Help with a low profile graphics card

T

tommy22b

Geek Trainee
Hi i have a small form factor desktop pc with intergrated graphics:( and need some help finding a graphics card that will fit?

My Pc

Dell optiplex 2.6ghz 512ram
4x mode at 1.5v

need a graphics card no larger than 6.95inch long by 4.2 high and would prefere a 256mb card good enough to handle call of duty 1 and for under £100? any help with this would be great

Thanks tommmy22b
 
A GeForce 6600 or Radeon X700 should fit the bill quite nicely. Both run around the $100 online here in the US. Go up a little bit and you start getting into the GeForce 6600GT's which start around $130 or so. 256MB 6600GT's will be harder to find, but they have faster clock speeds, which can be a bigger benefit than the extra RAM. It's not to say 256MB is bad, but it may not be as helpful as a faster card with less memory. Still, stick with a 6600, 6600GT or X700/X700Pro (avoid an SE or LE version of the card, as they're generally very crippled variations and not worth the money) and you'll do fine. As long as they're not wider than the retention bracket, you'll be alright. If it sticks out a little past that, it can work, but be careful.

Don't look at low-profile cards as these are more likely to be based on older, slower technology (GeForce MX4000=GeForce 2 MX), and not designed for modern gaming. The video cards I mentioned can handled stuff like Doom 3 and FarCry at acceptable framerates on a decent machine.
 
Well, the otehr thing is that the Pounds is worth far more than the USD so you may be able to get a 6800 or X800 series card. I looked on overclockers.co.uk and you can get a 6600 GT for under 85 Pounds. You could most likely get a 6800 for under 100 Pounds, but AGP 6800 and X800 series cards can be hard to find.
 
The other problem (and why I wasn't suggesting the cards you mentioned) is the size of the higher-end cards. They tend to get rather long, whereas the mid-range cards can be found on in more compact formats. A few years ago, the Ti4600 was king of the hill from nVidia, and the one I have is about 9 inches long. Looking at the high-end cards since then, most companies simply take the reference design and slap their name on it. ATi used to not be as bad, but they've gotten some rather large cards with the high-end chips.

You may just want to e-mail some of the online stores and see what they have that can fit your needs and price best. Don't forget to factor in shipping and any taxes when looking.
 
Thanks for all the replys guys.its been very helpful. I just looked at a web site which has specs of my pc and it says the power supply is only 180watts where as most graphic cards need 200watts+ will they still work or would it shut down my pc? also this is my first time buying a g-card and u hear about this agp 8x alot and my pc has only agp 2.0 (2x or 4x). so my question is is there some smaller cards 128mb or less (4x) that will use less power and be good enough for call of duty 1? not to interested in running doom3 etc will get a better pc for that in the future.

Cheers
 
Well, I'm not sure but I think if you want AGP 2.0 you may need to get an ATI 9 series or an nVidia 5 series. Also, you may need a new power supply if the one you have is 180 W, but with the older card you may be fine.
 
Something like this should work. AGP 8x cards are backwards compatible with AGP 4x standards, so it's not gonna be a problem.

I don't know how good Dell power supplies are, but that card isn't a power hungry beast. If you end up with frequent crashes or the system doesn't power up after you install the card, then the power supply may very well not be ample to power that sucker. It's hard to tell by wattage, as it's a number that can be very misleading.
 
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