help on gpu upgrade!!

hey im looking to upgrade my video card because im starting to get into gaming. ive got a dell inspiron 531s (i didn't buy, i hate slims for obvious reasons) ive been looking at these cards lately http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102800R&Tpk=SAPPHIRE%20HD%202400%20PRO <-- wondering if i can make that low profile becuse thats the 1 i want if not oh well. and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814139031R if you havn't realized it yet im understanding of terms and stuff so feel free to use proper names. and if u find a card better than ati x1300 pro with dx10 please tell me.

thanks in advance

 

Those card's will do poor in gaming. Also finding a gaming card for a slim pc is going to be tricky.

What games are you planing to play?

 

Just to toss in my 2 cents, those are, as pclover has stated, very, very poor graphics cards. The fans, or heatsinks, are poor for gaming. I took a look at the 531s and, from what I saw, it does support PCI-E, or PCI-Express, video cards (good thing!). Next, figure out what type of card man you are, ie: nVidia or ATI/AMD.

Here are a few nVidia cards from eVGA, lower-end/cheaper:
$98.74 (~$68 after rebates) - http://www.amazon.com/PNY-VCG96GSO7XPB-Verto-GeForce-768MB/dp/B001TUYTDE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253459149&sr=1-2

$99.55 (~$75.55 after rebates) - http://www.amazon.com/PNY-VCG96512G...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253459149&sr=1-3

A few higher up cards:

$154.99 - http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-512-P3-N...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253459290&sr=1-67

$180.75 - http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-512-P3-N...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253459290&sr=1-62

Hope this helps. Yes, most of the time, the higher the price tag, unfortunately, the better quality the card. Good luck!

 

I must agree with all the comments so far, the cards listed above in the first post are really low-end and will not provide much of an increase in gaming performance over the on-board video. Judging from the price of those cards, I'm assuming that rpgamer127 is on a very tight budget. Unfortunately, with PC components you really do get what you pay for, and if something is very low cost, it is usually very low performance. In the $80-$100 range, you should consider the nVidia 9600GT. It's a GREAT card for the price. I originally bought one when they first came out for about $165!!! and I was happy with my purchase. The 9600GT is also available in a low-profile (slimline) version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500103&cm_re=9600gt-_-14-500-103-_-Product In the $40-$80 range, there are a few cards that are OK; some of the 9500GT cards have some fairly impressive performance for a 128bit bus, so you might want to consider one of those, but if you're serious about gaming, then you need some serious power, and you won't find serious power for under $100.00. I see some 9800GTX+ cards listed above, but for the same price, you can get a much more powerful GTX260. The GTX260 will smoke the 9800GTX and costs the same as or less than those 9800's linked to above (look here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133270&cm_re=gtx260-_-14-133-270-_-Product $150 after rebate; free shipping). But if low-profile is needed, the GTX260 is not a possibility. The best you can do with a low-profile card is probably a 9600GT or 9800GT; and the 9800GTs cost about $25 more than a similar 9600GT. Here's the 9800GTs at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ia 9800gt&name=Desktop Graphics / Video Cards and here's the 9600GTs available from Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ia 9600gt&name=Desktop Graphics / Video Cards Many of these 9800/9600 cards have mail-in rebates and/or free shipping so you can really get a great card for the price....

GOOD LUCK!!! I hope I didn't confuse you too much! :-o rolleyes

 

ill be playing mostly DDO WoW and low end stuff but DDO just started using dx10 and i want better fps and yes im on an extreme low budget like 20-50 or 60 at most. i could go either way for brand but ive pretty much only had ati in the 3 pc's i had ever. oh and this pc is 2.3 years old. whats the life expectancy of these cards?

 

IF you are on a tight budget

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130297

It's an ok card that will play most games on decent settings that will be playable.

life span should be long. I say 5 years likely

 

well to be fair this isn't final cuz dad has credit card and i dont have money "yet" but idk wat games im gunna get because my collection is purely cristmas and birthday. so lets say i get what i really want (gaming controller) and the games i get requires a better card then these budget 1s. so im really asking now is what time of year is best to buy and should i use my money on a card or wait till xmas where my dad usually sets a limit of $400 per child because im also running out of space and need an extra hardrive. OR should i ask for a new refurb pc he is usually forgiving if its big, within reason of course.

wow thats a lot of words ty ahead of time just let me know if i should start a new thread based on this.