Graphics card upgrade + FLight stick or pc change

[Lee]

Hi I have a Dell XPS 8300

Processor
Processor type Intel Core i7
Processor speed 3.4 MHz
Graphics
Graphics Type Discrete
Secondary Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon HD 6450
General Information
UPC Code 045635024908
Ports and Connections
Available Interfaces
HDMI
eSATA
Memory
Memory size 8192.0 MB
Memory type DDR3
Memory speed 1333.0 MHz
Power
Power Supply Wattage 460.0 watts
Storage Media
Memory stick Memory Stick
Compact flash Yes
Case
Chassis style Tower (Midsize)

Ports
Internal
PCIe x16 (1), PCIe x1 (3), SATA 2 (2), SATA 3 (2) , Mini-PCIe (1), All PCIe slots are next gen, Internal USB 2.0 (6) ,Optional USB 3.0

Rear (Audio connectors)
HDMI/VGA, USB 2.0 (4), E-SATA (1) , Rear Audio: Standard 7.1 audio jacks
Digital SPDIF (Optical)

Front
19:1 Card Reader, USB 2.0 (2)

Top
USB 2.0 (2) Microphone/Headphone

Now I would like to know what graphics card I should go for. I live in USA. My budget on a card is $150 give or take, but if you can suggest a location I can build a better pc without breaking the bank I would consider that. I am working with a overall budget of $650 more or less.

If I can get a great graphics card for it, I am also looking at getting a flight-stick/joystick for playing Elite Dangerous and S.C

The system is over 2 years old at time was the best on the market I could get.

[MentaL]

[Wokki]

For $150, not a chance that you would get a great graphics card. You can get a decent one, but it's not from the newest series.
I'd recommend something like NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760, because they're the cheapest from NVIDIA's 700 series, but even those go over $200. (Newegg.com - ASUS GTX760-DC2OC-2GD5 GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card or Access Denied)
Cheaper would probably be NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, but even that costs $180+ (Access Denied).

So I think the best you can get from NVIDIA with $150 is GeForce GTX 650 Ti.
Newegg.com - GeForce GTX 650 Ti

Unfortunately I can not compare these to AMD's as I have zero knowledge about them. I've always used NVIDIA and never really tried AMD.

[Rishwin]

Firstly, ignore the guy above. As he stated himself, he's only looking at half of the GPU market. Yes the GTX760 is good but we're looking at the $250 price range & I'm not 100% certain your PSU can handle it.

If you can stretch to $180, NewEgg has the Radeon R9 270 which will pretty much play whatever you want. It is a solid performer and you're looking at mid-high settings @ 1080p so it's far from top of the range but it will do you fine. Your PC is fine mate, if its the model i think you should have a 2nd gen i7 which will do you solid for a few years more, just get the GPU updated and an SSD (120/128 is fine) at some point in time and it will feel like a brand new PC.

If you want to spend a bit now i would get the R9 270, a 128GB SSD (either Crucial M500 or Samsung 840 PRO) and your joystick and you should still be well under that $650.

[Lee]

Sorry should have added the CPU is a I7 2600 (second gen)

Some I know irl suggested Radeon HD 7790 @$119.99 USD how does that compare to the R9 270?

[Rishwin]

The R9 270 is definitely a better performer, but it uses a little more power and produces a little more heat. The 270 also supports up to 4k resolutions.

The 7790 will certainly be an improvement for you, the 270 will just perform a bit better.

[SirEpicWin]

Go with R9 270 like Rish said.
but keep in mind it requires at lest 500 watt PSU.

read more here:
Best Enthusiast Graphics Cards: $160 To $300 - Best Graphics Cards For The Money: December 2013

[GohanSSJ]

How about you get some facts as to why you need a 500 watt power supply?
The 270's get to about 220 max with most versions around 175, that's under maximum stress, my old 4890 used a lot more and I ran that without problems with a 450 power supply for years.
Now I have no doubt his i7 uses more then my old triple core did, but regardless, it should be more than enough.

People need to wake up from the idea that you need massive amounts of power, some simple math will tell you that around 500 is fine for pretty much any standard gaming system, it's not when you go multiple GPU etc, that you will start to need more.

As for the 270, that seems like a good choice for sure, especially for Star Citizen since it will be supporting AMD's Mantle technology, so that should give a considerable boost in performance. Add to that an SSD and everything should be smooth.
For flying you could check out the Cyborg Fly 5

[Lee]

After looking and advice from people its looking like I will go for the Radeon R9 270 or the Radeon R9 270x Radeon R9 270 vs Radeon R9 270X – Performance Comparison Benchmarks @ Hardware Compare I worked out my spending amount and I get go upto $350 including psu IF I need one.

[Rishwin]

Iono, i mean if you're only running the stock Dell setup and haven't added anything else to it IMO your PSU -SHOULD- be fine for the 270. I think the 270X uses anywhere from 20-40W extra so i'm not too sure about that, but the 270 at least should be fine.

If you're not using them, i would personally remove extras like the ODD & SD card readers, floppy drive ect to reduce the overall power consumption of your PC. That should give you enough power to run the 270 if it won't already.

But if it's in your budget, then get the 270x and a new PSU for sure, an aftermarket PSU is ALWAYS a good idea, sometimes stock ones can be a bit shit especially with upgrades.

[GohanSSJ]

The watt usage I checked up on was from a 270x btw, since I couldn't find any from a regular 270.

Removing other parts has virtually no use, the power usage while idle is extremely low and even when used it's still barely worth the trouble.

500 watt would already be enough for my system (i5, 7970, 16GB, 120GB SSD, 2TB HDD etc), now I did get a 550 because the one I wanted was sold out and for me the best option in terms of quality was a 550. Regardless, a similar system, which I based mine on, was build with a 500 watt PSU, simply because it is enough.

Like I said, I ran for years on a 450, so many people called me crazy, some even claimed it was nonsense and that I had my numbers mixed up, but I didn't.

That said, I agree that stock ones can be shit, then again I would just run with it, it should be fine in terms of power.

[Lee]

I ended up getting this Asus GeForce® GTX 750 TI Graphics Card - OC Edition, 2 GB GDDR5 Works like a dream without any other upgrades needed. Thanks again for all the help.

[Monolith]

IMO since you said you have a budget of $650....and your computer is 2 years old..if you could have afforded to build a new system I would have...

This build would have been in your budget and been loads better than what you have now especially the GPU....and coming just under $600 (after rebates) it would have allowed for enough to buy a nice flight stick...and that Typhoon case just looks SICK!

Using left over parts from your Dell (spin HD, optical drive, monitor, keyboard, and mouse) you could have a beast of a budget gaming system....

And as for the r9 270x vs GTX 750Ti? The 4gb Twin Frozr 270x I included in the build would SMOKE that 750Ti in a heartbeat....

[Lee]

Thanks for your opinion, but tbh, my setup is better than you realize I worked out I did not have to break the bank to make my machine more than good enough to play elite dangerous even unoptimized as it is right now in beta 2 on all it lets me select, getting 60-62.1 FPS in combat in asteroids. In short getting a g.card was much better value than making a new pc with my cpu being still a great one.

[Monolith]

Thanks for your opinion, but tbh, my setup is better than you realize I worked out I did not have to break the bank to make my machine more than good enough to play elite dangerous even unoptimized as it is right now in beta 2 on all it lets me select, getting 60-62.1 FPS in combat in asteroids. In short getting a g.card was much better value than making a new pc with my cpu being still a great one.

Sweet...all that matters is your happy...I just like trying to build budget gaming rigs :)

[Robert]

I ended up getting this Asus GeForce® GTX 750 TI Graphics Card - OC Edition, 2 GB GDDR5 Works like a dream without any other upgrades needed. Thanks again for all the help.

Love my OCed 750 Ti too! Works great for SC racing from what I've played also!