I need help on my Dell 530s video card

[onion83]

hi, i currently have a Dell 530s desktop (slim) at the moment. i am thinking about upgrading the Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 which came with the computer to a higher video card. i know that Dell offers the ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB supporting HDMI too but it's been so hard for me to find any good video cards to fit in these slim cases (perfer something like a 128bit card) my other question is will i have to do any sort of modification to the back to fit a new video card? if you click on the 5th picture on this link http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspndt_530s?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn that is how mine's look like. just the VGA outlet plug with a piece of black plastic around it. I should've bought the regular case computer but was on a buget at the time. i appreciate any help/answers to my questions above.

thanks

 

[glinda3102]

You've probably already bought a card since it's been 6 months since you posted, but I've seen others asking the same question, so i figure it's worth answering.

The easiest solution is the low-profile version of the Radeon HD 4650. I just bought one to solve the exact same problem and I'm thrilled. It fits the cramped case, it fits in the one free PCI 2 slot, it works with the factory-installed Dell 250W PSU, it's dead quiet, it's cheap ($55 here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102829 ),
and it's powerful enough that I haven't found a game yet I can't play with it. COD5, Crysis, Bioshock, Mercenaries 2, games that use the UT 3 engine, etc., on high settings & with good framerates. For Mercs 2, for instance, I get 30+ fps on high at 1440x1050. I haven't overclocked it because I don't want to push the PSU and heat factor, but I've read that people have and have gotten even better results.

It's really perfect for updating a low-form-factor, off-the-shelf (but reasonably powerful -- dual or quad core, 2-4 GB, newish) PC that's bottlenecked by those dumb integrated graphics -- without having to buy a new PSU or fuss around at all. (It took me 5 mins. to install. and I'd never opened a computer case in my life before.)

Oh, yeah: I have an Inspiron 530S with a Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.0 and 3GBs. Otherwise the factory-standard Inspiron 530S as seen on the Dell site. Including that wussy 250W PSU.