Posted: 7/25/2007 11:07:46 PM EDT
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I am looking at a dell online with vista and the one I am looking at buying from dell gives these graphics card options: 1.) NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU or 2.) 128MB ATI Radeon X1300 ($50 extra) I am a casual gamer and play Comand and Conquer Generals and Metal of Honor. My old computer has 128mb ATI Radeon 9600 pro Which ATI card is better? Is it worth it to pull my old card out and use it? Or should I spend the extra $50 and just buy the one dell offers? |
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yeah um DO NOT use integrated graphics cards, as already posted its probably gonna be a 16X pci express card. you can get better pricing from newegg, or zipzoomfly.com the other problem with dell is because they don't list the higher end video cards, because their underrated powersupplies typically can't handle the higher end video cards  
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First off, are you talking about PCI, AGP or PCI-E? |
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I really don't know exactly what kind of card, I just know it is the older format (AGP?). I guess I just need a suggestion on an inexpensive desktop PC that will run vista smoothly, allow my wife to surf the web, and allow me to play the occasional game like C&C generals. There are a couple of HP's (A6009N, A61194) and Compaq's (SR5050NX) at Circuit City that seem to fit my budget that I could put a graphics card in to play a few games. I need ARFCOMs professional opinion on this matter please. |
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I would stay away from Vista for the time being. Vista requires specific hardware... otherwise it would bog down your computer. WinXP w/SP 2 is not that bad, and most of the bugs are kinda worked out. Nonetheless, if you want or feel the need to HAVE Vista, then just be aware Vista is finicky when the right hardware is not present. As for you video card question, always choose the add on card- never choose an intergrated card as you share the processess of the cpu and the memory. The X1300 is not a bad card really, but with DX 10 out, the ATi card would be a bit underpowered (performance). And currently ATi's family of 2000 series cards are overpriced for their performance when DX 10 is involved. Nvidia has lunged ahead with their 8800 series cards when it relates to DX10. Some video game developers are also making the switch to DX10, so it would behoove you to be at least on top of the curve instead of behind it. IMHO, if your are planning on purchasing a Dell  then make sure you have:AT Least 1 GB of memory AT Least an E6320 Dual Core AT Least an 8000 series video card but to get the most bang for your buck GO HERE |
Some great deals there. |
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Dells usually come with really lame power supply units (PSU) that can't handle high-end graphics cards. Look at the technical specs for that computer (Dell usually has them listed somewhere on their website) and see how many watts the PSU puts out. Anything less than 300W is not going to do well with a graphics card. 300W is almost pushing it as it is. Oh, and by the way, the X1300 was the lowest card of the R520 core. It's about as powerful as your 9600 Pro (actually weaker in some aspects - it's memory bandwidth is about 1GB less). I own a 9600XT and it will play all of the games I want to play right now - all of the STEAM games like Counter Strike Source and Half Life 2, actually I think most gamers still use cards from this generation since there hasn't really been any need to upgrade unless you want to play a game like Oblivion. The 9600 series of Radeon are considered to be the epitome of what a great 'mainstream' card is. That and the Nvidia GeForce 6600. In fact, about 50% of today's gamers are still using those cards simply because there's no need to upgrade. Nowadays the 'mainstream'-priced graphics cards (like the GeForce 8600 and the Radeon HD 2600) are actually piss poor in performance and IMHO couldn't really handle any DX10 game without playing at the lowest possible graphics levels. My advice - if you're going to get that computer, then buy it with the integrated graphics and then buy a Radeon X1950 XT and install it (it's very simple to install a graphics card - you just take the case cover off, put the card in the PCI-e slot and hook it up to the power supply (usually on the motherboard right next to the PCI-e slot) then put the computer case cover back on and reboot your computer. There are instructions with the video card  when you buy it.I'd avoid a DX10 card like the Nvidia 8xxx series or the ATI Radeon DX 2xxx series since there are not even any DX10 games out yet and since those are the 1st generation 'guinea pig' cards and will probably not perform nearly as well as the cards that come out later this year near Christmas (once the DX10 games like Crysis are released). ETA: I just looked at Dell's PSU units they're using in the Inspiron Desktops - the slim one has a 250W PSU, and the bigger wide-body one has a 300W supply. The graphics cards HIGHLY RECOMMEND at least 400W of power. IMHO - you need to buy a low-end gaming computer instead of some budget desktop that's designed for checking your email and surfing the web.
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