Best graphics card possible for Dell Inspiron 570 with AMD Athlon ii X2 645?

[dwbrady]

I am trying to upgrade my brothers computer for him. He has a Dell Inspiron 570 with a ii X2 240 processor at this time. I am planning to upgrade his processor to a AMD Athlon ii X2 645 processor. In addition I will upgrade the PSU so I can get a better graphics card in it. My question is what is the best graphics card I can get before the processor bottle necks?

I was thinking maybe GTX 650 ti boost is my best bet. Maybe I could get a GTX 660? Are either or these reasonable, or are these GPUs too much? I am trying my best to upgrade his dell for him so he doesn't have to spend the money to have me build him a new computer entirely.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Calnin]

The GTX 750 would probably be the highest I would put into that system, unless you plan on upgrading the processor to something even better later on. I feel like the gtx 660 would get bottlenecked by the processor.

For amd, I'd put nothing above a r7 250 maybe.

 

[Aspire77360]

The X 240 would bottleneck the CPU, so would definitely recommend upgrading the CPU. Even better than a X2 645 would be a Phenom 2 X4 945, but a new PSU will probably be needed to handle a new GPU, whichever CPU he has.

 

[i7Baby]

Neither cpu is impressive.

What will physically fit in the case? Dell won't tell you. You'll have to measure it.

Are you going to get a new psu? Dell's are just awful.

Maybe start with something small in power, size and performance eg GTX750Ti. Read its specs to work out its size. Then work out if it'll fit in the case.

 

[dwbrady]

The X 240 would bottleneck the CPU, so would definitely recommend upgrading the CPU. Even better than a X2 645 would be a Phenom 2 X4 945, but a new PSU will probably be needed to handle a new GPU, whichever CPU he has.

I had heard about the phenom 2 x4 945, but I also was hearing it ran really hot. I didn't know if I went this route if I would have to buy a specific CPU cooler to make it work? Any thoughts or experiences with this?

 

[Aspire77360]

The stock cooler wiould handle it, but both AMD's and Intel's stock cooler is quite bad and loud. Whatever CPU, if you have the budget get a aftermarket cooloer like the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo

 

[Calnin]

It will be hot if you don't have proper airflow in your case. Like aspire suggest, you can get an aftermarket cooler if temps are a big worry.

If you don't have the money for the cooler when you buy the processor, the stock cooler can do until you get money for the aftermarket cooler.

 

[dwbrady]

The stock cooler wiould handle it, but both AMD's and Intel's stock cooler is quite bad and loud. Whatever CPU, if you have the budget get a aftermarket cooloer like the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo

I believe there is a 2 x4 955 and 965 too right? Would you still recommend the 945 over them?

 

[Aspire77360]

The 965 is discontinued and the 955 I can only find on amazon. if you can get the 965 or 955, then great, but they aren't very readily available

 

[dwbrady]

The 965 is discontinued and the 955 I can only find on amazon. if you can get the 965 or 955, then great, but they aren't very readily available

Okay, I'm on board with the idea of doing the phenom 2 x4 945 like you suggested. So what does this mean for GPU? Do you think this card would bottle neck at 650 ti boost, 660, 760? I'll upgrade my PSU so that won't be a problem.

 

[Aspire77360]

It should be able to handle a GTX 760 quite easily

 

[dwbrady]

It should be able to handle a GTX 760 quite easily

You really think the amd phenom ii x4 945 can run a gtx 760 without overclocking or anything? I am up for spending the money on the gtx 760, but i just want to make sure I'm not buying more than my computer will be able to use.

I probably need 8 gb of DDR3 to go along with this won't I?

 

[dwbrady]

It should be able to handle a GTX 760 quite easily

I'm asking because I currently only have 4 gb or ram and am wondering if I have to upgrade to 8 gb to make this work.

 

[Aspire77360]

It should be able to handle a GTX 760 quite easily

I'm asking because I currently only have 4 gb or ram and am wondering if I have to upgrade to 8 gb to make this work.

8GB is strongly recommended but it isn't nessecary

 

[dwbrady]

It should be able to handle a GTX 760 quite easily

I'm asking because I currently only have 4 gb or ram and am wondering if I have to upgrade to 8 gb to make this work.

8GB is strongly recommended but it isn't nessecary

Thanks so much for the tips. I think I will get a amd phenom ii x4 945 for the processor with a new cooler like you suggested, a gtx 760, and upgrade to a solid PSU. I think I'll stick with the 4 gb of ram for now. Any other tips for the build?

You are definitely getting picked for best answer my friend.

 

[Aspire77360]

It should be able to handle a GTX 760 quite easily

I'm asking because I currently only have 4 gb or ram and am wondering if I have to upgrade to 8 gb to make this work.

8GB is strongly recommended but it isn't nessecary

Thanks so much for the tips. I think I will get a amd phenom ii x4 945 for the processor with a new cooler like you suggested, a gtx 760, and upgrade to a solid PSU. I think I'll stick with the 4 gb of ram for now. Any other tips for the build?

You are definitely getting picked for best answer my friend.

Just remember to ground yourself before touching any components, otherwise you will have a very expensive junkyard in front of you. Other than that, good luck.