Dell Optiplex 780 Graphics Card

[RVB]

My lad would like to add a respectable graphics card to one of my old Dell Optiplex 780 (Intel Core2 Quad, 8GB RAM, 1TB SSD) with the intention of playing older computer games (I think from around 2010 - 2015).

Manual for computer says low profile card.
GPU models listed as available as factory-fit at the time it was built include:
256MB ATI RADEON HD 3450 / 3470
250MB nVidia GeForce 9300 GE

I have heard that graphics cards are hard to find and insanely expensive due to Covid.

Any suggestions for what might be suitable and compatible.

Thanks!

Edited by RVB on Saturday 22 January 21:33

[Donbot]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO4-SiuLwk8

May be helpful

Edit - That CPU is really getting on a bit though. And AAA games up to 2015 may be a bit optimistic.

[Steven_RW]

RVB said:

My lad would like to add a respectable graphics card to one of my old Dell Optiplex 780 (Intel Core2 Quad, 8GB RAM, 1TB SSD) with the intention of playing older computer games (I think from around 2010 - 2015).

Manual for computer says low profile card.
GPU models listed as available as factory-fit at the time it was built include:
256MB ATI RADEON HD 3450 / 3470
250MB nVidia GeForce 9300 GE

I have heard that graphics cards are hard to find and insanely expensive due to Covid.

Any suggestions for what might be suitable and compatible.

Thanks!

Edited by RVB on Saturday 22 January 21:33

Ebay had a number of both of the mentioned cards for around £15. Sounds relatively affordable.

[RVB]

Steven_RW said:

Ebay had a number of both of the mentioned cards for around £15. Sounds relatively affordable.

The hope was for a later and significantly more powerful card than those available when the Optiplex 780 launched around 2009 because the games are from the period a few years after to several years after those graphics cards were available.

Back when I was actively gaming in the early 2000s, it seemed like even a two-year-old graphics card often struggled with the then-latest games. So I'm thinking something double or quadruple the capability of those cards.

[MissChief]

If you can, try and get hold of a 1050ti that doesn't use any PCI-E Power connectors. there are models available that take all their power from the slot.

[Drive Blind]

Has to be low profile for a SFF case?

I had a quick look and spotted these on ebay

for £30 this > Radeon HD 7570 1GB

for £75 this > Radeon R7 350X 4 GB

you might even find a gt1030

[Mr Pointy]

Just be careful about the power requirements as Dell PCs don't have massive PSUs.

[CorradoTDI]

This site is really good for Optiplex upgrade / Gaming info but unfortunately I don't think they list the 780 as it's quite an old chassis now.

https://www.hardware-corner.net/guides/best-dedica...

If it's a SFF then probably the GT1030 DDR5 Low Profile is the best way to go as a cheap upgrade.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-NVIDIA-GeForce-Expres...

I picked up one of these for £60 unused on Marketplace - It's also fanless so matches the Optiplex well being so quiet and they only draw up to 30W so no additional power needed.

Some of the newer Optiplex's have 260W PSU's for the newer Intel CPU's so once they become 4-5 years old they will be good for cheap gaming upgrades.

[Jim the Sunderer]

Your profile says you're in Cambridgeshire

If you're anywhere near it visit The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge as they give away better computers than old Dell 780s.

[Mr Pointy]

OP: you'd probably be better of spending the money a graphics card will cost you on a refurbished PC & maybe add a card later.

[RVB]

Mr Pointy said:

OP: you'd probably be better of spending the money a graphics card will cost you on a refurbished PC & maybe add a card later.

I'm wary of going too modern because when I was into PC gaming about 15 - 20yrs ago I often used to find that not only was there operating system incompatibility but also sometimes hardware incompatibility with older games.

The Optiplex 780 was released in 2009 so that's immediately prior to the time period of the games my lad wants to play (approx 2010 - 2015 time period). I would have thought that would give a good chance of hardware compatibility.
I could just try the integrated GPU on low-medium settings and see how that goes.

I'm concerned that if I bought him a gaming computer from, say, 2014, it might not be compatible with, say, a game from 2009 - 2012 which would have been obsolete by the time a 2014 computer was built.

[Donbot]

The problem is the weak CPU. Xbox 360 / PS3 era games will be fine. Xbox one / ps4 era games and you will have to make some serious compromises to get them to run at a playable frame rate.

Witcher 3 is a 2015 game which my I5 4460 struggles with a bit. And looking at userbench my CPU is about twice as powerful as a core 2 quad.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, you just need to be realistic about what it will be able to run, and whether it is worth bothering to stick a 2GB card in it.

Compatibility wont be an issue in that year range.

Edited by Donbot on Sunday 23 January 13:31