UPGRADE DELL DIMENSION C521 VIDEO CARD

[ghcalabro]

Hi, I recently purchased a Samsung Series 4+ 430 it is a 43" inch plasma TV with two HDMI ports, and 1 PC connection.

Long story short I would like to install a video card on my Dell Dimension C521. Preferably a video card with an HDMI port so I can browse the internet on my new TV.

I am not planning to play any games, I only want to get some live TV channels for other countries (live tv) and watch them (just like I do now on my computer) but I would like to watch them on the big plasma tv.

Which would be a good card without spending a lot of money and also without changing the power supply or anything like that. I read that an good economical option could be the following cards.

PowerColor Go! Green AX5450 512MK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

and the:

SAPPHIRE 100253HDMI Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card




However, I posted this here because probably someone has the right scoop on this dimension c521.

Thanks for any help.

Regards, Gus.

 

[king smp]

Well if the tower is a slim desktop (SFF or Slimline) then go with the HD 4650 since it is a low profile card

Personally I picked the HD 4650 a while back when faced with the same problem
(own many Dells)

low power card but still can handle some gaming if the need ever comes up
a great multimedia card for a Home Theater PC
but also the HD 5450 would work good for your needs and consumer less power
but not as powerful as the HD 4650

another one to consider would be a HD 6450 which is the newest technology
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127610&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=pw4xdh7u29eu

that is the low profile card
most low profile cards come with full size and half size brackets
so can be used in full or half size towers

the HD 6450 will have the latest feature set as far as UVD which is used for hardware
video decoding which uses the card for accelerating your video playback

 

[ghcalabro]

Thank you King smp I did as you told I got me a 4650 (it was even a unknown brand) and I hook it up and everything is going they way I wanted. Now I am able to go choose from on my TV the hmdi connection and connect to the Dimension C521 and I can browse and the quality is unbelievable. I might have to ad a couple of more RAM to the desktop but that shouldn't be a problem. Thanks again.

 

[ghcalabro]

Best answer selected by ghcalabro.