months ago and am very happy with it since the day of delivery. In the future I have been thinking that I may want to upgrade the graphics card to something more beefy. Currently I have a 1 GB AMD Radeon 6450 HD card, which don't get me wrong is working well for me, it can handle most of the PC games I play without trouble and it certainly comfortable with general everyday use, however it does slightly lack on 3D performance and hence it's something I'm considering to upgrade in the future.
I've been doing my research and I've been reading over the technical documentation for my Inspiron 570 MT and found that it has a 300W power supply, this of course is not enough for higher end graphics cards that I'd be looking to upgrade to. My first question is what would be the best way to go about in purchasing a new power supply? Dell obviously sell them but I didn't get the impression they were for aimed for performance. Another question on the power supply front, how can I find out what wattage my motherboard can handle? Looking around many of the higher performance GPU's require a minimum of 400W possibly more. Would my motherboard be able to handle a higher wattage power supply?
Finally looking over the 570 MT technical documents I was unable to find out if my motherboard has a PCI express slot, if someone could help clear that up that would be great also.
I'm basically just looking for general advice from fellow Dell owners that may have performed a similar upgrade and the best way to go about it. I'm not looking to actually perform any upgrade at the moment, just something I'm thinking about for the future and want to get some background info.
Any advice/information that anyone can give would be greatly appreciated!
My 570 MT's Specs are:
Operating System: MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 840
RAM: 6.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 667MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 04GJJT (CPU 1)
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6450
Hard Drive: 977GB Seagate ST31000524AS ATA Device (SATA)
Optical Drives: TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653H ATA Device DTSoftBusCd00
Audio: Realtek High Definition Audio
Thanks,
James
speedstep
8 Wizard
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47K Posts
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July 16th, 2011 10:00
The Radeon 5570 works fine with the stock Dell 300w
You have an X16 slot with 2 X1 slots and a 32 bit PCI slot.
DIAMOND MULTIMEDIA ATI Radeon HD 5570 1 GB GDDR3 PCI Express - Dell
Manufacturer Part# : 5570PE31GSB
Dell Part# : A4362095
Dell™ Inspiron™ 560/570
Regulatory Information
Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory Model: DCME & D06M
Regulatory Type: D06M001
Inspiron 570
1
screws (8)
2
system board
You might not be a big graphics card PC buff, but in the under $100 sector, the new ATI Radeon HD 5570 is definitely a product to know. Tom's Hardware shares their excellent, extremely thorough review of the product here.
And to note, the 5570 basically the cheapest DX11 card that you can actually play games on, unlike the 5450, which is for HTPCs and not so much for pew pew.
hapkiman
43 Posts
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July 16th, 2011 20:00
Although the 5570 would definitely be an improvement over your 6450, the Radeon HD 5670 is a better card than the 5570 (just as RobinBredin stated above). I would not go with the 5570. You can get a 5670 for less than $100.
This link shows a comparison between the 5570 and the 5670. The 5670 beats it in every category.
www.hwcompare.com/.../radeon-hd-5570-vs-radeon-hd-5670
Plus a unique feature of the Radeon HD 5670 is that it does not require an external power connection to your PSU. It draws all of its power from the PCI-e slot on your motherboard.
Do some good research if you are still undecided. My recommendation (which is just my humble opinion) would be to get the Radeon HD 5670 if you don't change out your PSU, and a Radeon HD 5770 if you do change it out (to at least a 500 or more watt PSU). The 5770 is even better than the 5670. It is a good card.
Double check with Dell and AMD to make certain your mobo is compatible with whatever card you decide before you buy it.
I would still consider upgrading your PSU regardless whatever you decide, but do a little more research first. I'm not certain if the Inspiron 570 MT utilizes an standard ATX form factor PSU or not. If it does, you can easily find one and change it out yourself. It's not hard. I would not get less than a 500-600 watt [good quality] PSU. Good brands are Corsair, Antec, XFX, and PC Power-Cooling. NEVER put a low quality PSU into your system. If your system does not use a standard ATX form factor PSU, then I would advise against changing it out because it is a proprietary Dell unit, and things will not work right if you mess with it. Just be certain before you do it.
I changed out my XPS 7100's PSU to a Corsair TX650 watt with no probs. But it is a standard ATX form factor.
Good luck.
speedstep
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July 18th, 2011 06:00
I have seen 5570 and 5670 cards that use 2 slots.
Any card with the Hair Dryer Dust buster Fan is not Physically going to fit.
The other reason I went with 5570 was that I found a SILENT Model with NO Fan.
Mfr Part #: H557HR1G
UPC:4895139004113
hapkiman
43 Posts
1
July 18th, 2011 11:00
That's good. Just remember to go with a good qualilty brand, and I use 600 watts as kind of the median point to start with (could go with 500, or with 700). Also, one issue I had with my Corsair TX650 was that non-modular PSU's have A LOT of cables and connectors attatched to them, some that you won't even use. Since my XPS 7100 has a relatively small case, (and I had a full sized Radeon HD 5770 card), I had a little trouble packing all of these cables neatly away in there. You don't want any cables blocking the middle or open portions because you need good air flow to avoid any over-heating. Luckily I had an open drive bay, and most of them fit pretty neatly into this bay.
I tell you this because I'm not sure how much room you have inside your case (especially if you change your card), but if it's tight like mine was, you might want to consider a modular PSU. These units have detatchable cables, allowing you to use only the ones needed. It can save a lot of space if you need it just FYI.
This is an example of a good quality modular unit (both Antec and Corsair are really good):
www.newegg.com/.../Product.aspx
hapkiman
43 Posts
1
July 19th, 2011 13:00
@James2k
Yes both are excellent choices. You should have a nice set-up with the Phenom II x4 840 and a 5770. I have a XFX Radeon HD 5770 myself and I highly recommend it. It is a great mid-level card and you will see quite a jump from the 6450. The 5770 is perhaps the best performing card available in this price range/category. I can run the game Crysis 2 with all settings on "Extreme" and still get around 40 FPS. If I turn down some of the details it jumps up to 50+ FPS. It's a good card.
Just make certain you completely uninstall all of your old drivers for the 6450 (even though they are ATI) prior to physically inserting the new card. Then update with the latest drivers for the 5770 and you should be good to go. The AMD Vision Engine Control Center will allow you to tweak the card to your personal liking.
One last thing. You may already know this, but be aware of a static electricity hazard when working inside your case. Be sure and touch the side of the metal case repeatedly while you work, or wear an anti-static wrist strap. It's not uncommon to fry a component (and it's usually the CPU) with static electricity from your hand.
RobinBredin
3.7K Posts
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July 16th, 2011 13:00
I'm using the ATI HD 5670 in mt 570 with no problems.
James2k
278 Posts
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July 17th, 2011 09:00
Hey all,
Thanks for your all your suggestions and advice. I'll be certainly keeping it in mind when I come to upgrade my graphics card.
SpeedStep: The 5570 seems very reasonable on price and performance! Thanks for your detailed post and clarifying the PCI slot setup in my 570 MT. I've bookmarked those technical documents and shop link to the 5570.
RobinBredin: That's great that your running a card that I might upgrade to in the future, would you be able to tell me what PSU your running i.e. the stock Dell one or one you put in yourself? And if your running a custom one what wattage is it?
hapkiman: The 5670 also sounds like a contender, thank you for chiming in on that, the benchmarks from 5670 seem very good. You also raised a good point regarding standard ATX form factor PSU's. I am unfamiliar with Dell's motherboards so that's something to research further. I might actually ask Dell themselves to find that one out as thus far nothing from Google searches has turned up anything conclusive.
Again thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.
Thanks,
James
RobinBredin
3.7K Posts
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July 17th, 2011 16:00
I'm running the Dell stock, which is 300w.
hapkiman
43 Posts
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July 17th, 2011 16:00
@James2k
Just be aware there are two main versions of the Radeon HD 5670 (and several diiferent brand distributors). I was referring to the version which contains 1 GB of DDR5 RAM. The version RobinBredin mentioned is apparently the 512MB version. Although not a significant difference, I would go with the 1 GB version if you have the option. There is very little difference in price.
Also, be aware that AMD (who make the CPU for the card) recommends a minimum of a 400 watt PSU to run this card even though it does not connect directly to it. Obviously it will work with a 300 watt if RobinBredin is using it, but you should be aware. If the PSU has a ceiling less than the overall power-pull (CPU/RAM/Videocard, etc..), you could take a hit on performance and see a slowdown in certain applications.
www.amd.com/.../ati-radeon-hd-5670-overview.aspx
speedstep
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July 17th, 2011 20:00
keep in mind Any card MUST BE single slot. 2x wide cards will not fit
James2k
278 Posts
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July 18th, 2011 01:00
@hapkiman Thanks for clarifying, I definitely want to get a 1GB card, most likely DDR5 over DDR3 but that's not that critical. I understand the PSU situation also. I still need to find out if the Dell PSU can be swapped out easily or not. I'll try and contact Dell later on today.
@SpeedStep I think the mentioned 5570 and 5670 are both compatible with my motherboard right, single slot?
James2k
278 Posts
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July 18th, 2011 10:00
Ah I see what you mean. Thanks for the heads up.
@hapkiman: It looks like my 570 does have ATX compatibility, so I should be able to swap out the PSU with no problem.
James2k
278 Posts
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July 18th, 2011 13:00
Thanks for the tip on modular PSU's, I definitely want to have good air flow so modular will be the route I'll go down I think. I'm thinking Corsair for the brand due to it's good overall reputation and several of my friends owning Corsair PSU's for high performance gaming and having nothing but good points to say about them.
Here's a Corsair PSU I've found on scan.co.uk (UK site which is more regional to me):
www.scan.co.uk/.../650w-corsair-hx-series-modular-80-plus-bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-120mm-fan
I think it's the same one as the one you suggested.
James2k
278 Posts
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July 19th, 2011 12:00
So after browsing around and doing some more research I've decided to go with this setup:
PSU:
www.scan.co.uk/.../650w-corsair-hx-series-modular-80-plus-bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-120mm-fan
GPU:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-185-XF&tool=3
I think the GPU is a good deal especially it being single slot also.
James2k
278 Posts
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July 19th, 2011 13:00
@hapkiman
Yeah I thought after talking about the 5570 and 5670 I thought I'd go the extra bit on performance and go a bit bigger. I'm glad you own a 5770 and have had good results with it!
Thanks for reminder, I will make sure to uninstall the 6450 drivers before hand.
I always ground myself by touching the metal casing when I'm working on my PC. Not one incident yet! (Touch wood or metal in this case!)
I did message Dell to see if my Motherboard is ATX Compatible and I haven't got an answer from them yet, but I did find in my technical specifications guide:
Power (system board) one 24-pin EPS 12V connector
(ATX-compatible)
So I'm confident that it is ATX compatible without Dell's response.
All going well I should receive the components on Saturday and fit them by the weekend. I'll post back with an update.
Just want to say again thank you all, hapkiman, SpeedStep and RobinBredin for your input and guidance. If the Dell forums had a Rep system or something of that nature, I would be giving you all + Rep.