Hello.

 

I'm hoping someone can help me out here.

 

I am looking to purchase a new video card for a Dell OptiPlex 980.  I was hoping to be able to put a dual-width card in this but I don't believe one will fit.  As a result of that, I'm looking to find one that I can run 3 monitors with for FS9 (and possibly FSX) that will fit.  I was original thinking possibly a GTX 1060 but because that's double-width I don't think I can.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations?  Looking to keep the price below $250.

 

Thanks!

Anyone?

 

I'm thinking I might have to use two cards and link them together but I don't know how that is done.  The motherboard has two x16 slots (one wired as x4).

Hi there, I got a cheap Dell Optiplex 755 on eBay and had the same problem finding a video card to suit. It had to be a low form factor singe position card as there is just no room to fit a double slot card. I think it is the same situation with the 960. The .card I ended up getting was a second hand Radeon HD5570 (again off eBay for AUD$50.00) and it works like a charm. I've set up a multi-computer setup so didn't want to spend much on the machines. The Radeon is more than adequate for the Dell although I had to cut off a plastic *handle* thingy on the fan case so I could replace the side cover. I previously tried an HD6450 but the 5570 is noticeably better.

I would suggest looking for another computer rather than shoe horning something into the Dell. You will end up wasting a lot of time and money on a compromise. Another problem with the Dell is that the power supply is only about 250W and a big graphics card can pull over 100W. The Radeon only draws about 40W so is well within the machines limits.

I'm going to save up for a large tower or desktop that has loads of space inside and a big power supply so I can fit a huge multi-monitor graphics card. :-) I think your budget of $250.00 is way too low for what I think you want to acheive - isn't it always the way though - bugger!

The power supply is no problem.  I already have a 430w that works great.

 

However, the rest is a giant pain.  I ended up purchasing a GTX 1060 with a PCI-e riser cable and sitting the card on the bottom of the case with little rubber feet.  Everything was great except there was some kind of a problem with the riser cable.  At least that's what I'm guessing.  I tried three different video cards with and only the original 256MB card that came with the machine allowed it to boot.  Neither the 1060 or a 750 I have (from my current system) would allow doing anything.  I still don't know why.  I didn't verify with Thermaltake (the maker of the riser cable) that their cable is PCI-e 2.0 compatible too.  Their only thought was to make sure the PCI-e slot was set to at least Gen2/Gen3 in the BIOS but I don't even see that option for this computer.

 

After a full day trying to figure things out I decided it wasn't worth it and returned everything.

 

Oh well.