435MT graphics card replacement

Forgot to add: ATI HD 4670 (512 MB) is a card that I am considering for the following reasons:

1. Enough power

2. Runs cooler (saves electricity and possibly last longer)

3. Do not need to upgrade power supply.

You could just go with the HD 6670 like this one HERE.  It is a single slot card so it will give you more room.  It also will come with a lifetime warranty.  It will not be quite as good as the HD 4850 but will meet all your needs.  It is $79 after the rebate and comes with a free game after registration.  The card that is probably equal to the older HD 4850 is the HD 6750, but again it is not necessary for your needs.    

Thanks for suggesting the HD6670. I am not from US, hence the rebate option does not help me.

Where I am, the price of 4850 is almost the same as 6670. You have mentioned that 6670 would not be as good as 4850. However, 6670 does look better in terms of the specs. Also, I haven't come across any thread where someone has used 6670 on this machine. Is the 360 watt PSU capable of handling full load? What about dimensions of the card? Will it fit in? And finally, will this really run cooler than 4850 which gets insanely hot?

To be honest, I am looking for something cheaper than these two.

I have finalized on XFX HD4670 (much cheaper than the outgoing 4850. Hope it suffices my normal computing requirements (Full HD movies and some basic video editing).

I have finalized on XFX HD4670 (much cheaper than the outgoing 4850. Hope it suffices my normal computing requirements (Full HD movies and some basic video editing).

That card will will run your HD movies and do video editing.

Is the 360 watt PSU capable of handling full load? What about dimensions of the card? Will it fit in? And finally, will this really run cooler than 4850 which gets insanely hot?

Yes to all of the above.  The HD 4670 will be fine for the price though and for what you need it to do.  It was always very popular when it first came out.  It has just been replaced with the HD 5670 and now the HD 6670.  

Update: I still haven't been able to source a 4670 at a good price.

Meanwhile, looking at alternatives, I have come across some NVIDIA cards such as the follows:

1. Palit GT 240 DDR5 512MB

2. Palit GT 240 DDR3 512MB (Bad reviews, not interested in this one)

3. Palit 9800 GT green 512MB

4. XFX 9600 GT 512MB

5. Palit GTS 250 512 MB (expensive compared to ATI 4670).

Is the performance of these cards comparable to 4670 in general?

For all cards which have comparable performance, will those cards fit into the 435 MT case?

How about power requirements? I have the OEM PSU (360 W) with 6 pin connector and don't intend to change that.

Is the performance of these cards comparable to 4670 in general?

All these cards are above the performance of the HD 4670.  The performance order of what you have listed from highest to lowest would be the GTS 250, 9800 GT, 9600 GT, GT 240.  These are all older generation cards.  The GT 240 has been replaced by the GT 440 and the GTS 250 has been replaced by the GTS 450.  The others go back to the 9000 series.

For all cards which have comparable performance, will those cards fit into the 435 MT case?

They will all fit.  However, the GTS 250 was generally a dual slot card and would definitely be the biggest.  Being a dual slot card, it would come very close to the bottom of you case and there would be little room for air circulation given your low PCIe X16 slot location.  The GTS 250 was always on par with the HD 4850 as far as performance.  

How about power requirements? I have the OEM PSU (360 W) with 6 pin connector and don't intend to change that.

It would be OK for everything except perhaps the GTS 250.  It could possibly work with the newer GTS 450 though.  I know others have used this one on their 375 watt units.  Outside of the GT 240, these older cards just used more power than the newer ones.  

Given what these cards probably cost, I would still be looking at the HD 5670 or HD 6670 over these others.  The HD 6670 is above the performance of all of them expect the GTS 250 and the HD 5670 is better than the GT 240 or the 9600 GT is you can find that at a good price.  

Update: Got the 6670 last week. The card runs much cooler than the 4850. Hopefully this should last longer than 4850. Now there is another issue. The wireless keyboard is acting funny. I will post this in a separate thread.

Here is another update from my side.

My ATI RADEON based 6670 card does not work on my Dell Studio 435MT any more. The system gives me 6 beeps during boot up and repeats the same pattern. So, I know this is a video card issue.

This has happened after more than 6 months of regular usage.

So, here is what I have tried so far:

• Tried testing this on a friend's system (with 350W Powersupply). The system gave 6 beeps.
• I put in my ATI 4850 card in the slot and the system worked fine. So, it did not seem any issue with slot/ board or powersupply.
• Took to the service center. They checked the card in front of me and everything worked fine. They said, you need 500W+ power supply
• I did clean up of the slot and the card and tried again, that did not help either.
• Then someone suggested that I use hot air from blower (problem could be due to crystal frequency mismatch).I tried that and it actually worked.
• Continued with that pattern for a couple of months and now even that trick has stopped working.
• So, I took it to another service center in another city this time. But the card works fine at the service center too. :)
• My older 4850 works fine on the same system, so the mother board also cannot be faulted.

The service center is of the opinion that the card needs at least 600 W power supply, but then how did the card work earlier?

So, I am considering changing the power supply and/ or the motherboard.

Option 1: Change of Powersupply

I am not a gamer, and use the system to do some video editing occasionally, but mostly watching HD movies and browsing.

On another thread Chris-M has recommended the Antec EarthWatts EA650 power supply.

Will this fit in the cabinet space?

Has anyone tried this before?

Option 2: Change of motherboard

If I need to change the mother board,

1. will I have to pay for the Windows 7 license (I got a free upgrade forVista from Dell).

2. which mother board shall I select?

I need the following Dell components to work with it:

Intel(R) Core(TM)i7-920 Processor (2.66GHz, 8MB)

6GB (6X1GB) Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz Memory

HARD DRIVE..., 500GB, S2, 7.2K, WESTERN DIGITAL..., XL320 (500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive with Native Command Queuing)

DVDRW/BD-ROM, 6X, BARE, HITACHI LG DATA STORAGE

19-in-1 Hi-Speed Media Reader with Bluetooth(R) 2.0

As always, I am not keen on spending more than what is required.

Perhaps your power supply is failing. You certainly don't need 500 watts for a card that efficient and the 4850 is much more demanding, power-wise. Then again, the 4850 draws extra power from a PCIe connector, while the 6670 draws all its power from the bus.

I had a 6570 (slightly less power consumption than the 6670) working in a mini-ITX with 300-watt power supply for a year with no ill effects. I'm thinking either your card or your power supply has issues.

Update: Got the card checked at the another dealer/ service center. They said it is having problems and the money will be refunded. Now, I am looking for another card in the same price band.

Requirements:

Equivalent performance as a 6670. I play Need For Speed sometimes and would love if there are no frames getting dropped. 6670 had issues when I went for higher resolutions.

Should be running cool (the 435MT casing is bad for heat dissipation)

Should not consume too much power (to save on energy bills).

The prices of 6670 now are more than what I got it for 1 year ago. So I am exploring other options as well.

I am holding back my decision on the power supply till I get a new card. I don't want to spend another Rs. 5000 (about 100$) if the default Dell 360 W Power Supply is actually fine.

That's too bad about the card.  Many others have used the HD 6670 on their Dell 300 watt power supplies.  You said you were not in the U.S.  What exact card did you get?  Just curious.  They do have the new HD 7750 out now.  It consumes no more power than the HD 6670, but has much better performance.  I have seen where it has been used on Dell 300 watt units also.   I cannot offer you any links, since I do not know where you live.   As an alternative for a card that might be less, look for the HD 6750.  Both the HD 6750 and HD 7750 will be above the performance of your older HD 4850 you had and both use less power.

Just to add, my 6670 was an XFX card.

@Kelbear1: Thank you for continuing with your inputs. I am based out of India. With the recent currency devaluation, all imported items have become more expensive.

I was not aware of 7750. I looked at some reviews and did a price search. However the card is much more expensive than what I am willing to spend - primarily because I really don't play any high-end game other than NFS. So, somehow I am not willing to spend much more.

The other option 6750 looks very interesting. It costs more than 6670 by about Rs. 1000 more (say 18$ more)  out here in India and the benchmark results indicate that it is a better card.

However 6750 seems to draw more power. Will my Dell 360W Power Suppy be enough?

But overall, 6750 is a good alternative for me.

I am now wondering if I should avoid XFX and go with MSI or Sapphire.