Help finding a video card

Ok, I'm having difficulty finding a good video card, in hopes that maybe I can turn on some more ultra settings. My husband just decided to buy himself a computer, so I'm trying to piggyback on that

My system is... 3 years old I think. It's a Shuttle XPC - and this is my biggest limiting factor, it has a form factor power supply that is 300 Watts

I do not need low profile (I thought I did, but just checked and there's room for a pretty big card). My PCIE slot is next to a PCI slot that is currently empty.

Anyone have any recommendations? I currently have a GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 which isn't terrible, but I'd like to see the pretty (and I think it's starting to die, anyway).

You might look into a ATI 5750. If your only running a single HD and a factory clocked processor you may be able to get by with one of these. What other components are in the system?

Update: ATI rates the 5750 at 86 watts under load. The 8600 GT is rated at 43 watts under load. So really it is going to depend on what else your system is running. If your only running a factory clocked dual core with a single HD and a couple sticks of ram you should be able to upgrade to a 5750 and keep your full load power draw under the 80% range of the power supply's max rating which would be safe.

The Radeon 4770 and 5770 were designed for lower power draw.
I currently run a 4770 and can turn on some of the UM goodies.
I think the 5770 was the one the devs mentioned early on as a decent card for UM.

When I look at the specs in a card comparison on gpureview.com, it shows the max power draw on a 5770 as 108W. That should work in your system. You might want to buy it from a place that lets you return things easily just in case!

BTW - I used to run a Shuttle SN41G2 for the longest time. It was a great little machine. Unfortunately it was relegated to run as a linux web proxy server when AGP went out of style.

Good luck!

The nVidia hate is strong in this one (talking about je_saist).

All three of those articles that je_saist linked to are overclocked 8600GT so yes their power use is higher than the standard one, but still not high enough to require an external power connector, so less than 75 watts max. The HD 5750 does have an external power connector.

Well it's tough to find data on just an 8600GT on it's own. The PSU calculator says 43 watts and the HD 5750 at 59 watts. X-bit Labs list the HD 5750 under OCCT GPU burn in at 70 watts and under Crysis Warhead at 59 watts. techPowerUp lists the HD 5750 at 92 watts under Furmark and 72 watts under 3Dmark03 Nature test. Lastly BEHardware also did a Furmark test and they list the HD 5750 at 83.4 watts and 3Dmark06 Pixel Shader test at 74.5 watts.

Unfortunately few people actually tested the 8600GT in a stand alone setup. But they did test it's big brother the 8600GTS, which is simply clocked faster and thus needs an external power connector. PSU Calculator lists the 8600GTS at 47 watts. X-bit Labs also lists it at 47 watts (starting to wonder where the PSU calculator gets their estimates from ). BEHardware lists it's Furmark at 3DMark06 at around 58 watts.

So, what does this all mean. Well your current 8600GT DDR2 card most likely uses 20-30 watts less than an HD 5750, all of that at 12 volts. So the important value for your power supply is the amount of wattage it can put out at 12 volts, which considering your system, using a Shuttle 300watt PSU, most likely can't handle. Only recommendation I have is to look for a card that doesn't use an external power connector.

Maybe an HD 5570. BEHardware lists it's Furmark power use at 41.3 watts and the Furmark result at techPowerUp was 50 watts. Performance wise it should be about 60% faster.