choosing a low-profile grapgics card ain't easy
I've got 2 PCs: a 4 year old acer full case with the cheapy intel quad processor 2.6 GHz with a cheap-but-servicable graphics card and a 1 year old small form factor Dell sporting a decent i5. The Acer is starting to have issues with components (esp the power supply) such that usb isn't very dependable and it's not happy playing newer games such as B3 and (slightly) Skyrim. Oddly, the ATI graphics card in the acer plays older games at 1920 better than new games at 800x600.
So I decided to upgrade the graphics in the dell and use it as my main PC (mostly web work, graphics, interface design, 3D graphics, etc) but finding a card has been incredibly frustrating. Some of the demands I (and presumably many others) have include:
- must not be more expensive than my PS3
- must not consume more power than my PS3
- must be able to run new games with most features on in at least 720p res at at least 29fps
- must FIT in the damn case -- this is where it gets tricky. There are a few folks who post videos of their dremelling prowess but frankly I'm not interested in voiding my warranty before I even put it in the slot and - hey - is it too much to ask for it to fit, this being the 2nd decade of the 21st Century and all?
So there we have it. Many of the articles listing "the top low-profile graphics" cards list cards that are out of manufacture, are too large, or too expensive (and generally the more expensive they are, the more likely you'll have to pull out the dremel). I was beginning to seriously consider updating the acer.
But then came the 7750 line... Apparently small enough to smuggle into a small form-factor PC, over clockable to some extent, inexpensive, and decent performance. So yesterday I ordered (nobody seems to stock these locally) a Sapphire HD 77D0 LP and now I'm crossing my fingers.
I'll reply back with my experience once I get it, if anyone's curious. FYI, the Dell is a 980 model.