Upgrading a Dell XPS 410

Sideswiper

Sideswiper

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My friend has a Dell XPS 410 and he is complaining about lag in games, and has to set his settings all the way down.

Right now the thing has a 8600GT card. I think the power supply is only 375W.

If he pops in a Radeon 4770 (Newegg has it for $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4102853&cm_re=ati_4770-_-14-102-853-_-Product), would that set him up you think?

Or would he need a new power supply also?
Maybe $30 COOLER MASTER Elite 460 RS-460-PSAR-J3 460W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171046
 
That card states that it requires a 450 Watt power supply. The Dell power supplies tend to be underrated so it may work. I installed a 9800GTX into an XPS 410 and never had any issues; the 9800GTX lists a 475W power supply as a requirement. Of course YMMV, I would be sure that the card could be easily returned if it does not work out and your friend does not want to install a larger power supply.
 
BFG makes a low-power 9800GT (available on Newegg) that only requires a 350 w psu (22A on the +12v rail). Companies always overstate psu because of all the crappy psu's that are out there. But Dell uses pretty good parts. I have a old IBM M52 with a 300 w psu, that has 17A on the +12v rail and have no problems using a 7950GT gpu that requires a 350 w psu (18A on the +12v rail).

As always YMMV, but I bet that BFG will work just fine in your friends pc. But have him check the +12v ratings to be sure.
 
What are the other specs of the computer (CPU, RAM)? The problem might not be the video card. What games are he trying to play? I had a Dell with a 8600GT and I never had to turn the settings all the way down. The only game I had a problem with was Fallout 3. My power supply was 300w so I got a 9800GT eco card that doesn't need to be plugged into the psu.

[quote name='mogamer']BFG makes a low-power 9800GT (available on Newegg) that only requires a 350 w psu (22A on the +12v rail). Companies always overstate psu because of all the crappy psu's that are out there. But Dell uses pretty good parts. I have a old IBM M52 with a 300 w psu, that has 17A on the +12v rail and have no problems using a 7950GT gpu that requires a 350 w psu (18A on the +12v rail).

As always YMMV, but I bet that BFG will work just fine in your friends pc. But have him check the +12v ratings to be sure.[/QUOTE]
mogamer beat me to it. But this is the exact same card I have.
 
Yeah I'm torn between recommending either a 9800GTX+ (didn't the + use less power) or a Radeon 4770.

He is primarily a Warhammer Online player, I've also played Age of Conan and DDO with him, he sets his graphic options all the way down and still gets "lag". I don't think it's a server issue or his connection (he has cable modem) because he gets this "lag" even with nobody else is, also his framerate really goes to heck when he tries to turn up the settings.

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.090803-2339)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dell DXP061
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 2.5.0
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 1347MB used, 2985MB available
 
One place you might want to start is his ram. 2gb is not enough these days by any stretch, especially for games such as Warhammer and WoW.
 
[quote name='Sycowulf']One place you might want to start is his ram. 2gb is not enough these days by any stretch, especially for games such as Warhammer and WoW.[/QUOTE]

Especially when running Vista. Vista is a memory hog as it is, so it's probably not leaving a whole lot for the games.
 
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