Steve Kelly
Prominent Member
Hi folks,
I have a Dell Studio XPS 435 MT desktop (bought in 2009), and I need to replace the graphics card so that I can sell the machine. After 6 years, the original graphics card, a 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850, has finally given up the ghost.
All the hardware components in the desktop are the original ones.
I've never played around with replacing hardware components before, so i'm after knowing what I need to look for in terms of spec for replacing the graphics card.
Some info:
- the Dell Studio XPS 435MT system has a PCI Express x16 (rev 2.0) slot to accommodate a video card
- Motherboard is Dell DX58M01 Motherboard (spec here: DX58M01 Mainboard Specs
- There's not too much space around the PCI slot in the case, so assume I need something the same size/shape (or smaller?)
- The current 4850 card connects via a 6-pin connector as well as the PCI slot (do I need the replacement card to have the same?)
- Radeon 4850 spec:
- Interface: PCI-E 2.0 x16
- Framebuffer (RAM): 512Mb
- Memory type GDDR3
... (presumably the interface must be the same... and the RAM not...what about the memory type?)
- the machine has i7 Processor 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB cache, 4.8GT/sec) & 8Gb RAM
- original OS was Vista 64-bit, but I've been running Win 7 Ult 64-bit for years, and it's always been a fast machine for me, until the card started playing up. I will sell it with a fresh Vista install though.
So I want a semi-decent replacement card, capable of gaming (I never used it for gaming myself, but it was advertised as a 'gaming PC', so still want to retain that same level of capability).
.... but I want it to be cheap, as I'm replacing the card to sell the machine, not keep.
I assume I would be looking at an older (new) graphics card, as the specs of the current line-up would probably not be compatible with my system?!
All advice welcome.
Ta much.
Steve.
I have a Dell Studio XPS 435 MT desktop (bought in 2009), and I need to replace the graphics card so that I can sell the machine. After 6 years, the original graphics card, a 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850, has finally given up the ghost.
All the hardware components in the desktop are the original ones.
I've never played around with replacing hardware components before, so i'm after knowing what I need to look for in terms of spec for replacing the graphics card.
Some info:
- the Dell Studio XPS 435MT system has a PCI Express x16 (rev 2.0) slot to accommodate a video card
- Motherboard is Dell DX58M01 Motherboard (spec here: DX58M01 Mainboard Specs
- There's not too much space around the PCI slot in the case, so assume I need something the same size/shape (or smaller?)
- The current 4850 card connects via a 6-pin connector as well as the PCI slot (do I need the replacement card to have the same?)
- Radeon 4850 spec:
- Interface: PCI-E 2.0 x16
- Framebuffer (RAM): 512Mb
- Memory type GDDR3
... (presumably the interface must be the same... and the RAM not...what about the memory type?)
- the machine has i7 Processor 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB cache, 4.8GT/sec) & 8Gb RAM
- original OS was Vista 64-bit, but I've been running Win 7 Ult 64-bit for years, and it's always been a fast machine for me, until the card started playing up. I will sell it with a fresh Vista install though.
So I want a semi-decent replacement card, capable of gaming (I never used it for gaming myself, but it was advertised as a 'gaming PC', so still want to retain that same level of capability).
.... but I want it to be cheap, as I'm replacing the card to sell the machine, not keep.
I assume I would be looking at an older (new) graphics card, as the specs of the current line-up would probably not be compatible with my system?!
All advice welcome.
Ta much.
Steve.
Last edited: