I am looking to upgrade the graphics card in my computer.
It is a Dell Vostro 430 Mini Tower. I would like to know what cards are compatible with this computer.
Here are Some Specs:
Processor: 1st gen intel-core i7 870 2.93GHz
Motherboard: Dell OD735T
BIOS: 2.4.0 Default System BIOS
Hard Drive: 1TB Samsung
Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GT 220 (1024MB)
System Memory: 4gb DDR3 (1333 MHz)
Operating System: Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Well, before you start, check the size of your "mini tower" case.
Does it have a full-height series of expansion card slots on the back? If not, that's going to make it difficult to find a card to fit because there are very few performance graphics cards that will fit a half-height slot.
Then, it depends on what you're going to to with it and how much you've got to spend.
If you want to keep things under $200, you could go a Radeon HD 6870 - a very good value card.
If you want to run Adobe CS5.5, you're better off going with an Nvidia card and you'll get GPU acceleration. You can get that with a GeForce GTX 560 with a minor "hack", although Adobe only officially supports the GTX 570 and 580 cards.
Anyway, up to you.
Cheers, Darren.
What I want to know is how much does TemmyWillow cost? And how do we know you are worthy of using PC user's Best Buy logo as your profile pic? :-)
Cheers, Glenn
THanks for your help here are the dimensions of the computer:
Height: 370.40 mm
Width: 170.00 mm
Depth: 442.75 mm
The Dell specs page says you have the biggest card they supplied for it,
"Get stunning visuals and seamless video playback with up to 512MB of ATI™ or 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® discrete graphics"
and the slots are listed as:
PCI: 2 Slots
PCIe x1: 1 Slots
PCIe x16 (Graphics): 1 Slot
I'm surprised 1GB isn't enough for you.
That aside do you know of any graphics
cards that would fit in my computer.
Yeah ATI and NVIDIA, some models mentioned by Darren.
.
Thanks a lot everyone
Temmywillow, you need to measure the height of the rear backplate where the graphics card will sit. It'll need to be around 110mm to handle a full-size card. You'll also need to make sure that whatever card you choose will fit the space eg. whether there is a single-slot or double-slot space (most cards apart from the entry-level models are double-slot width these days).
Cheers, Darren.
I've measured the case and the expansion slots. I have 3 full sized expansion slots but if I put in a card like the GTX 560 inside the case may be a little cramped will this be a problem.
Temmywillow, I'm concerned that you seem to be wanting someone to give you an iron-clad guarantee this is all going to work out. Sorry, but I can't give you that. If you have three full-size slots, yep, adding a GTX 560 will make things a little cramped.
Will it work? Probably. Can I guarantee it? Sorry, no - you are the only one who can know that for sure because you're the one who owns the gear.
Yes, in theory, it should if everything is as you say it is. But I cannot say if it will be a problem or not.
1) Provided your power supply can handle the load 2) provided you have sufficient space for the card to actually fit correctly 3) provided you have sufficient airflow for the fan, then, yes, it should probably work.
But I'm not going to guarantee it.
Cheers, Darren.