Bawgwa

I have a Dell Dimension E521 and my processor is AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Duel Core Processor 3800+ and my current video card is NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE... i would really appreciate any help on suggestions for really good video cards that work for my computer because i have scanned my computer for compatibility for games online and it says my video card fails so i am looking for a new one to play online games very smoothely on highest graphics settings.

thanks

manic

The first thing you will have to address is a new power supply. The one
you have in the dell if its stock will not be good enough for todays
power hungry vid cards...read this, a little long but very informative..
Power Supply Information and Selection

Bawgwa

soo... how much would a new power supply and video card cost me on the average?

manic

Depends on the video card. A decent power supply will run between
100, to say 160 dollars, max, depending on what vid card you get..
Thats for a quality unit, read that link I gave you,,dont get sucked
into the 30 dollar 750watt psu.......

Bawgwa

Well... i took this "Can you run it?" test online... and the website gave me 2 suggestions for video cards... i am wondering if those two cards would need a new power supply or not... they recommended this card. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...572&CatId=1603

wrench97

You have a PCIe x16 slot so that is the type of card to use instead of the older style PCI card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102820
And to power it
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9004&Tpk=550vx

Bawgwa

thanks for info wrench... so if i buy those two things ur positive i will be good to go?

wrench97

Yes they will both work, the only possible issue is that because you have a Nvidia chipset motherboard it is sometimes easier to install the drivers for a Nvidia card like this one> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130501

I think the midrange ATI cards are better and have installed them in E521's without issues but it's just something to be aware of.

Bawgwa

alright thanks :) the only other issue is installation... i dont know how i would get it inside my computer lol

also... to wrench... so you gave me two options of video cards... my question is now which would u recommend over the other so i dont get gimped out of performance. and also will i need that power supply for both of the cards or just the first one?

wrench97

You'll need the PSU for either, I like the ATI mid-range cards better then the Nvidia until you get to the GTS250/HD4850 then they start to even out.
So the HD4670 is what I would use.

Bawgwa

kk thanks i might order them tonight... i just need to find out how i would go about installing them without blowing up my computer lol

wrench97

Have a look through this the video card is fairly easy, the power supply you just need to remember what you are unplugging and from where. You may find it helpful to make tags from masking tape and write on them where you unplugged the connectors from.
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1043338

I would also consider adding ram to the system 2gigs under XP is usually sufficient. Crucial in matched pairs for Dells is usually best> http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...mension%20E521

I also know that you can upgrade the CPU to the 89 watt x2 6000 Brisbane or Windsor core without any issues but it's not a Giant leap faster just a little faster.

I would do the Video card and the ram and see where you are you'll be able to play the game with those upgrades.

Bawgwa

alright thanks for all of your help :) so you want me to forget about power supply? or is that just automatically implied?

also how many 1gig RAM cards should i buy? one?

manic

You still need the power supply. After the video upgrade the next
thing for improvement would be ram,,then cpu. Your biggest improve-
ment will be video. Next would be ram.