Question What graphics card should I get for a Dell Optiplex 7020 ?

[patrickfeeney]

Hello,
I just got a Dell Optiplex 7020 MT. It has an i7-4790, 16 ram ddr3 (4 sticks), 500 sata ssd 3d nand, 290 watts power supply. It's a fullsize tower.
I would like to get a graphics card for it. I think I should go second hand and get something like a Gtx 1070 or something with similar performance. I think I could buy it from ebay. I live in Ireland btw.
I also would need a new power supply. I think 500 watts would be fine. I would need to buy a 24 pin to 8 pin cable for the motherboard because the motherboard of this PC uses 8 pin power instead of 24 pin because its proprietary.
I plan to use it for college work, gaming (I don't play very demanding games), streaming and some light video editing 1080p.
Right now I've got 3 monitors. 2 of which are Dells 1280x1024 75hz and the other one is a Aoc 1920x1080 60hz
If you need any extra info please ask me.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Karadjgne]

You are putting the Cart before the Horse.

You have a 290w psu. That's not capable of powering any gpu that requires an auxiliary pcie power connector, 6pin or 6+2pin.

Once you determine exactly what psu you can upgrade to, and you'll need at least 550w-650w for any decent sized gpu, then worry about the gpu.

Psu first, as well as any adapters required to make motherboard connections, Dell's are Notorious for proprietary-ism, they don't want You to upgrade, they want you to Buy new and better.

Edit: the psu in what I found for the MT is a standard ATX (smaller 140mm case), so if that's the same HiPro 290w version, any ATX psu will work, just do Not skimp and buy the cheapest.

 

[patrickfeeney]

You are putting the Cart before the Horse.

You have a 290w psu. That's not capable of powering any gpu that requires an auxiliary pcie power connector, 6pin or 6+2pin.

Once you determine exactly what psu you can upgrade to, and you'll need at least 550w-650w for any decent sized gpu, then worry about the gpu.

Psu first, as well as any adapters required to make motherboard connections, Dell's are Notorious for proprietary-ism, they don't want You to upgrade, they want you to Buy new and better.

Hello,
Thanks for your answer.
I think it's easier to choose PSU than gpu. That's why I'm starting by choosing the Gpu.
Cheers.

 

[Karadjgne]

The only monitor of any importance is the Primary monitor, I'm guessing that's the 1080p. Which means anything will work there, although anything stronger than a 3060ti is basically pointless. That equates to a 2070Super or 1080ti. So a 1070 will work just fine, if you can find one and it's reliable, which at this point is somewhat iffy, they are old enough to have seen some heavy gaming use with more modern titles.

Gotta figure, those cards were released in 2016, so they are mostly 5-6 years old now and there's no guarantee the prior owner took any decent care of them, didn't OC the snot out of it, push it to power limits constantly, actually dusted it regularly etc.

There's only 3 items I'll not buy 2nd hand unless I know the seller personally and know the usage. Storage, gpu and psu. Those I buy new, I want that warranty, the guarantee that I'm not wasting my money if the item fails the day after buying it.

There are No good 500w, 600w, 700w ATX psus, for good and reliable there's really only 550w, 650w or 750w, so whichever gpu you settle on, plan on spending for a decent psu as well.

 

[patrickfeeney]

The only monitor of any importance is the Primary monitor, I'm guessing that's the 1080p. Which means anything will work there, although anything stronger than a 3060ti is basically pointless. That equates to a 2070Super or 1080ti. So a 1070 will work just fine, if you can find one and it's reliable, which at this point is somewhat iffy, they are old enough to have seen some heavy gaming use with more modern titles.

Gotta figure, those cards were released in 2016, so they are mostly 5-6 years old now and there's no guarantee the prior owner took any decent care of them, didn't OC the snot out of it, push it to power limits constantly, actually dusted it regularly etc.

There's only 3 items I'll not buy 2nd hand unless I know the seller personally and know the usage. Storage, gpu and psu. Those I buy new, I want that warranty, the guarantee that I'm not wasting my money if the item fails the day after buying it.

There are No good 500w, 600w, 700w ATX psus, for good and reliable there's really only 550w, 650w or 750w, so whichever gpu you settle on, plan on spending for a decent psu as well.

Thanks for your comment. Would I be able to use a gpu with the 290 watt PSU?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Would I be able to use a gpu with the 290 watt PSU?

GT 1030 , GTX 1050 ti (may be), GTX 1650.

 

[Tac 25]

a GT 1030 is one of the safer to use with that psu. Although, for most games, you might be limited to 720p.

recommending the GDDR5 version of the 1030.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a80mtoQklSo

 

[Karadjgne]

For comparison, the GT1030 is roughly the same thing as 12th Gen igpu or Ryzen Vega graphics. It's a little bit stronger than the old 750ti or gtx950.

The DDR4 version was a sneaky bit of BS, it's barely better than the old GT710, equitable to 1 version of the GT730. It's that bad.

 

[patrickfeeney]

Ok thanks. I'll get a new psu with an adapter and a graphics card.