My graphics card is history and people on the Dell forum says Radeon HD7870 is a great card. If I do upgrade from that I have to invest much more money to be worth it, and buy extra fans.

They suggest I buy a new of the same and get an extra fan instead. Do you agree on 7870 still being good? I though there was an updated list of graphics cards, but I never seem to find it when I need it.

Do you mean this list?

The 7870 is a mid range card. It's okay. But really everything depends on price. There's no point in jumping into a new 7870 if you can get something better for the same amount of money.

Step 1: Find out WHY your previous card is no longer good. If you have a bad case, or no airflow, you should fix that before you even think of getting a new card.

Step 2: Find out how many Amperes your PSU can provide on the +12V rail.

You don't want to spend more money on a new PSU, so find out how many A you have with your current PSU, and then post what CPU you're using and we'll calculate how many A you have left for the GPU.

Step 3: Shop for prices. If you're buying from the US or the UK, check online at pcpartpicker.com for a curated list of pc parts and their prices. Using the website, skip straight to the video card section and use the filters on the right side of the window to look only for 7870s. You'll see how much they cost.

Step 4: Compare that to other cards we will suggest here in this thread once we find out how many A you have available. Based on the options you have available to you, we can help you pick the best card for your money.

Thanks abel for that list, it seems it does have yes on all exp. I tend to agree with ajaxsirius though, I would very much like something more expensive.

I'm beginning to think the fan was too small already when I bought it and that's why it crashed now. I'm about to take out the card because they say I have a small card on the onboard. That way I can get the comp up for surfing the internet and figure out what I've got, so I can compare.

I will look at all the suggestions and see what I can figure out from that Thanks.

I guess psu is short for power supply unit? I found out I needed to open up the comp to figure that out and I took some pictures. It's a HU460AD-01, 50-60hz, 8A, output power 460w. Is that the info you need?

+12V says 18A. What processor are you using in your computer?

Intel Core i7-3770 cpu 3,40 ghz. 12 GB ram

I'm looking at cases, and if I have an upper budget of about 5k norw kroner, that will be about 840 us dollars, I found a case for 800 nok, that isn't much. Like this one has 26 reviews

Edit: perhaps I should try'n stay inside this case, because if I do something too much I may just end up with a pile of rubble I can never make work Perhaps I can measure how much room I have around the power supply.

Edit2: this isn't looking good. Even the Radeon card I've used so far require more than I had in the case from Dell. It looks like it requires 500w.

Can you take a picture of the front your Dell? I'd like to see if there is actually an intake vent in the front. If possible, you should avoid changing case. Dell use their own non-standard parts inside... It'll be a pain to transfer everything into a new case.

Thanks for your help. There is a bit of reflection and I have to use blitz, I still hope you can see well.

Hm ... I just realized I have a 4 year old case standing here with parts, it's custom made by a shop downtown. I have no clue what's in it and 4 years is alot in this business.

Hrmm probably a small intake near the bottom where the dust is accumulating. I would clear that out with a can of compressed air if you can. I'll post back later with some card recommendations. I'm at work atm.

EDIT: I think a GTX 750 Ti would work well for you. It's relatively low powered but is powerful enough to run TS3 on highest settings.

This version of the GTX 750 Ti is the one I would personally get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5-511-_-Product. I like the cooler it comes with.

Alternatively there's this one that is slightly less expensive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1-855-_-Product.

Someone at Dell's forum suggested this solution, it has yes on all the exp as well:



The 750 Ti has maybe on some of the expansions in the graphics card list.

... and I bought myself a dust air today, was thinking about it before. Hard to clean up inside without compressed air. The price is good

The 750 ti outperforms the 650 Ti which is green across the board. I don't think you'll encounter any issues.

Thank you ajaxsirius, you're being very helpful. I have this 4 year old case and the Dell, you say Dell often have custom made parts, but perhaps I can get the price down.

I'm watching some videos and the parts I need is:

Case: buy a new one
Power supply: new to fit graphics card
motherboard: 4 year old or the Dell. Possibly Crossfire - new
cpu: 4 year or Dell
Memory: Ram 4 year old or rather Dell
Graphics card: new
Storage: I hope Dell or have to get new
Optical Drive: or DVD as it's usually called from the 4 year old or Dell.

I read about this Crossfire and it being dependent on the games capabilities, Sims hasn't been at the forefront so far so could be a waste of money. I have to get into the Custom made 4 year old to see what parts it has.

Edit: You know what? The money just came in. I'm thinking I can have some time on this, so I'm buying that card for now. Can I buy from the us, being a european? Nope I can't, that's fine I'll find it somewhere else. I have tons of money all of a sudden, so I'm going to town. cu

The rest of your PC parts are okay, except the case. Honestly if I were you I would just get the GTX 750 Ti for now and put some money away for a PC fund so that when you really have to buy a new PC, you don't have to buy a Dell/Alienware.

Here are some UK online retailers you could checkout:

www.amazon.co.uk
www.scan.co.uk
www.dabs.com
www.pcworldbusiness.co.uk
www.cclonline.com
www.ebuyer.com
www.overclockers.co.uk
www.novatech.co.uk
www.misco.co.uk

Thank you. I bought the Gigabite as you suggested and it's working very nicely, I can hardly hear it while gaming.

On Dell forum Kelbear1 thought:



I'm not sure what he meant by 2 of the 6 pins. I had two 6 pin contacts in the Dell, but only used one. The instructions with the card also said two, but they are usual for several types, not just the one I bought. Have a fund for a PC might be a good idea, I'll have to think about that.