XPS 410 Video upgrade options

You have the PCIe 1.0 slot.  However, all 2.0 cards are backwards compatible with the 1.0 versions.  Most cards today are all 2.0, but they can be put in 1.0 slots with really no loss in performance.  The 4890 is a high-end card and you would probably need a new power supply for it to work well.  Your 375 watt PSU is most likely not enough.  The 4890 requires two 6-pin PCIe power cables from your power supply.  I am sure your 375 watt only has one available.  The manufacturers requirement is a 500 watt PSU for this card even though it would not use anywhere near this.  You would be pushing your current power supply too much with this card and you may not meet the amp requirement either.  Also, if you only have the Pentium 4 or Pentium D processor, you may want to consider another card as it would most likely be bottlenecked and not give you the performance it is capable of.  What video card do you currently have in your system and what games do you play? 

I thought I would post here because I have a siilar case, my graphics is not working anymore, maybe it is my pci slot, but i doubt it. I had the nVidia 8600 GTS, for the processor tough, I have itel core 2 4300, 1.80 GHZ. Im looking to get the nVidia gts 250. I just need to know about power supply, it only has one 6 pin slot at the back for power.  

First off, thanks for the response!

Games I'm currently playing...well I guess I could really pare it down to LOTRO and Mass Effect. I've signed off of WoW for a bit but envision a return upon the next expansion release. Also I intend to try out Star Wars: Old Republic and Champions Online once they release, although clearly we can't quite predict their requirements at the moment :)

What I can say is I have to turn off the shadowing in WoW to avoid serious loss in FPS. LOTRO is very dumbed down. I'm a bit of a visual snob and I want to experience my games the way the designer intended - settings cranked to max.

I believe I'm still running with the card the 410 came with - can't remember the model off hand though. I'll have to check later.

I guess the question would be, is the 4890 worth the trouble and extra $$? Seeing that the GTS 250, for example, is not too far down the chart from the 4890 and wouldn't require any tweaks to my power I suppose the question is whether jumping up to the 4890 is wise.

Interesting site. I currently have a 7900 GS, which is 57 on the list!

Am I overshooting a bit with the 4890?

You probably are.  A system with the 4890 in it will probably use 150 more watts than the 7900 GS when under load.  However, you can easily replace the power supply in the XPS 410 with any standard ATX one. 

It really would not be a wise choice for an older XPS 410.  Like I said, you will probably not get the performance out of the card with your older system.  With the card costing $200 and then you add the cost of a good power supply, you could have close to $300 and it would not be worth it.  Generally, a 9600GT or above will play any game out there well enough unless you are just one of those hardcore gamers that needs to max out everything. 

Hmm...well I suppose the question I need to ask myself is whether I'm one of those people that needs to max everything out :p

I know I do for all games I play, but it really depends on the requirements of the games I play how overboard or not I should go.

ok Thanks!, that is an interesting link, I saw one of those back in 2007. So I will get the card, I have been looking for one with HDMI, only a few have that.

here is also a good link to compare teh nvidia cards:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/graphics_cards_buy_now.html

so I found 2 of the best manufacturers, im thinking of going with BFG. PNy seems too expensive for what it has, EVGA is not as good I guess. what do you guys think?

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productcompare.aspx?c=us&category_id=7322&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&prods=A2711106,A2554714,A2925260

The PNY does not exhaust heat out the back so I do not recommend it.  The EVGA is the superclocked edition with the core clock at 771mhz.  The BFG is a 1GB and has core clocked at 750mhz up from the standard of 738mhz.  The BFG is at a  good price if you can make use of the 1GB of memory with a high resolution monitor.   I just have the EVGA 512 at 756mhz and it was only $79 after $40 in rebates plus a free game so it was a good deal for me since I do not have the high resolution monitor.  These factory overclocks are minimal and I don't see them making that much difference.   I think the memory clock speed is up from 2200mhz to 2240mhz on the BFG also.  I generally do not like paying the extra money for a 1GB if it's not going to make a difference or overclocked ones when you can do it yourself if you feel it is necessary. 

As you can see HERE, the EVGA has 110 reviews and the BFG has 2 since nobody really wants to spend an extra $45 just to get a 1GB card.  However, with $25 off the top it makes it a better deal.

Exactly, the only real reason to go with BFG, besides the HDMI which I could just buy an adapter.

about the resolution... I have a 24" ultra sharp monitor(dell),  would the memory benifet for that?

thanks for all the feedback!

If you have the 24" Ultra Sharp, I would go with a 1GB video card.   You might get a few extra FPS and the higher resolution settings.