I want to upgrade my video card

Hey all. I'm trying to upgrade my video card for a stock Dell XPS 435t (aka XPS 9000, I believe), but I know nothing about the computer's motherboard. I'm not even sure what video card it has (it's currently 200 miles away ), but I do know that I'm trying to upgrade to one that has (native) HDMI. I bought a DVI adapter for the current one but alas, the sound isn't passed on.

Another thing was that I couldn't leave Hulu running on the TV while I played LoTRO. I'm assuming this was a vid card issue since I've done multiple monitors on an 8800GT and it had no such hiccups. Since I got this system refurbished, I see this on the PC specs and I believe this is my video card:

Quote : 1 CC74H Module, Card, Graphics, Gold Tech Support, 240, P118N

The recommended upgrade from Dell is "Radeon HD4650 PCIe 1GB HDMI SFF-Short + Tall brackets." But I'm not sure what Tall brackets are or why I'd need them?

In short, I'm looking for a video card that's better than my current one, that has HDMI and will work with my Dell (just to let you know, my system can handle it -- it has an i7 processor and 8GB of RAM; I got lucky when they replaced my old PC). This HD4650 from Dell looks decent but I can't seem to find any deals on it. So if you're knowledgeable enough and know of a sub-$100 card that meets my requirements, please do tell.

Thanks.

Dell P118N is a Nvidia GTS 240. A very capable card.

A Radeon HD4650 would be a downgrade. About 50% less performance.

I'd look for a Radeon 5770 for ~$100.

The HD5770 is an amazing card - I am using one right now with 3 monitors attached to it. I would recommend the Sapphire brand.

There are 2 things you need to check - does your power supply actually supply enough power to upgrade your video card and does it have the connector that the HD5770 uses to draw the power it needs. Check both of these before you try to upgrade. Dell has been shipping with power supplies lately on their home units that are barely powerful enough for what is already in the machine, an upgrade might require a new power supply.

Short and tall brackets means it comes with both and one is almost certain to be correct for you. Most cards come with both these days.

Good Luck!
W

Here are a few choices:

Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 - $165 after MIR [newegg.com]
Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 - $115 after MIR [newegg.com]
Sapphire Radeon HD 5670 - $75 after MIR [newegg.com]


All of these would be better than the GTS 240 you have now, but to be honest if you're going to upgrade you should go for something more in the $150-200 range. I think it'll last you longer, especially if you game. The HD 6850 is the latest generation and is a midrange card and performs around 30-70% better than the HD 5770. The HD 5770 performs 50-100% better than the HD 5670. So where the HD 5670 may get 20 FPS, the HD 5770 would get 30 - 40 FPS and the HD 6850 would get 40 - 70 FPS. Just some very rough numbers, but it gives you some sort of an idea. You would likely get more than twice the performance out of the HD 6850 than you would the HD 5670.

Agreed, I'm preparing to do the same thing to my son's computer, the 577X series by ATI is a fantastic card and should work just fine. The biggest issue you have to concern yourself with is the power output of the PSU. Many builders like Dell & HP use a 250 watt PSU which is BARELY enough juice to run a dedicated video card. Make sure that you only use a single slot sized card!!!

Quote from DHSFed : Agreed, I'm preparing to do the same thing to my son's computer, the 577X series by ATI is a fantastic card and should work just fine. The biggest issue you have to concern yourself with is the power output of the PSU. Many builders like Dell & HP use a 250 watt PSU which is BARELY enough juice to run a dedicated video card. Make sure that you only use a single slot sized card!!!

This may be an issue but since he has an XPS with an i7 he will have a larger psu than 250W. The 5770 is not a a single slot card. He probably has room for a 2U tall card, its best to either find someone online who has done this or look when he gets home. I would be very surprised if he has a problem with height, length is where he should be more concerned.

I have a 5770 and its a good card. I can run most games at either maxed 1920x1080 or one click down from max settings.

To the OP you will have to make sure that your card supports audio pass through not all do. Regardless this should not matter much as you can easily get a cable to go from the sound output on your PC into either your TV or amp or whatever setup you have. This is little reason to upgrade your video card as you can do it with what you have.

Your Hulu issue is not a video card setting or card problem. Flash video does not like to run full screen on dual monitors while you do something else on the other monitor. You will need to use a tool like one of these to do this http://lifehacker.com/5419028/kee...l-monitors or http://lifehacker.com/5486698/fla...l-monitors The other problem could be the game itself, Some games do not like to run with dual monitors well especially in full screen mode. You may need to look at running in windowed mode if that is possible. As always make sure your drivers are up to date, your browser is upto date, and your flash player is up to date and has GPU decoding on.

Thanks for the info everyone. I'll keep all your recommendations in mind. In truth, I'd love to upgrade to a $150+ card, but I'm in college and therefore broke (QED).

Funny how Dell recommends the HD4650 as an upgrade (I'm more familiar with software so I usually research hardware components). I was about to run with it too.

Those Sapphire cards would look amazing, I bet. I may just hold out until I have the cash for one. I guess I'll ask my roommate to check the PSU, but I'm pretty sure it handles more than 250W. I'm more worried about the motherboard though, so I hope these fit.

Quote from LiquidRetro : Your Hulu issue is not a video card setting or card problem. Flash video does not like to run full screen on dual monitors while you do something else on the other monitor. You will need to use a tool like one of these to do this http://lifehacker.com/5419028/kee...l-monitors or http://lifehacker.com/5486698/fla...l-monitors The other problem could be the game itself, Some games do not like to run with dual monitors well especially in full screen mode. You may need to look at running in windowed mode if that is possible. As always make sure your drivers are up to date, your browser is upto date, and your flash player is up to date and has GPU decoding on.

This is terrible, and thanks for the advice. I'll check them out when I see my PC next (which'll be this weekend, if all goes well).