Hi... I desperately need to upgrade my graphics card from the Radeon X300 I currently use. After combing through product reviews and benchmark tests, I've narrowed my choice down to ATI's X1950 XT. I have two questions for you all:
1 - Which ATI manufacturer should I go with? Sapphire and HIS seem to be the most popular; is there any real difference between the two?
2 - Will my current desktop be able to support the X1950, both in terms of its physical size and its power needs?
Here are my specs:
Dell Dimension 8400
Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz
PCI-E x16
1GB DDR2 RAM
As for the power supply, I can't get my CPU open at the moment, but it's whatever the system shipped with when I purchased it in Feb '05. According to Dell's website, the replacement power suppy for this unit is a "350-watt redundant non-PFC dual serial ATA power supply" and it seems as though Dell is the manufacturer.
I know computers reasonably well, but I haven't tried to upgrade a graphics card since I made the switch from EGA to VGA so forgive me if I'm missing anything. I tried to include everything listed in the guide. Thanks in advance for any help.
Adam
btw - I'm in the US, New York
1 - Which ATI manufacturer should I go with? Sapphire and HIS seem to be the most popular; is there any real difference between the two?
2 - Will my current desktop be able to support the X1950, both in terms of its physical size and its power needs?
Here are my specs:
Dell Dimension 8400
Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz
PCI-E x16
1GB DDR2 RAM
As for the power supply, I can't get my CPU open at the moment, but it's whatever the system shipped with when I purchased it in Feb '05. According to Dell's website, the replacement power suppy for this unit is a "350-watt redundant non-PFC dual serial ATA power supply" and it seems as though Dell is the manufacturer.
I know computers reasonably well, but I haven't tried to upgrade a graphics card since I made the switch from EGA to VGA so forgive me if I'm missing anything. I tried to include everything listed in the guide. Thanks in advance for any help.
Adam
btw - I'm in the US, New York