Little help please: 5000+ X2 vs BFG GTS 512mb

[PEIGuy]

Greetings,

First I would like to say that really like this site! I stumbled onto HWC while scanning reviews at NCIX and I'm impressed with both the reviews and the site as a whole.

I was wondering if you guys might be able to help me out with a question I have regarding whether my current system will bottleneck a video card(s) I have my eye on?

First what I have:

Dell Dimension E521

CPU- AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ running stock 2.6ghz

RAM- 2gb

video card- 8600GT 512mb DDR2

300w power supply

22" Dell LCD

Hardly a gaming rig I know, but I figure if I slap a BFG 8800 GTS 512mb OC card in it with a new 600w OCZ Stealthstream power supply that should bring it around nicely

I've also rolled around the idea of going with a 9800GTX as well.

Only thing holding me back is I am just not sure whether my current CPU/RAM will bottle kneck these cards?

Any input is a greatly appreciated.

[Moneyless]

AFAIK you wouldn't really see that much of an increase in performance from an 8800GT to a GTS since a GTS is really just an overclocked GT with a bigger heat sink...

And IIRC you can't use normal ATX PSU's with Dell motherboards since they use their own proprietairy motherboard connectors and stuff... but I know PC Power & Cooling makes Dell-spec PSU's you could look at. :)

[PEIGuy]

Hey Money. Thanks for the feedback. There are a couple things making me want to buy the GTS over the GT, but the main one is the dual slot cooler. My machine really wasn't made for gaming and I worry how it will deal with the extra heat of GT. Also the GTS seems to be the sweet spot for price atm.

I checked that link out you gave me for power supplies and they do indeed make Dell specific units... Price is double though!

I am going to power down to take a good look inside the case and see if it is indeed proprietary in nature...

**Edit**

Well the good is that it does seem to be a standard 24pin connector to the board. Bad news is there may not be room for a dual slot cooler with out modding the stock HS/F on the CPU. I had been thinking about modding the HS/F in hopes of pushing my CPU up to 3.0ghz, but that is another thread.

Any additional thoughts on if CPU/Ram will bottle kneck a 512mb GTS?

[Thund3rball]

Just get a new cooler for your 8800GT. Maybe the S1 is too big for your situation but I have a Zalman VF900 on mine and it is dead silent and idling at 43c. Can't remember what load is, I haven't gamed on it for a bit... lovin my laptop too much these days :)

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by PEIGuy

Hey Money. Thanks for the feedback. There are a couple things making me want to buy the GTS over the GT, but the main one is the dual slot cooler. My machine really wasn't made for gaming and I worry how it will deal with the extra heat of GT. Also the GTS seems to be the sweet spot for price atm.

I checked that link out you gave me for power supplies and they do indeed make Dell specific units... Price is double though!

I am going to power down to take a good look inside the case and see if it is indeed proprietary in nature...

**Edit**

Well the good is that it does seem to be a standard 24pin connector to the board. Bad news is there may not be room for a dual slot cooler with out modding the stock HS/F on the CPU. I had been thinking about modding the HS/F in hopes of pushing my CPU up to 3.0ghz, but that is another thread.

Any additional thoughts on if CPU/Ram will bottle kneck a 512mb GTS?

Get a part# off of it and do a bit more digging. My understanding of their proprietary PSU/Motherboard combinations is that they look and feel like a standard PSU, but have different pin-outs on the connectors.

Better yet, try to find somebody with the same model computer (google is your friend) who has already replaced the PSU in order to confirm that a stock PSU won't fry your motherboard.

[Eagle Eye]

Like many other pre-fabricated computer manufacturers, Dell has chosen to go with many proprietary computer components instead of using industry standard computer parts. When it is time for replacement or upgrade of these components, they have to be purchased from Dell. In Dell's case, one of the proprietary parts is one you might not expect: your Dell power supply may look like a standard ATX power supply, but in fact cannot be replaced with a standard ATX power supply. The reason you need a proprietary Dell power supply is because Dell has been using specially modified ATX motherboards with non-standard pinout of the motherboard power connectors. This Dell to ATX adapter converts between the non-standard pinout to the standard ATX pinout and turns a standard ATX power supply into the equivalent of a Dell power supply.

http://http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi...=dellconverter

That my friends is why I don't buy dell computers because we all get the upgrade twitch at some point and who wants to be buying a dell powersupply.

[PEIGuy]

Wow. Have to say I didn't see this one coming. I'll definitely do some research and get back to you guys with any info I come up with.

Big thanks to all who replied. I'd say you just saved me a whole lot of grief

[Eagle Eye]

We're here to help and you did the right thing and asked the question before buying a new powersupply and plugging it in. My stomach would of knotted if you had orginally posted that "I just bought a new powersupply for my Dell E521 and when I plugged it in my computer blew up and doesn't work anymore"

I try to encourage people to ask questions about pc hardware before going ahead and popping in that new powersupply, video card or installing a new motherboard there are just so many things that can go wrong from a very simple installation. We have all been there at some point and time I fried my first computer when I was 15 but thats what I got for taking a computer apart on carpet. That was 11 years ago and since then I destroy or burn out computer parts from rigorous use or testing, thank heavens for long warranties.

Keep us posted on how it turns out for you,

EE

[vinister]

In any case to answer your original question, All the video cards mentioned in this thread have much more power than the 5000+ will let you take advantage of, especially at stock clocks. Its not to say you won't see an improvement, you will, but with such a slow processor you will not get all the performance you paid for.

To really take advantage of a current-gen card, you'll want at least an intel wolfedale, or a quad core. I'm using a 5000+ at 3.3ghz with the 3870 cards, and performance scales up and down proportionally with cpu mhz, in almost every game I have, at 1680x1050. A friend with a similar intel setup (dual core at the same clocks) gets quite a bit more performance than I do, with the exact same video cards.

If you want to stay AMD get yourself into a new phenom. Otherwise get yourself an intel board and a wolfedale so you can run some real clocks. Either way, get out of that DELL!

[PEIGuy]

**Update**

First I currently have a 8600GT 512mb DDR2... Not a 8800GT. Sorry for the confusion. I got a great deal on the 8600 and it allowed me to play some games while the 8800's came down in price. No regrets there just time to upgrade is all.
*********

After checking around the web my Dell uses a standard ATX power supply. I also called Dell tech to make sure. Now having said that I was really hoping my 5000+ X2 wouldn't bottleneck a GTS 512mb too bad, but in short vinister is bang on in saying it will. So instead I'll be ordering both a OCZ StealthXStream 500W and a 8800GT (of some flavour) from NCIX as soon as there new sale starts.

Great link from Firingsquad about bottlenecks vs GPU's
GeForce 8800 GTX/8800 GTS Performance with Athlon 64

I am a little bumed about not being able to take advantage of the price drop on the G92 GTS, but it looks like I'll be spending less money and still ending up with a decent little gaming rig. Not to mention I've learned a metric shit ton about CPU's, GPU's, Power Supply's as well as general overclocking.

I'll be building my next box by hand no doubt.

Thanks again for all the feedback.