Video Card upgrade for Old DELL Precision 470

[unrinoceronte]

Hi, i have a very old DELL PRECISION 470 from 2005, Intel E7525 chipset, with Dual Xeon Nocona 3.0G processors, 4 GB ram, 550 Watt PSU, and Nvidia Quadro FX 540 video card..., XP Pro x64. It is not my main computer, but i need to use it now and then...

 

I run 3ds Max 2012 on it, and graphics performance is way to poor...Almost unusable while on 3ds max. When i had Max 9, it performed OK.

 

I want the upgrade be a significant improvement, BUT i dont want it to generate too much heat or too much Energy consumption...This because since it is an old computer and it has Dual XEONS it already consumes lots of energy... My main concern will be VIEWPORT Manipulation (I dont need it for games, nor to watch videos, not GPU rendering...)

 

 

Budget: Less than $80 (or i will go up to $100 if is really worth it)

 

 

OPTION 1 _ QUADROS (very old models)

The Dell Specs Manual says that these Quadro models are compatible, and i can get these from EBAY or AMAZON:

 

- Quadro FX 540 = 35 watts _ 128MB _ CoreClock: 300MHz _ $20 used

- Quadro FX 3450 = 83 watts _ 256MB _ CoreClock: 425MHz _ $20!!!new/140new / $37used

- Quadro FX 4500 = 109 watts _ 512MB _ CoreClock: 470MHz _ $145 new / $80used

 

Note: The used Quadro FX 4500 is very tempting but i think it has too much Power consumption..or am i wrong?

 

 

 

OPTION 2 _ GEFORCE (Newer models)

 

- Geforce 610 = 29 watts _ 1024MB _ CoreClock: 810MHz (PCIe 2.0) _ $50 new

- Geforce 620 = 30/49 w _ 1GB/2GB_ CoreClock: 810MHz (PCIe 2.0) _ $60 new

- Geforce 630 = 50 watts _ 2GB _ CoreClock: 875MHz (PCIe 2.0) _ $65 new

- Geforce 8400GS = 25 watts _ 512/1GB _ CoreClock: 567MHz (PCIe 2.0) _ $30 new

 

 

 

I was thinking that perhaps a NEWER Entry/Medium Level Geforce GPU like those above will work ok and outperform those old Quadros, and with less energy consumption... Do you think i am right making this assumption? and also most importantly: will one of the above NEWER GPUs model be COMPATIBLE with my DELL precision 470? What spec should i have to be looking for besides it being PCIexpress 16?

 

 

 

Note: the Geforces are PCIe 2.0, and i know that the Precision 470 is PCI 1.0 ..(does this mind at all or not?) Will them work with Windows XP Pro x64 bit?

[Dimitris Tolios]

You could get a used Quadro 600 (1GB Ram) for that money (ebay).

 

Will blow all the FX you've listed and it is a low power card (sub 50W in real life).

The FX 4500 is not really relevant today. 100W is not "too much", and if your manual says its supported, it means you have the extra 6-pin power connector or the capacity to power a molex->6pin adapter that is required for auxiliary power delivery to the card (PCIe standards limit it to 75W through the port. All cards close or above 75W require auxiliary PCIe power connectors - 6pin = additional 75W each, 8pin = 150W each).

Your PSU should be able to power sub 150W cards just fine - maybe more.

 

A Radeon 7750 would be better than any of the GT 6xx listed. Can be had for $85~90 new on Amazon. Also a decent, low power gaming card with OK performance in 2D/3D Cad (like most Radeons).

 

The extra bandwidth PCIe 2.0 gives over PCIe 1.0 is not needed by probably any mainsteam 3D CAD application.

The OS has no control over PCIe 1.0 or 2.0 really.

Edited September 23, 2013 by dtolios

[unrinoceronte]

You could get a used Quadro 600 (1GB Ram) for that money (ebay).

 

Will blow all the FX you've listed and it is a low power card (sub 50W in real life).

 

Thanks Dimitri, good idea regarding the Quadro 600...i just checked eBay but all the USED Quadro 600 available are around $100 to $110. There is one for BID on $45, but i guess it will go as hi...(i have never bought by bidding yet... but it is my hunch). I might go for that...i will just think about it a little while..., definetely very nice option.

 

A) You say the 600 will blow any of the Quadro FX i mentioned, will it also be superior to the Geforces i Mentioned and superior to the Radeon 7750?

 

 

B) With a slighter lower price than the Quadro 600, which will be your 2ND Best option in an NVIDIA card? (it doesnt need to be any of the ones i mentioned...)

[AJLynn]

Those Geforce cards you're looking at are pretty weak. So is that Quadro 600 - but if I were going to have a slow GPU I think I'd rather it be a Quadro.

 

But I'd take Dimitris' advice and go with the Radeon 7750. It's the newer version of what I use at home (I have the 5750) and I picked that because it was the most GPU I could get while maintaining very low power consumption. It looks like you can get the drivers for XP64.

[Dimitris Tolios]

What you've listed is already the "best" current nVidia offerings in this price range...

 

If you were to hunt on offers / used cards, you could extend to GTX versions, like the GTX 650 or the GTX 550.

The 550 is a great card that you "could" find in the $60s-70s used (maybe shipping ruins it for you), but it is a "power hog" by comparison to the 7750 or the 6xx GPUs. Still not a big issue in my opinion, as the GPU will be seeing very low utilization in 3D CAD...the 6xx/7750 will be working at single digits to 40W (for rare moments), the 550 will be around 35-70W...full blast it goes in the 3 digits, but 3DS doesn't really push our cards for more than a second or two at 100% during regular workflows for that to be an issue.

 

Gaming cards like the 550 or the 7750 could be better than the Quadro 600 in newer versions of 3DS (not 2012), where GeForce (and I suppose Radeon?) drivers work better with the Direct3D optimizations Nitrous viewport engine offers, and the superior horsepower of both won't be restrained by the driver not knowing which "shortcuts to take"...the issue why weak cards like the Quadro 600 or even the K2000 are even "relevant": driver optimizations.

[unrinoceronte]

Thank you Andrew and Dimitris.

 

I just lost a bid on ebay for a Quadro 600. It started at $45 and sold at $63. That was very good price but i guess my lack of experience bidding made me lose it. 15 minutes to the end of the bid there was only 1 bid, and in that moment when i did mine that guy automatically outbid me once, then i was at the top, and surprisingly in the last 20 seconds 7 new bidders appeared out of nothing!...

 

I have decided that as your recommendations, my best options are the QUADRO 600 and the Radeon HD 7750. But since this is not urgent for me and since the prices for any of those cards easilly go above $100 and add to that the international shipping, i will take all this week to look out for a better price for any of those 2, and improve my ebay bidding skills... If i dont get a good price or win a bid, well i will proceed and spend the $100 on any of those, what the heck....

 

I have also found a couple of radeon models that fit very good into my budget, either the HD6670 or the HD6570 ($55 to $70), but i am not sure if the savings with the difference in price is worth it towards the Quadro and 7750.

 

I have discarded the option of buying on a local shop. I have asked for all the models that are posted in this thread, and all the shops go for Double or even triple the price compared to US (amazon or ebay)...

 

Thanks again for your good info. I feel safer now that this cards are compatible with such older computers. I also have an old Inspiron 531, that by quickly searching on googling it seems that also this same cards can be used on it. At least the Radeons are...

[AJLynn]

Where are you? It says that you're in LA but if you're in a different market that would change things. In the US you can easily buy a 7750 from a normal web retailer for under $100.