Dell and video cards

by **TestMonkey#8** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:04 pm

I have a Dell Deminsion 8200 and Im interested in replacing the video card. I have heard that Dell uses proprietary mother boards that are hard to upgrade. I have changed out cards before with my old HP and found it rather easy. Should I try this on my own with the Dell or take it to someone. Also, any recomendations on a video card would be appreciated.

Dell Dimension 8200
2.52 ghz
512mb ram
Geforce 4 Ti 4200 64mb
Creative SB Live

by **Rocky Dennis** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:27 pm

I have an 8200 also and have made many upgrades. I've gone through 3 vid cards, faster processor, better soundcard and more ram. So it is very easy to upgrade that machine except for replacing the MOBO. I don't think you can. I've got a 9700pro running on the stock power supply.

by **Dakana** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:27 pm

The only thing I think you have to worry about it the new video card fitting in the Dell case. I'd go with an ATI Radeon 9800pro, as it's going down in price (around 200 right now) and is one of the top cards on the market.

It should just be a standard AGP slot, but who knows if it will fit in the funked up Dell case.

Well... ^ got to it before me. I'd say go for it - 9800pro is good.

by **shockwave203** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:33 pm

What's your power supply rated at?

the motherboard has an AGP slot, so there won't be any problems installing a new video card.

as you know, most of a DELL system is proprietary. that means the PSU, case, and motherboard are all 'special'.

the only problems you may run into are:

power supply unit doesn't have enough power to run the new card. that's unlikely though, so don't worry about it. (in the event that the PSU is not strong enough, you'll have to buy a new one, meaning you'll also need to buy a new motherboard because of the way they're wired, meaning you'll have to buy a new case). the PSU should be fine though.

the new video card may not fit the proprietary case. it'll insert into the motherboard, but since the case is different, the slots might not line up and you'll have some trouble hooking up your monitor. Have a look, and if the case has a normal AGP slot, you'll be fine.

best video cards are the 9600XT (mainstream) and the 9800PRO (high-end card). 9800XT is overpriced for the performance difference over the PRO, and the Nvidia FX line of cards are utter crap in DX9 games.

by **RCinator** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:37 pm

One of my systems is an 8200, and I have a 9800XT running in it. You'll have no problems installing anything in the case - there's plenty of room.

by **Gladiator_1967** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:39 pm

wait for the Geforce 6800 until the end of the April
non-Ultra version should be around 200 bucks

by **Agent-Commando** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:20 pm

Originally posted by Gladiator_1967
wait for the Geforce 6800 until the end of the April
non-Ultra version should be around 200 bucks

Well in that case, let's forget completely nVidia's craptacular record with their FX line, and let's dismiss ATI altogether.

Has anyone noticed how the 9800XT still beats the 6800 Ultra when it comes to anti-aliasing quality?? pffbbbttt!!!

by **Ralph Wiggum** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:03 pm

I had a Dell before I built my new computer (I think it was an 8100, not an 8200, but I can't remember). I upgraded the video card twice: once from the Geforce 2 or 3 that came with it to a 4200 and once to a 9700 Pro. Both times it was very easy and seemed to work fine.

by **TestMonkey#8** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:47 pm

Thanx for the advice guys. I realy want BFV to run well on my machine so Im kind of wary about the ATI. However you cant beat a 200 video card. Ill probably wait for the BFV patch to see how the ATI issues get addressed. Thanx again for the help.

@Shokwave 2.4ghz running at 3.2ghz is that safe? Do you spend alot of money on smoke detectors just in case?

by **RCinator** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:37 am

Originally posted by TestMonkey#8
Thanx for the advice guys. I realy want BFV to run well on my machine so Im kind of wary about the ATI. However you cant beat a 200 video card. Ill probably wait for the BFV patch to see how the ATI issues get addressed. Thanx again for the help.

@Shokwave 2.4ghz running at 3.2ghz is that safe? Do you spend alot of money on smoke detectors just in case?

How in the world could you be wary of an ATI? ATI smacks the pants off of NVIDIA in allmost every test you could run. The AA issues are Dice's fault, not ATI's.

by **shockwave203** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 1:09 am

Originally posted by TestMonkey#8
@Shokwave 2.4ghz running at 3.2ghz is that safe? Do you spend alot of money on smoke detectors just in case?

lol yeah it's safe. it's a C-stepping P4, so it can overclock really really well without any extra cooling. it overclocks great :cool:

and the voltage isn't upped, so it's not going to cause a fire or anything. the worse that could happen is that it'll just freeze up and crash or something. no risk of fire

by **TestMonkey#8** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:36 am

Originally posted by RCinator
How in the world could you be wary of an ATI? ATI smacks the pants off of NVIDIA in allmost every test you could run. The AA issues are Dice's fault, not ATI's.

Regardless of fault, BFV and BF42 or about the only games I play. The only reason for this new card is to improve BFV graphics anyway. If I buy a card that has know issues with that game then its kinda a waste. I pretty sure the patch will adresse these issues, if it doesnt than im out 200 bucks. Make sense now.

by **shockwave203** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:48 am

Originally posted by TestMonkey#8
Regardless of fault, BFV and BF42 or about the only games I play. The only reason for this new card is to improve BFV graphics anyway. If I buy a card that has know issues with that game then its kinda a waste. I pretty sure the patch will adresse these issues, if it doesnt than im out 200 bucks. Make sense now.

well...ATI cards get good framerates when you enable AA and AF. Nvidia's don't. so ATI wins there.

In DX9 games, ATI's cards run MUCH faster than Nvidia's current FX line of cards, so ATI wins there as well.

The latest catalyst 4.4 drivers from ATI fixed the AA issue BFV. the only problem that remains is the pixeling when you turn on AF, which will most likey be fixed in DICE's patch. and if not, you can still use AF without getting any pixelizing by forcing it on through' 'rtool'

so if u go with Nvidia...you'll get a slower DX9 card, and you won't be able to use AA/AF anyway because it causes too much of a performance drop.

if you want to wait a month and spend around 500 bucks on one of the next gen cards that are going to be available (Nvidia's new Geforce 6800 is AWESOME, ATI has yet to launch theirs), then you'd be able to play BFV with the highest settings and with a TON of AA/AF. you'd be in gaming heaven

by **RCinator** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 10:48 am

Originally posted by shockwave203

if you want to wait a month and spend around 500 bucks on one of the next gen cards that are going to be available (Nvidia's new Geforce 6800 is AWESOME, ATI has yet to launch theirs), then you'd be able to play BFV with the highest settings and with a TON of AA/AF. you'd be in gaming heaven

ATi's new cards come out May 15 Through Jun 15.

Dell and video cards

Dell and video cards

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