GPU upgrade Advice

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brewcrew814

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
134
Hi All,
I was hoping for a little input as to a GPU Upgrade. I will start off with my system specs,
Dell XPS GEN3 (I know just build a system :D ) I will be building hopefully in 9 months.
Powersupply in this system is 460 watts,
P3.4 Prescott
3GIGs Ram
Radeon X800XT
250Gig SATA HDD, I think it's a Samsung.
I'm right now playing a little BF2, and will be playing Vanguard on release. I was looking into either a XFX Geforce 7900GS or Radeon X1900GT. My main concern is whethor or not my PSU will be able to support this and how much more of an increase I will see in FPS. I'm looking at around the 200USD range. I plan on building my own system in about 9 months with a DX10 card ect. Just looking for something to tide me over until then.
Thanks Everyone,
J.B.
 
The PSU wattage is fine, but amperage may not be. Can you pull some specs for the power supply? Does it have a dedicated 6-pin PCI-Express power connector? There are adapters available but having the dedicated connector gives in a little insight as to what the PSU was designed for.

I just picked up a BFG 7900 GS OC for one my machines and BF2 happens to be my game of choice at the moment. The rest of this system lacks a little compared to yours so keep that in mind - it's a Sempron 3400+ (2.0GHz w/ 128k L2) and 1.2GB DDR400. I fired up BF2 with every video setting maxed and 4xAA enabled @ 1024x768. With FRAPS running the background i'd say i'm averaging ~40fps. If I disable AA then I can bump the resolution to 1280x1024 no problem. As I mentioned tho, the core system is lacking a little and i'm looking to address by way of 2GB DDR400 and an Athlon 64 4000+.

Here's a review that would apply to both cards... quite the test rig tho. ;)

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2835&p=1
 
Cool thanks for the reply. I need to crack my case open :) I'm not sure if I have a dedicated 6-Pin connector or not. This is straight to the GPU from PSU? or does it go to the MotherBoard.
Last time I built a comp we didn't have to worry about stuff like that LOL.

And thanks again.
 
No problem. Just make sure the PSU is up to the challenge. Otherwise, adding a performance card to a system with a weak power supply will most likely make for an unstable system. The BFG 7900 GS OC I bought calls for a 350W power supply and 22A on the 12V. My Enermax PSU meets those requirements just fine... but I wouldn't stray too far from those specs.
 
I just checked, I have a 6-PIN power connecter directly to the Card. So I'm guessing I should be good at 460Watt PSU. Just hope the frame rate shows some good improvement. Thanks again.
 
Ok now what you should do is check the side, or anyplace on the PSU that has the stats listed on it. Look for a +12V rating. You might have more then one. But look to see how many amps is listed in the +12V line. And if you have multiple +12V rails let us know. If you do then your golden. :)
 
Sta!nless said:
Ok now what you should do is check the side, or anyplace on the PSU that has the stats listed on it. Look for a +12V rating. You might have more then one. But look to see how many amps is listed in the +12V line. And if you have multiple +12V rails let us know. If you do then your golden. :)
Click to expand...

Well I checked the Dell forums and saw another person's config with The same GEN 3 XPS that I have and this is what he had listed as the powersupply stats :)

460W Power Supply w/dual 17 amp +12v rails, A07 BIOS

He also has the 3.6 gig processor and a 7900GTX so I think I'm good to go :D
Thanks a lot for the replies
 
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