Help Video Card Upgrade, Help :c

[Secured]

I have a dell C521
Documentation
Updated Specs,
400w PSU
3 Gb ddr2 Ram (upgrading to 4 soon)
2.0 Ghz Duel core. (Updating to 3 Ghz soon)

And I wanna upgrade computer a bit with a new graphics card, I found a few not sure if there compatible or not, I was gonna get a different one but I wanted better quality. I wanna be able to play Crysis 2 at the least about 40fps. The whole low profile thing really messes up getting a good graphics card, but I guess I can always cut the metal in the back of the case to fit my needs.. *cough*

The most I can spend is 180 USD.
Im really bad at figuring this stuff out hopefully one you can do me this favor :).

[Lapje]

Updating your CPU? As in overclocking or buying a new one?

I'm no genius regaring GPUs, but what you really want to look for is processor speed of the graphic card. Memory, although still making a difference, is less important. The higher the clock speed the faster it runs and thus the faster it can process stuff. As for memory, both the type and the amount of memory matter. I think this would be the best way to look for a GPU; clock speed > memory type > amount of memory.

Be sure your MoBo can use your new graphics card to its maximum potential and that no other parts are bottlenecking its performance.

Last advice would be to read a lot of reviews. Online hardware review sites usually hold a competition of an x number of products (in this case GPUs) and will help you greatly to find the best part for your budget.

I'm worried about your PC though, it seems old and I'm not sure if it's worth doing the upgrade. I'll let someone else decide that.

Sorry for being vague, I'm not up to date about todays parts and prices and can only help guiding you in the right direction.

Also, wait with purchasing stuff till someone here agrees it will be a good purchase. I told you what I thought was right but again I'm no pro in this area and I dont want you wasting your money on useless stuff.

[Monolith]

Honestly this is not going to be the post you wanted and I'm sure you'll ignore it....but it's the best advice your going to see....

If you want to be a gamer and have a quality gaming experience your going to have to trash the prefab Dell and build your own.

Those computers are not meant to be upgraded....they are meant to be used in a regular household for internet and minor multimedia than thrown away when they stop working....

Save your money....and build your own. I spent a grand total of $600 (not including monitor cause I use an extra 40" LCD HD TV I had) and have yet to run into a game I cannot run at highest settings at 60+ FPS.

Spend the time you have saving money to do your research....learn what mobos are compatible with what ram...think of future upgrades...such as mobo's that have a AM3 and AM3+ sockets...I use an Athelon now but can upgrade to a Bulldozer in the future cause I have the option of AM3+ :)

[Z1ls]

Be sure to check first if you can upgrade you CPU easily to better one, because it may be that you can't get better CPU if the socket is old.

And if you can't upgrade CPU than you shouldn't be upgrading anything and you should buy a new computer :D

I've used like 400€ to my computer, well got it cheap from my m8 and upgraded it a bit and now i have

3.2GHz CPU
8Gb RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4800 Graphics card
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1Tb Hard drive

[Monolith]

Here is what my $600 bought me at Fry's. And remember...this was a year ago....so it's already outdated :)

Mainboard : Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H
Chipset : AMD 880G
Processor : AMD Athlon II X2 260 @ 3200 MHz
Physical Memory : 8096 KBDDR3-SDRAM
Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Hard Disk : SAMSUNG HD103SI ATA Device (1000GB)
DVD-Rom Drive : Toshiba-Samsung CDDVDW SH-S243N
Monitor Type : PHD5039NUS - 49 inches
Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Operating System : Windows 7 Ultimate Professional Media Center 6.01.7600 (64-bit)
DirectX : Version 11.00

Windows Experience Breakdown:

Global Performance : 5.9 on 7.9
Processor Benchmark : 6.6 on 7.9
Memory Global Benchmark : 7.2 on 7.9
Graphic Performance : 7.4 on 7.9
Gaming Performance : 7.4 on 7.9
Hard Disk Benchmark : 5.9 on 7.9

Darn Hard drive holding me back a bit :)

[EliteGM]

I find it hard to believe that you can run pretty much all games @ 1920x1080 (presuming your 40" has that) on highest settings (AA, AF, HBAO, etc.)

- Crysis 2?
- ArmA2? (nobody can run this game on max anyway :P)
- Battlefield 3?

[K4g3]

I have a dell C521
Documentation

Save your money and build your own PC. You won't regret it. By buying premade computers from these vendors (such as Dell) you are spending much more than you'll ever need to. You can build rigs that are generally two to three times better for almost half the price every time.

As mentioned earlier, when you begin wanting upgrades and you own a branded PC (Dell, HP) then it's time to trash it. These are not meant to be upgraded in any way.

Though, if you're interested in making your computer run faster while having technology that is easily transferable to a new build: go SSD (if your motherboard supports SATA II, SATA III (I doubt SATA III)). I haven't looked at your actual specifications, I'll leave that up to you.

Edit:

Also please keep in mind: if you upgrade parts with an old motherboard you're going to easily be spending 1.5 to 2 times the amount of money you would be spending if you just got the newer technology. A new age motherboard makes all the difference. (8GB DDR2($159.99) vs 8GB DDR3($50))

[Monolith]

I find it hard to believe that you can run pretty much all games @ 1920x1080 (presuming your 40" has that) on highest settings (AA, AF, HBAO, etc.)

- Crysis 2?
- ArmA2? (nobody can run this game on max anyway :P)
- Battlefield 3?

Yes at 1920x1080.

Crysis 2: Yep
Never played Arma...
Battlefield 3: Yep
MW3: Yep
GTA IV: Yep
Skyrim w/ all visual mods: Yep
I have ran into a little stutter here and there in a some games if theres alot of explosions happening very near me ect ect...but never more than half a sec or so.

[WizCoder]

3.2GHz CPU
4Gb RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4800 Graphics card

Thats what I have, look into something similar it runs very well especially the card and cpu is quad but dual works too

[EliteGM]

Yes at 1920x1080.

Crysis 2: Yep
Never played Arma...
Battlefield 3: Yep
MW3: Yep
GTA IV: Yep
Skyrim w/ all visual mods: Yep
I have ran into a little stutter here and there in a some games if theres alot of explosions happening very near me ect ect...but never more than half a sec or so.

There is of course a personal feeling of when a game is completely playable - I for instance prefer at least 40 or 50 fps constantly in my games to be able to play them. But that does seem like an amazing bang for your buck build then! What gpu is it exactly?

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[Monolith]

Been nearly over a year since I built this but I keep wanting to say its Diamond...not for sure though....

I remember it being the most expensive thing...paid $99 for it...and it came with Dirt 2...can remember the rally car on the box...

Fry's is amazing...that place is my mecca....

Look at this weeks ad...tell me what you think....

Fry's Electronics | view all store ads

[Secured]

Sorry I haven't posted here for a while and I cant afford much so getting a new pc isn't really a option, I'm just trying to get the best possible that this computer can run, Anyways so far Im getting a AMD A2 6000+ 3.0 Ghz Duel core processor and Radeon hd 7750 low profile and I will be getting 1 more gb of ram for a total and the max of 4gbs. I'll be able to run Crysis 2 smoothly as I'm told but obviously as some of the newer build.

Progress:
cpu 2.0ghz duel core to 3.0gbz duel core
1gb of ddr2 ram to 4gb of ddr2 ram
17" screen to a 24.6" (Duel screen)
280w power supply to a 400w power supply.
Windows xp to Windows 7 ultimate x64

Crysis 2: 40-50 FPS

Note, The above its not complete its just all the information I've gotten from other tech forums. And as for the fps I found people with lower or same builds that will have and that's my estimated fps. :) I'm fairly happy. If any of you think there's a better video card out there for me, feel free to say so cause I will be buying it fairly soon.

[Rishwin]

You DO yealize you'll need a new motherboard to use that CPU, right? If you're buying a new CPU + RAM, you may aswell get up-to-date technology...

[Secured]

You DO yealize you'll need a new motherboard to use that CPU, right? If you're buying a new CPU + RAM, you may aswell get up-to-date technology...

I read on a multiple forums that, that cpu is compatible so no i wont need a new motherboard :P. Correct if im wrong i guess. I've been waiting to get it on newegg cause its cheaper x.x but it goes in and out of stock before i can get home to buy it. (Auto-Notify email).

[Monolith]

He's right about the processor working...they are both AM2 sockets and even with stock cooler it will run per every forum I have seen....

My problem is...I did an extensive search trying to find an improvement for you rather than the 6000+....they are quite rare I'm finding....only AM2 processors I found on New Egg were pretty much the same you have now and were all refurbished...hopefully the one your thinking of buying isn't refurbished...tried Fry's and they had NO AM2 processors at all...

But back to original post...yes that processor will work....I'm just worried without a power supply upgrade....being your new processor is a 125W processor...you'll have issues...