What is the best video card to put into a dell inspiron 531s desktop?

I own a Dell Inspiron 531s Desktop and im pulling hairs on which card to buy..i want a decent card to be able to keep up with the newest games such as call of duty but i don't to be paying hundreds of dollars..Can anybody please help?|||Unfortunately, you can't put high-end gaming cards into any slimline desktop.





Slimline computers can only accept low-profile graphics cards. And the midrange cards in the $125-$250 range aren't manufactured in low-profile, only full-height models exist.





Moreover, slimline computers have weaker power supplies than regular tower desktops. And unlike regular tower desktops, those power supplies are proprietary (so you can't just replace them with a regular ATX power supply from Newegg or Amazon)





You'll need to open your computer case and read the label on your power supply. If it's only 250 watt (which I believe is standard for the Dell Inspiron 530s and 531s) then you're kinda stuck. The best low-profile graphics card that works on such a low-wattage power supply is the GeForce GT430. But it's a bit overpriced at $70





http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as鈥?/a>





The Radeon HD 5570 is slightly faster and costs less, but there's a catch... it draws more power. Because of the higher power draw (and there's very little leeway with a 250W slimline power supply) it might not work without a power supply upgrade. You could try it, though.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as鈥?/a>





Now if you upgraded you power supply, you could definitely run the 5570. In fact you could even run faster low-profile cards like the GeForce GT 440 or Radeon HD 5670 (those are what you'd really want for playing Call of Duty)





http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as鈥?/a>


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as鈥?/a>





Here's a better power supply for the Inspiron 531s:


http://cgi.ebay.com/260709465824





So you're looking at $60-$70 for a graphics card alone, or about $125 for a better card along with a power supply. But that's as good as it gets for a slimline.





To play cutting-edge games really well, you need a regular tower computer that can accept standard graphics cards and power supplies. If you had the regular tower model Inspiron 531, you'd have better upgrade options.





Performance:


http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphic鈥?/a>


http://www.techspot.com/review/240-ati-r鈥?/a>|||Cheapest option $50:

Radeon 4670 (5570 and GTX 430 are all in the same performance/price range so those are good choices too).



This is a low power consumption video card and it should play games but it won't be a great card. You'll have to play on low-med settings.



If you want to play the higher end games, you're going to need a new power supply.



Less than $100 option:

9800 GT 256-bit 512MB GDDR3. - $50

430w Power Supply - $30ish



I'll run COD on med graphics pretty well. It'll give you about 30% more performance over the 4670.



Less than $200 option:

GTX 460 256-bit 768MB GDDR5 $100ish

or

GTX 460 SE 256-bit 1GB GDDR5 $100ish

500w Power Supply w/ two 6-pin PCIE connectors $50ish. It's ok to get one with only one pcie connector if you get a molex-to-pcie connector cable.



This is a legit video card and will run almost any game on max settings pretty well. It'll slightly overpower your cpu in some games. This will be more than 3x better than the first options, and more than twice the performance of the 9800 GT. GTX 460 (Fermi) is a very famous card amongst gamers.



4670:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as鈥?/a>



9800GT:

http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic鈥?/a>



Shop around for the GTX 460. I've seen them get down to $90. If you don't care about refurbished:

http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.as鈥?/a>

(This comes with just the card, so you might need to buy a 4-pin molex to 6pin PCIE connector ($5).



For Power Supplies, I'd lurk around slickdeals.net and find a good deal on an Antec, Corsair, or OCZ power supply. If you don't want to wait, it's around $40-50 for the power supply.|||5570 or GT 430





Low wattage PSU's and GPU's Guide ...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTQoH-j5K鈥?/a>