Upgrading Graphics Card: Dell Inspiron 620 600w PS

[ksnyder662]

Hello! As the title states I have an Inspiron 620 and I'm looking to upgrade the graphics card to something that will give me decent frame rates in World of Warcraft (80+). I just upgraded the power supply (EVGA 600w) and I also have 8 GB of RAM with an Intel Core i5-2320 @ 3.30 GHz processor. Any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

 

[clutchc]

Your budget will be the main limit with the i5-2320 and 600W PSU. Also check the length you have from the expansion slot cover to the drive cage so you know the max length a card can be.
Otherwise, I would suggest one of these GTX 1060s: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007709%20601210955

 

[ksnyder662]

Your budget will be the main limit with the i5-2320 and 600W PSU. Also check the length you have from the expansion slot cover to the drive cage so you know the max length a card can be.
Otherwise, I would suggest one of these GTX 1060s: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007709%20601210955

Thank you for the reply. I guess my main concern came in reading various other threads where people who had Inspiron 620 had issues replacing graphics cards because of something Dell implemented into the BIOS. My boyfriend tried to throw his graphics card (MSI Radeon R7 360) into my computer last night just for kicks. He turned it on and nothing was happening on the monitor. Rechecked to make sure everything was hooked up properly. The monitor still had the black screen. He removed his graphics card and it started up just fine. We updated the BIOS and tried his card again - it still wouldn't work. Now I'm a little hesitant to get stuck shelling out money for a graphics card that won't be compatible.

 

[clutchc]

Yes, that happens with OEM machines like Dell sometimes. But I am surprised one as late as yours has a problem with UEFI cards. Just about any modern gfx card will have a UEFI in place of an older legacy BIOS. But most will switch to legacy mode if needed. However, I too have had trouble with the R7-3xx cards in one of my machines.
I would suggest you try an Nvidia card. The machine I had problems with using the (in my case) R7-370 in, worked fine with every other card I used. Even my EVGA GTX 750 Ti and GTX 960 which also are UEFI. Unless you happen to find someone who has the exact same machine as yours and uses the same card you want to use, it will probably be a trial and error experience.

I don't know what your price range for the new card is, or what kind of performance you are after, but this MSI GTX 750 Ti has a built-in switch to change from UEFI to legacy if needed: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127783&cm_re=msi_750-_-14-127-783-_-Product

 

[ksnyder662]

Yes, that happens with OEM machines like Dell sometimes. But I am surprised one as late as yours has a problem with UEFI cards. Just about any modern gfx card will have a UEFI in place of an older legacy BIOS. But most will switch to legacy mode if needed. However, I too have had trouble with the R7-3xx cards in one of my machines.
I would suggest you try an Nvidia card. The machine I had problems with using the (in my case) R7-370 in, worked fine with every other card I used. Even my EVGA GTX 750 Ti and GTX 960 which also are UEFI. Unless you happen to find someone who has the exact same machine as yours and uses the same card you want to use, it will probably be a trial and error experience.

I don't know what your price range for the new card is, or what kind of performance you are after, but this MSI GTX 750 Ti has a built-in switch to change from UEFI to legacy if needed: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127783&cm_re=msi_750-_-14-127-783-_-Product

I mainly use my computer to run Diablo 3 and WoW. I just wanted something that would grant better frame rates than what my computer is currently running (<20 FPS usually on all minimum settings). I'm not actively trying to reach the ability to play on ultra - I just wanted to run on good/medium settings and be able to play comfortably (80+ FPS). Thanks again for the advice - I will most certainly check it out!

 

[clutchc]

80+ fps! What is the vertical refresh rate of your monitor?

 

[logainofhades]

Wow seems to run better, with v-sync turned off, so that is probably why the 80fps+. MSI has a GTX 750ti, that has a switch, to work with systems that have a legacy bios. Another option might be to look at an older used card, like a GTX 560ti. Same performance, roughly, as a 750ti, but without the UEFI issues.