Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
1 Message
0
27371
March 2nd, 2011 04:00
upgrade GPU in Optiplex 980 (small form factor)
hi,
i'm hoping to upgrade the video card in my Optiplex 980 Small Form Factor. right now, it has an ATI Radeon HD 3450, which is a 25 Watt card. The list on this page (http://www.512bit.net/ati.html) says my options include
b.t.w., the Opti 980 SFF has a 235 watt power supply, i have an i7 860 CPU and a single SATA HDD - lots of typical USB things hanging off the side (DVD/RW, card reader, iPod dock, etc).
No Events found!
JMICHAEL
1.7K Posts
0
March 2nd, 2011 07:00
There are no 6000 series cards that would fit in the SFF case so your only hope for an upgrade is the 5000 series. With only a 235 watt power supply though, you really don't have much to work with. The HD 5450 is no better than your HD 4550 so your only possibility is the HD 5570. If you don't do any gaming that would draw the extra wattage, you may be OK with this card since at idle or 2D it really does not use much more power than the HD 4550. If you push it with gaming, it can draw up to 25 more watts which may or may not work.
Edit: My mistake. I thought I was dealing with the HD 4550 and you have the HD 3450. Therefore, the HD 5450 would be an upgrade over the HD 3450. You are only talking around 140 watts needed for your entire system and this card. Push it with gaming, and you can add another 30 watts.