Upgrading Graphics Card for Inspiron 530 (new at this)

[swellow]

Hi, I have an pretty old Inspiron 530, and the integrated graphics card won't allow me to play many of the newer games. I am currently using a Intel G33/G31 Express chipset family.I would like to replace it and get a better one that can play those games on a decent quality. I am new to this, and I would appreciate some help. My budget for the graphics card is less than $200.

The specs of my current computer:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.80GHz
RAM: 6GB
Power Supply: 240W


I probably can change my budget a bit to get a better supply as well. Please help me out here, thanks.

 

[haider95]

Hi, I have an pretty old Inspiron 530, and the integrated graphics card won't allow me to play many of the newer games. I am currently using a Intel G33/G31 Express chipset family.I would like to replace it and get a better one that can play those games on a decent quality. I am new to this, and I would appreciate some help. My budget for the graphics card is less than $200.

The specs of my current computer:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.80GHz
RAM: 6GB
Power Supply: 240W


I probably can change my budget a bit to get a better supply as well. Please help me out here, thanks.

Your PSU will not be up to the task. First thing you should do is purchase a Corsair CX500 or a similar PSU of a good brand. Your next step should be to purchase a HD7790 as anything above this card will be bottlenecked by your CPU .. after this process, save what money you have left and save up for a better Processor/Mobo/Ram.. The era of dual cores is over my friend. PS what resolution are you gaming at?

 

[orion1125]

Hi, I have an pretty old Inspiron 530, and the integrated graphics card won't allow me to play many of the newer games. I am currently using a Intel G33/G31 Express chipset family.I would like to replace it and get a better one that can play those games on a decent quality. I am new to this, and I would appreciate some help. My budget for the graphics card is less than $200.

The specs of my current computer:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.80GHz
RAM: 6GB
Power Supply: 240W


I probably can change my budget a bit to get a better supply as well. Please help me out here, thanks.

I have the newer Dell Inspiron 630 and I put in an HIS AMD HD7750 I bought on Amazon for about $90. Its a very fast single slot low power solution. YYou will love it. You will be able to play League of Legends near maxed and most shooters at mid settings.

 

[Kisianik]

My budget for the graphics card is less than $200.

The specs of my current computer: Inspiron 530
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.80GHz
RAM: 6GB
Power Supply: 240W

I probably can change my budget a bit to get a better supply as well. Please help me out here, thanks.

What troubles me is your power supply, it is too small for Mini Tower, so which form factor you have Mini Tower or Slim, look at the picture below and choose the most appropriate.

As soon as you make ID, we can provide correct advice, for now we can only guess.

 

[swellow]

Hi, I have an pretty old Inspiron 530, and the integrated graphics card won't allow me to play many of the newer games. I am currently using a Intel G33/G31 Express chipset family.I would like to replace it and get a better one that can play those games on a decent quality. I am new to this, and I would appreciate some help. My budget for the graphics card is less than $200.

The specs of my current computer:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.80GHz
RAM: 6GB
Power Supply: 240W


I probably can change my budget a bit to get a better supply as well. Please help me out here, thanks.

Your PSU will not be up to the task. First thing you should do is purchase a Corsair CX500 or a similar PSU of a good brand. Your next step should be to purchase a HD7790 as anything above this card will be bottlenecked by your CPU .. after this process, save what money you have left and save up for a better Processor/Mobo/Ram.. The era of dual cores is over my friend. PS what resolution are you gaming at?

I hope to be able to run games on med/high setting. Yea, my computer is quite ancient. Should I just wait bit longer and replace the whole thing?

My budget for the graphics card is less than $200.

The specs of my current computer: Inspiron 530
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.80GHz
RAM: 6GB
Power Supply: 240W

I probably can change my budget a bit to get a better supply as well. Please help me out here, thanks.

What troubles me is your power supply, it is too small for Mini Tower, so which form factor you have Mini Tower or Slim, look at the picture below and choose the most appropriate.

As soon as you make ID, we can provide correct advice, for now we can only guess.

I have a mini tower.

Thanks for all of the answer, I really appreciate it.

 

[hang-the-9]

Your CPU is passable, you may be able to stick a pretty fast quad core chip in there for cheap as well as a faster video card.

If your power supply is a standard one (some makers make the PSU a non-standard ATX shape to fit in a case), you can get a cheaper 350-400 watt PSU for under $50, a faster CPU for under $50 and a lower end video card for about $80. You can skip the CPU for now, a 2.8gig Core 2 Duo is OK for games, won't get to High settings or Med in some, but things like WoW you can almost max out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202011

Keep the same CPU for now and see how things run. That video card is good enough to last for a few years of decent gaming even if you move to a faster computer.

If you want to go really budget but limit your future use of the card, you can get only a Radeon 7750 and see if it will run in your system, that card uses about 40 watts on full load vs the 7770 which is about 80, so you may be OK with your current 240 watt PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161403

$20 less for the card and no money spent on the power supply.

 

[Kisianik]

Your CPU is passable, you may be able to stick a pretty fast quad core chip in there for cheap as well as a faster video card.

Here is misconception about Inspiron 530 CPU, since Dell doing what ever is possible to save money, there are 2 motherboard used in this PC, one which can support Quads, such as Q6600 and Q6700, and the other one, which can not and supports up to E8600.

The Inspiron 530 has two variants of motherboards, both made by Foxconn and based on the G33M series. The G33M02 which supports up to Core 2 Duo processors (the e8600 is the fastest compatible cpu)and the DG33M03, which supports up to Core 2 Quad processors. Inspiron 530 systems sold with Pentium Dual-Core or Core 2 Duo processors can not be upgraded to Core 2 Quad processors without adding at least a 350W power supply and swapping motherboards to the DG33M03 motherboard. The reason the G33M02 doesn't support Core 2 Quad processors is because it only has 6 voltage regulator ICs, the DG33M03 has 11.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Inspiron#Inspiron_530

Usually, if Inspiron 530 sold with Core 2 Duo, it has cheaper motherboard, the easy way to check is to look on your power supply, if it is 300 watt or less, most likely your motherboard is for Duo only.

I can not comment more on GPU, it was covered well above, I just prefer to have more powerful PSU for 7770, not just enough, but more for longevity.

 

[haider95]

Your CPU is passable, you may be able to stick a pretty fast quad core chip in there for cheap as well as a faster video card.

If your power supply is a standard one (some makers make the PSU a non-standard ATX shape to fit in a case), you can get a cheaper 350-400 watt PSU for under $50, a faster CPU for under $50 and a lower end video card for about $80. You can skip the CPU for now, a 2.8gig Core 2 Duo is OK for games, won't get to High settings or Med in some, but things like WoW you can almost max out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202011

Keep the same CPU for now and see how things run. That video card is good enough to last for a few years of decent gaming even if you move to a faster computer.

If you want to go really budget but limit your future use of the card, you can get only a Radeon 7750 and see if it will run in your system, that card uses about 40 watts on full load vs the 7770 which is about 80, so you may be OK with your current 240 watt PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161403

$20 less for the card and no money spent on the power supply.

I vote again for the HD7770 and a new PSU. Just got the same card that hang-the-9 linked up there in the mail today. I'm running arkham city on max settings with easy 45-60 fps on a processor slower than yours. 1280x1024 ofcourse