Dell Inspiron 531s Graphic Card Update

[KathaMeetha]

I own a Dell Inspiron 531 which has a factory AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ 2.01 Ghz with 2 GB of memory RAM. (Updated to 2 from 1)
Its a 32 Bit Windows 7 Ultimate.
I also have a NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430.
I want to upgrade my graphic card so I can play League of Legends with high FPS and graphics.
I'm not sure how much Wattage my PSU is.
Thanks in advance. I have a budget of ~$150.
Thanks!

 

[junkeymonkey]

of all the failed dell and other prebuilts card upgrades should of been your first clue

some models of store bought computers [dell.hp,acer,ect..] may come with a ''locked or fixed'' bios and may not allow you to change certain hardware as a video card.. this is done to protect them from undue warranty claims and refunds .this is not done to hurt you but to protect them. you really need to see if that upgrade has been proven to work in your model first before you invest money in it .. there are a lot of these threads here at toms to look at some models will allow upgrades and some dont.. and a lot of guys here say ya ya ya when is really no no no...it would be sad you spent $200 on a card that wount post after you installed it as most find out. then get told its your psu and you spend more and end up right back where you are now, but its up to you good luck..


you got to know the the boards in these computers are not like the ones we use to do custom builds witch are open to upgrading with in the boards compatibly . the bios is custom made for there design and just for the parts they authorize to be used on there computers there only guaranteed to work as is out of the box as you bought it ,..

 

[Mark Coyne]

of all the failed dell and other prebuilts card upgrades should of been your first clue

some models of store bought computers [dell.hp,acer,ect..] may come with a ''locked or fixed'' bios and may not allow you to change certain hardware as a video card.. this is done to protect them from undue warranty claims and refunds .this is not done to hurt you but to protect them. you really need to see if that upgrade has been proven to work in your model first before you invest money in it .. there are a lot of these threads here at toms to look at some models will allow upgrades and some dont.. and a lot of guys here say ya ya ya when is really no no no...it would be sad you spent $200 on a card that wount post after you installed it as most find out. then get told its your psu and you spend more and end up right back where you are now, but its up to you good luck..


you got to know the the boards in these computers are not like the ones we use to do custom builds witch are open to upgrading with in the boards compatibly . the bios is custom made for there design and just for the parts they authorize to be used on there computers there only guaranteed to work as is out of the box as you bought it ,..

Thanks for your advice but my inspiron is custom built to an extent. It has an amd x64 5600+ cpu which is faster than the factory cpu that would be supplied with the inspiron . I also have a gt8600 nvidia gpu which is not a the one you would get from a factory supplied desktop. All I asked was the difference between a 1gb and 2 gb gpu

 

[junkeymonkey]

now a days more is better so go with the 2 gb but look over this on 1gb vs 2 gb

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6359/the-nvidia-geforce-gtx-650-ti-review/6

 

[Kisianik]

What is more important, GDDR5 or DDR3, R5 1 GB is faster than R3 2 GB, if you need speed, go with R5 (if R5 is 2gb, it is even better), if you need high resolution, go with larger RAM, which is 2 GB. Be sure that your power supply can handle it, be size the original in 531 tower is only 305 watt (if you card doesn't have additional power supply connector - you are safe).
That is all