Upgrading my nVidia video card

Well Im just trying to make sure that iw would be compatible with my machine which seem to have PCI Express 2.0.
Also Ive been looking at this list which shows all the compatible cards with my pc, so I selected the cheapest, which technically speaking should be faster then the 7 year old quatro 3500 and still handle all the modern apps:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/category.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&category_id=2999&mfgpid=167773&chassisid=8390&stype=9&Tab=Parts&sort=price

What does PCI Express 2.0 have to do with the type of ram on the video card? (nothing)

The list is where I shop from. Sorry but it's the best for the money.
Bob

Would it make sense though to just get QuadroFX 4500? (found them under $60 on ebay)

The 60 buck card on the list looks to outperform the 4500. Why would you pay more for less?

Radeon HD 6670 DDR3 benchmarks are out there but I'll use this and that.

This 6670 http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+6670&id=96 Score was 1044
That 4500 http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Quadro+FX+4500 Score was 216

Seems you are determined to pay for low performance.
Bob

Your talking about a card that dates to 2005.......by today's standards it's junk.

Your old card....the 3500...is a 80w card.
Go shopping for a hd 7770 a 80w card.
It should be a straight swap with 10x the horse-power.

Btw......video editing progs are dumping the work load over to the gpu so you need that horse-power.

The 7770 at http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+7770&id=322

Score = 2155

That's about 10 times the performance of the 4500. I can't guess why someone would consider the 4500 unless it was free.
Bob

So if Id get one of these, it would be good price/performance ratio?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATI-Radeon-2GB-DDR3-PCI-Express-Video-Graphics-Card-HMDI-Windows-7-Vista-XP-NEW/190812233832?_trksid=p2047675.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555003%26algo%3DPW.CAT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D142%26meid%3D1054272644343126214%26pid%3D100010%26prg%3D1076%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D370888307684%26

http://www.ebay.com/itm/XFX-AMD-RADEON-HD-6670-Core-Edition-2GB-DDR3-PCI-Express-2-1-Video-Card-/171118017570?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item27d76dbc22

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Asus-Radeon-HD-7770-DC-1GD5-V2-1GB-DDR5-PCI-E-128-bit-/370888307684?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item565aaa73e4

Sorry but it appears you are lost, searching for something. I can't guess what your criteria are here given that you can't decide what you are looking for. Those ebay cards often have issues. That is, just like an used car, why did it end up there?

I fear for your sanity if not your machine or worse you might get a bad card and forever be upset with the brand.
Bob

So what card can I get that would be in the $40 range and perhaps not from ebay?

But I thought you wanted something close to today's performances. Nod to the 5450 models which should still beat out the 4500 by more than a few 2x.

Given the age of the 4500 why is is so pricey?
Bob

Thing is I dont plan to keep the computer for too long so Id rather not invest in it much. Just enough so it would continue being able to do some light workload. Not looking for the fastest machine on the block, since Ill be replacing the whole thing soon anyway.

transferrable/usable in most any PC/system you buy next assuming it's a full size desktop.

VAPCMD

Actually I would be buying a laptop, so i dont need to get a card that would trasfer

If you use the links given you can find the 5450.

That 4500 http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Quadro+FX+4500 Score was 216
This 5450 http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+5450&id=7 score was 233

That's not much of a move up but given all that video RAM my bet is that it will, in the real world handily outperform the 4500.
Bob

That card is a 110w unit.
Your power supply may not support it and you might open a new 'can of worms'.
Forget that thing.

Go with the 5450.
The e-bay unit looks nice.