Which Video Card for Dell Precision 470

[TonyBerry]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Yesterday

BUDGET RANGE: Unlimited

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: On the high end, gaming. Crysis, Metro 2033, GTA IV, all at full settings. Give me that and the rest of my needs follow.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Irrelevant. I'll ensure I'll have the necessary power requirements.

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: As stated in the subject: Dell Precision 470 with dual 3.6Ghz Xeon dual core CPU's and 4GB RAM.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Cheapest, which is usually NewEgg.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: None

OVERCLOCKING: Unlikely.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Not capable. The 470 only has a single x16 PCI Express slot.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Native LCD 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Highest performing card in single card configuration. I also need verification of whether or not this system supports 2.0 devices. Dell's support site doesn't seem to state either way.

BUILD INFORMATION:

[pasted from the Dell support site]

1 5120P Cord, Power, 125V, 6Feet, SJT..., Unshielded
1 F6537 INSTRUCTION..., DEVIATE TO PWA T0892, LADDER WITH 5R/2R CIRCUITS...
2 N2288 Processor, 80546K, 3.6G, 1M, Xeon Nocona, 800
1 T0943 Kit, Mouse, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS..., 28, Optical Logitech
4 H2084 Dual In-Line Memory Module 1024, 400M, 32X72, 8, 240, 2RX8
1 P1554 Card, Multi-media, Audio, 1394 SB0353
1 F6306 Kit, Speaker, 120V, Nmb, A215, LeadFree, Dell Americas Organization
1 F4991 Kit, Documentation on floppy Disk, Software, Power DVD, 5.1
1 U5945 Assembly, Digital Video Disk Drive, 16X, Half Height, Hitachi LG Data Storage, Chassis 2001
1 D6122 Assembly, Digital Video Disk Drive Read Write, 16X, Half Height, Philips, CHASSIS 2001...
1 J4628 Keyboard, 104, Universal Serial Bus, United States, Entry, Liteon
1 5R212 Floppy Drive, 1.44M, 3.5" FORM FACTOR..., 3MD NBZ, NEC CORPORATION..., CHASSIS 2001...
1 C6355 Assembly, Cable, Serial ATA Transformer Sky Dive Mini Tower, 2.0
1 R2527 Kit, Software, Overpack, WXPPSP364Compact Diskette/W Documentation, English
1 Y5942 Kit, Compact Diskette, Driver Resource Compact Disk Precision Workstation, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...
2 6D822 Assembly, Cable, Video 3DLABS, WCII, Precision WorkStations
1 Y3798 ASSEMBLY..., BRACKET..., RETAINER/RETENTION..., PLASTIC..., PC INTERFACE EXPRESS...
2 F3550 Assembly, Heat Sink, NOCONA Transformer Devastator Desktop
1 M4113 ASSEMBLY..., CHASSIS..., PREPARED/PREPPED..., TRANSFORMER DEVASTATOR DESKTOP..., PWS470, PWA INTEGRATED...
0 149DF INFORMATION..., PREPARATION MATERIAL..., DEVIATION..., PRECISION WORKSTATION..., INCREASE..., #2
0 D0982 INFORMATION..., PREPARATION MATERIAL..., DEVIATION..., PRECISION WORKSTATION..., INCREASE..., #3
0 D0983 INFORMATION..., PREPARATION MATERIAL..., DEVIATION..., PRECISION WORKSTATION..., INCREASE..., #4
1 N7462 TECHNICAL SHEET..., DOCUMENTATION UPDATE..., INTERRUPT REQUEST..., 4/670, WORLD WIDE..., ENGLAND/ENGLISH...
1 T4860 Guide, Product, Information Desktop, AMF/BCC
0 46022 INFORMATION..., ENABLE GRN PC, MS-DOS6
0 92026 INFORMATION..., HYPERMEDIA..., READ ME, E-STAR ENB
1 X3152 GUIDE..., SETUP, PWS470/670, DA0/BCC


Thanks for your assistance.

 

[rolli59]

For your resolution a HD5770 would be a nice overkill. For the money value I would look at this HD4850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824 It will do very well at 1280x1024

 

[flyinfinni]

That PC has a 550W PSU, so you should be pretty good on power. It can probably handle everything up to a 5870 but it may not be long enough for it. You probably don't need more than a 5770 though- especially for 1280x1024.

 

[TonyBerry]

Thanks for the quick, and informative, responses!

I did some more research and I think I have discovered that the 470 utilizes a PCI Express 1.0 architecture. The reason I wasn't able to find any information from Dell manuals is the same reason people didn't call WWI by a "number". When it's the first, you don't KNOW there's going to be a "sequel". They don't call it PCI Express 1.0 in the manuals, as there was no 2.0 specification yet. I did some research on Wikipedia and learned the 2.0 specification was implemented in early 2007. Since the 470 was sold in the 2004 time frame, it is safe to assume it is PCI Express 1.0.

Given that information, would a 5770, or even the inexpensive 4850, give me any appreciable performance? What level of overall performance do I lose on strictly the extra 250MB/s (per lane) from the 1.0 spec of 250MB/s verses the 2.0 spec of 500MB/s? Does the bus clock speed increase from the 1.0 spec of 2.5Ghz verses the 2.0 spec of 5.0Ghz make a huge difference?

 

[flyinfinni]

At the level of the 4850 or 5750/5770, you will not notice a single difference. Its like running them in a PCI-e 2.0 x8 slot instead of x16- they've not shown any significant difference in anything below the very high-end cards. No issue there;-)

 

[TonyBerry]

Just when I think I've found all the necessary information, something contrary appears. In one of the Dell manuals for the 470, in the system specifications section, it outlines the various connector slots. In this system, 1 x PCI Express x16, 1 x PCI Express x8 (only x4 operation), 1 x PCI-X, 1 x PCI. It states "x16 slot bidirectional speed is 80Gbps", yet on the Wikipedia page it states the capacity on 16 lane slot, 2.0 spec, is 8MB/s. What the heck is Dell talking about? 80Gbps or 10MB/s isn't even a spec'd speed. Did they create some kind of proprietary capacity? The manual also states the x16 bus wattage at 150w, but I don't see any information related to that on the Wikipedia page. I guess that measurement isn't as important as those devices usually have external power connectors anyway.

 

[flyinfinni]

I wouldn't worry about it. It will work whatever the case.It does seem a little odd (BTW- 80Gbps is 10GB/s and the PCI-E 2.0 x16 spec is 8GB/s). they might have made a typo of some sort, but it doesn't really matter. Its a PCI-E x16 slot and will work, no matter the type.

 

[dpekarsky]

Hey guys.., so i just got precision 470... and want to get a video card with HDMI output. Been reading yours and other posts and getting completely lost.

Which interface should I be searching for PCI express 1.0, 2.0, 2.1 or x16? Or are x16 and 1.0 the same? Sorry for the primitive questions.. but the last time I built my own machine was in 2004. Thanks!!!