Need a new low end GPU.

BurningSkyline

BurningSkyline

New Member
I was considering an 8400 GS but I KNOW that will stress my 210-250w PSU. Is there anything that is around the same price as a 8400 GS but uses less power? I can't really upgrade my PSU AFAIK as I don't have enough money. It is a TFX12v unit from dell.

I don't really think I can upgrade because the PSU will probably blow...
 
I'm pretty sure you don't have to worry about the psu. If you were doing something like a 5850 yeah, but then again I'm sure your machine doesn't even have pci-e expansion slots. So I would go for it, but make sure your mobo has the slot for the card. Sounds like you're dropping it in a pre-built system.
 
Troncoso said:
I'm pretty sure you don't have to worry about the psu. If you were doing something like a 5850 yeah, but then again I'm sure your machine doesn't even have pci-e expansion slots. So I would go for it, but make sure your mobo has the slot for the card. Sounds like you're dropping it in a pre-built system.
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Yeah, it is pre-built. I don't have the money to build myself a machine yet.

Oh, and it has a PCI-e x16 1.0 slot and three PCI slots.
 
haha sorry, from the low wattage on the power supply I assumed it was an older model. I'm surprised, a lot of the ones I run into at least have a 350w in them. Either way, I believe you'll be fine.
 
Beyond drawing to much for your psu to handle the only other real problem you might face is a bottleneck in performance. But with the hardware you are working with, that really won't be a problem
 
Well with such a low wattage on a Dell PSU, I'd be concerned about plugging in too many usb devices. You can chance a dedicated card, but I'd rather have a weak computer than a blown up one. If you had a 350w PSU I MIGHT reconsider, but even that is incredibly weak and I won't build a system for my grandma with less than 400-450w :P Playing on the brink of your PSU's limits is playing with fire. Don't do it.

Granted that's only my 2 cents, and you can do what you want, but there is a very valid reason why card manufacturers put the minimum recommended power requirements to where they are. If your power supply is low quality (Dell, HP, no name brand etc.) then its putting out a lot less power than it says it is, so you're not even getting the full spec of your power supply.
 
Save up your money and get a quality upgrade. With a good brand 650-850w PSU you'll never have to worry about upgrading it again and it can provide so much peace of mind (Minus select few SLI/XFire configs). I only recently did so but I'm really glad I did. It takes a lot off your mind. I know nothing is cheap anymore, but I still think it's worth it.
 
CardboardSword said:
Save up your money and get a quality upgrade. With a good brand 650-850w PSU you'll never have to worry about upgrading it again and it can provide so much peace of mind (Minus select few SLI/XFire configs). I only recently did so but I'm really glad I did. It takes a lot off your mind. I know nothing is cheap anymore, but I still think it's worth it.
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I did not know they made 650w TFX12v units.
 
BurningSkyline said:
I did not know they made 650w TFX12v units.
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Oh god I totally missed that! Sorry. :( Yeah a proprietary power supply will put a real cramp in anyone's style. Unless you have better resources than I, looks like a 300w PSU is the best you're gonna get. Upgrading OEM machines is usually harder than most, and Dell likes to make it particularly difficult. This is probably a dead end, seeing as you're running on older hardware and incredibly limited in power supplies. Its probably not worth the effort to try and fix this up much. If bigfella is right, then it's looking like its not gonna happen. The cards Drenlin mentioned are probably your best bets if you're willing to take a chance on it, but other than that you don't have many options shy of a complete overhaul of your system.
 
I honestly don't have cash enough to upgrade both.

I'm just looking for the lowest power card possible that is better than whatever is integrated. (I'm not familiar with intel's graphics, I have the G33 or G31 chipset.)
 
Go with a 5450 then I guess? Its a really low power draw card like Drenlin said, so its definitely the safest bet and leagues better than integrated. If you're feeling bold, move up on his list of power.
 
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