Dimension E510 Video Card upgrade

[silencer21]

Im looking to upgrade my computer's Video card since I susupect its pretty out of date for gaming now a days. The problem is I dont know what what would fit/work with my computer so if you guy could give me some options I would appreciate it and im also going to increase the RAM to 3-4gb. If there are any other upgrades you see that will be good list them too

Specs

Machine name: DHST21C1
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.101209-1647)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dell DM051
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A05
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.66GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 1022MB RAM
Page File: 657MB used, 1802MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

 

[computernugget]

hmmmmm.....an HD 5670 should do fine.

 

[silencer21]

hmmmmm.....an HD 5670 should do fine.

Would I need an extra power supply like a 400watt?

 

[mightymaxio]

You might, a 400 watt would be fine to work with that. You could probably get away with a 350 watt powersupply.

 

[k1114]

The e510 only comes with a pentium 4, did you upgrade to pentium d? To know if your current psu is good enough, check how many amps are on the +12v rail. Also make sure you get a single slot, pcie 2.0 card, NOT a 2.1.

 

[computernugget]

yeah its best to max out your ram and get the hd 5670 at least thats what this old customer of mine had to do when we wanted to upgrade his dell. he maxed out the ram and bought a new 5670 (this was before the 6000 series cards and before ram got dirt cheap) he spend around 200 bucks then.

he went with the 5670 because he didnt want to upgrade his power supply. it worked out perfectly for him.

i mean you dont have to upgrade your power supply but its safer if you do though.

you can get this kit of ram, since your board only supports ddr2 speed or 533Mhz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134031

and maybe this psu. its a really good quality.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371029

and for the video card, the one the old guy bought was like this one but from diamond and 1gb version it fit perfectly.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102871

and there two are actual single slot cards.
an msi
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127600

and xfx
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150535

the only issue he had was that it took forever for his windows to load after installing everything becuase the motherboard was detecting the new ram and clocking it down to lower speeds cuz he had faster ram.

 

[silencer21]

The e510 only comes with a pentium 4, did you upgrade to pentium d? To know if your current psu is good enough, check how many amps are on the +12v rail. Also make sure you get a single slot, pcie 2.0 card, NOT a 2.1.

No its all stock so I dont think it has the pentium 4

 

[silencer21]

yeah its best to max out your ram and get the hd 5670 at least thats what this old customer of mine had to do when we wanted to upgrade his dell. he maxed out the ram and bought a new 5670 (this was before the 6000 series cards and before ram got dirt cheap) he spend around 200 bucks then.

he went with the 5670 because he didnt want to upgrade his power supply. it worked out perfectly for him.

i mean you dont have to upgrade your power supply but its safer if you do though.

you can get this kit of ram, since your board only supports ddr2 speed or 533Mhz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134031

and maybe this psu. its a really good quality.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371029

and for the video card, the one the old guy bought was like this one but from diamond and 1gb version it fit perfectly.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102871

and there two are actual single slot cards.
an msi
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127600

and xfx
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150535

the only issue he had was that it took forever for his windows to load after installing everything becuase the motherboard was detecting the new ram and clocking it down to lower speeds cuz he had faster ram.

Thank you for all the good info. The user k1114 said to get a single slot, pcie 2.0 card not a 2.1 but all the card you mentioned are 2.1 what would that mean?

 

[mightymaxio]

PCIE 2.1 cards work in PCIE 1.0 and 2.0 slots, just not at the full speed. The only cards that even come close to the full PCIE 2.1 speed are the 590 gtx and the 6990 which only use about 75% of it.

 

[computernugget]

i dont know. i never ran into any problems testing the old mans computer after the upgrades. i guess its because some people have had issues using a pci-e 2.1 card on a pci-e 1.0 slot but i dont know though.

 

[mightymaxio]

Ive used pcie 2.1 cards on a 1.0 board on 3 different PC's ive upgraded and not one had a single problem.

 

[k1114]

There are motherboards with 1.0 that have issues with 2.1. You can search this forum and find multiple posts with people with the issue and it is more so of an issue to OEMs that don't release bios updates for their older models. You could try a 2.1 and if it doesn't work just get a refund. Most 5670s are 2.1 but you can still find 2.0, it seems they're not making/running out of stock of 2.0 cards.

The problem still remains if your psu can handle it, according to dell's documentation, you've got a 250w psu. But it hasn't been updated to include the pentium d models so it could be wrong.

Off topic: Even single gpu cards like the 570 or 6950 lose about 2-5% from 2.0 16x vs 8x. The Tom's pcie scaling article shows this. The 6990 loses from 2-20% from x16 to x8 depending the game/res. There's no way to measure pcie saturation accurately so where'd you get 75%?

 

[silencer21]

There are motherboards with 1.0 that have issues with 2.1. You can search this forum and find multiple posts with people with the issue and it is more so of an issue to OEMs that don't release bios updates for their older models. You could try a 2.1 and if it doesn't work just get a refund. Most 5670s are 2.1 but you can still find 2.0, it seems they're not making/running out of stock of 2.0 cards.

The problem still remains if your psu can handle it, according to dell's documentation, you've got a 250w psu. But it hasn't been updated to include the pentium d models so it could be wrong.

Off topic: Even single gpu cards like the 570 or 6950 lose about 2-5% from 2.0 16x vs 8x. The Tom's pcie scaling article shows this. The 6990 loses from 2-20% from x16 to x8 depending the game/res. There's no way to measure pcie saturation accurately so where'd you get 75%?

So if I were to max out my RAM, get a 400w psu, and try out a 2.1 single slot would my machine be able to run it then?

 

[computernugget]

So if I were to max out my RAM, get a 400w psu, and try out a 2.1 single slot would my machine be able to run it then?

it should run better than it did before due to the ram. and the new psu should handle your system no problem. and you can try getting the 5670 and see if it works, you should have no problems. but if you do you can return it (i hope you can).

or you can get one of these cards instead. i mean they arent as fast as the 5670 but its the next best thing.

xfx 9600GSO $50 before rebate with CoD4 and XFX pouch 20 bucks after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150570

xfx 4670 ddr2 this one is slower than the ddr3 version but its the only single slot version available at time if posting this $50 before rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150525

Galaxy (KFA2) GT240 gddr5 version, $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162042

out of these i recommend the gt240 cuz its the fastest with the ddr5 memory. and XFX offers lifetime warranty on all their products if you register.


edit: i found a single slot 4670 ddr3 model. its refurbished but it should work
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7122206&CatId=3669

 

[k1114]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5642514&CatId=3670

Here's a 2.0 5670 just in case.

 

[silencer21]

Thank you guys for all the good advice and quick reply's you really helped me out.

 

[computernugget]

no problem bro, thats what most of us are here for

 

[silencer21]

no problem bro, thats what most of us are here for

After some more reasearch I considering getting an upgrading my cpu to a intel pentium d 925 cause I heard the 900 series were better for gaming but I also heard some models of the E510 depending on the motherboard had trouble with those cpu's.

Whats also been bothering me and I cant find any solid information is if my dimension E510 is a low profile computer meaning I would need to get a low profile video card

 

[computernugget]

After some more reasearch I considering getting an upgrading my cpu to a intel pentium d 925 cause I heard the 900 series were better for gaming but I also heard some models of the E510 depending on the motherboard had trouble with those cpu's.

Whats also been bothering me and I cant find any solid information is if my dimension E510 is a low profile computer meaning I would need to get a low profile video card

does your computer look like this?

if it does then you dont need a low profile card. low profile means its half the width of a regular card, while single slot means it only occupies one expansion slot.


and i see no reason why it shouldnt work with a pentium d. i mean ive seen some models with some, and usually the only difference in the motherboard is that some have more sata connectors on them, usually eveything else is the same.

 

[silencer21]

does your computer look like this?

http://www.ktechpc.com/delle521/images2/2.jpg

if it does then you dont need a low profile card. low profile means its half the width of a regular card, while single slot means it only occupies one expansion slot.


and i see no reason why it shouldnt work with a pentium d. i mean ive seen some models with some, and usually the only difference in the motherboard is that some have more sata connectors on them, usually eveything else is the same.

Yup, thats my baby. I was just wondering about the pentium d 800 and 900 series because it seemed some ppl with older version models had a problem with detecting an incompatible CPU and require pressing F1 at bootup
http://en.community.dell.com/what-do-i-buy/f/3510/t/19010519.aspx

Thanks for clearing up that low profile issue, if I have any more noobish questions ill bother you some more

 

[k1114]

There is not much performance difference between 800 and 900 series. The 900 series was a die shrink and some more cache which doesn't equate to much performance. Even if you were to get a few hundred mhz, it won't be much difference. Unless you could find it really really cheap than it's really not worth it. You're better off saving the money for a whole new rig.

 

[silencer21]

There is not much performance difference between 800 and 900 series. The 900 series was a die shrink and some more cache which doesn't equate to much performance. Even if you were to get a few hundred mhz, it won't be much difference. Unless you could find it really really cheap than it's really not worth it. You're better off saving the money for a whole new rig.

I found some for around $40 thats not bad right?
also my processor is a Intel(R) Pentium(R) D 2.66GHz, does that mean I have a Pentium D or some earlier version

 

[k1114]

That's pretty good, I'd say go for it as long as it's more mhz, that's really the only decent performance boost they will give.

 

[silencer21]

That's pretty good, I'd say go for it as long as it's more mhz, that's really the only decent performance boost they will give.

So is a Intel(R) Pentium(R) D 2.66GHz still a Pentium D? and would it be a pretty good improvement to get the Pentium D 925 or dont even bother?

 

[computernugget]

yeah its a pentium D, its the entry level pentium D the 805. and the 925 would be an improvemnt since its clocked faster.