16 replies to this topic

[Harry The Cat]

This is where I'm eat up with the dumb....VIDEO CARDS!!!
.
.
Got a Dell 2400. Going to put a 1gb stick in it to make a total of 1.25gb. Loaded Vista in WITHOUT the
the product key. Going to fool with it till I get the feel where everything is (or isn't).
What would be the basic video card that would show the graphics best, but not break the bank?
Can you point me to which one and where I should order it from online?
As usual, thanks a ton........................................

[Ohnos]

Well... the only graphics card you can buy right now that will run DirectX 10 is the Nvidia 8000 series. I believe that next month there will be the latest cards from ATI/AMD which should also support DirectX 10.

The Nvidia 8000 series cards are not cheap by any means right now, although they just released a 8800GTS 320M version which goes for $300 where the 640M version goes for $400 and the 8800GTX 768M version is about $550.

There are new 8000 series cards in the works which will be out soon to fill the mid and lower end market supporting DirectX 10, probably about the time of the ATI/AMD cards.

You can run nearly any card with Vista, but to use the Aero interface, you at least need a video card that supports DirectX 9c.

I'm currently running it with a pretty old card that doesn't support DirectX 9c and Vista runs fine with it, I just can't use the latest fancy interface.

[Berton]

What type slots does that Dell 2400 have, AGP, PCI or PCI Express? I'm using WinVista Business on an AMD Athlon XP 2600+ with an ATI Radeon 9550 256MB AGP card. Will be putting WinVista Ultimate on a Dell Dimension 8400 3.60GHz HT, 1GB RAM and has an ATI X300 128MB PCI Express video card.

[Smokey]

Harry The Cat, on Mar 7 2007, 11:19 AM, said:

This is where I'm eat up with the dumb....VIDEO CARDS!!!
.
.
Got a Dell 2400. Going to put a 1gb stick in it to make a total of 1.25gb. Loaded Vista in WITHOUT the
the product key. Going to fool with it till I get the feel where everything is (or isn't).
What would be the basic video card that would show the graphics best, but not break the bank?
Can you point me to which one and where I should order it from online?
As usual, thanks a ton........................................

Hello Harry,

This statement tells us that you are now probably using "onboard" video.

"Going to put a 1gb stick in it to make a total of 1.25gb." Since your total memory is an odd number, it likely means the the ram that's installed on your computer is shared with the video card. AGP, PCI and PCI Express video cards have and use their own memory. Some of the (less expensive) Dell's motherboards that have onboard video don't have an AGP slot to upgrade.

I'm assuming that your Dell is over 1 year old so it's doubtful that you have a PCI Express slot. Never the less (as Berton stated), that's what you need to know before you shop for a video card, if and which slot does your motherboard have? My guess is that you have an AGP slot.

Could you please post your service tag number or a picture of your motherboard? Also post the amount that you would like to spend, under 50 bucks, under 100 bucks etc. The more you spend, the better the video.

My test computer (which is a minimal computer) is using BFG FX5200 128mb AGP video card which you can buy for 50 or 60 bucks. The Aero Interface works good with this cheaper card. The video is OK but I would suggest something with at least 256mbs of memory.

Several different companies manufacture the FX5200 <------ NOTE: There are a couple FX 5200's on this page that have 256mbs of memory for a reasonable price.

Like me, Ohnos is a gamer. Us folks are those crazy people that spend hundreds on our video cards. I don't think that you need to do that.

There is so many video cards to choose from but basically there is just 2 chipsets, ATI and NVidia. Many, many companies just take those chipsets and mount them on their video cards.

My favorite chipset is NVidia and my favorite video card is manufactured by BFG Technologies. I like BFG because every one of their cards is guaranteed for life. And with any great company, they will send you a replacement before you have to send the bad one back to them, I really like that.

[Ohnos]

lol, guess what I put in my post was my wish list, I didn't even enquire about what your computer might support. I guess I had better just leave the help lines up the professionals like Smokey :)

But let me say that I agree with Smokey 100% on BFG. They have absolutely 100% stood behind their lifetime warranty. I have 3 of their cards right now. I've only had a problem with one, but it was about 1.5 years old and was still working for the most part just not fully correctly. I called them up (they have 24 hour telephone support) and sent me out a new card with the understanding that I'd send them the old one back when I got the new one. The BFG cards cost a slight bit more than some others, but in my opinion it is very worth it. I had a total failure of a PNY card once and they would not help me out at all even though it was under warrenty according to their website. A few dollars more is better than a video card in the dumpster 2 years from now.

[Harry The Cat]

Good Morning All,
Sorry for late. Mr. SmokeMan, the service code on the Dell 2400 is 3SQ7P41. It's a plain vanilla. The mobo pic is attached. Looks funny because I have another drive attached.
Thank you all for the help. BTW, was looking at a card from NewEgg just the other day It's HERE.. Was just a shot in the dark then. Looks like the way to go is this one HERE..
.

Attached Images

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[Berton]

Just a note, the area in the yellow circle is where an AGP socket would have been.

'Just because', I'd move the present PCI card to the bottom slot and put the PCI VGA card in the top one to provide a bit more room for airflow.
.

[Smokey]

Neither one of those cards will work Harry. You need a card with an AGP interface. I circled the numbers that you should be looking at as far as performance. The ATI's numbers look very good for what you are looking for.




EDIT: I forgot to mention that the higher number under the "PixelPipelines", the better.

[Berton]

Sorry, Smokey, PCI and PCI Express are not the same thing.

Harry, plug the Service Tag in at http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/...;l=en&s=gen
and look for the Configuration, will give details about the 2400 as-shipped.

[Smokey]

I know that, thats why I posted the spec's for the cards that Harry posted. What makes you think I didn't know that Berton. I realized that Harry picked a PCI and a PCI-Express card.

[Harry The Cat]

Smokey, on Mar 9 2007, 01:40 PM, said:

Neither one of those cards will work Harry. You need a card with an AGP interface. I circled the numbers that you should be looking at as far as performance. The ATI's numbers look very good for what you are looking for.

attachment

Today is always my dense day.
The card I looked at the other day was the Sapphire 100164L. This is the one you quoted on the left in your
response.
You say I need and AGP interface, but it was pointed out that the 2400 doesn't have an AGP slot installed.
I'm probably cross posting and missing some of the conversation.
I got about $120 to spend on this card...(if Dorret gets that night job..yuk, yuk).

[Berton]

Guess I misunderstood the reason for images. Signing out.

[Smokey]

Berton, on Mar 9 2007, 02:03 PM, said:

Guess I misunderstood the reason for images. Signing out.

I probably wasn't clear enough. I also shouldn't of used the cards in Harry's post for examples.


Harry, look at Bertons post, he circled the AGP slot on your motherboard.

A couple of us will come up with some suggestions on some video cards. The PCI Express interface is the newest interface that's out. Those cards are very fast with great spec's but you can't use that interface. That's why the spec's on the card on the left, that you posted are so good.

We will find you a good deal on a nice AGP card.

[Berton]

Smokey, on Mar 9 2007, 12:22 PM, said:

I probably wasn't clear enough. I also shouldn't of used the cards in Harry's post for examples.
Harry, look at Bertons post, he circled the AGP slot on your motherboard.

A couple of us will come up with some suggestions on some video cards. The PCI Express interface is the newest interface that's out. Those cards are very fast with great spec's but you can't use that interface. That's why the spec's on the card on the left, that you posted are so good.

We will find you a good deal on a nice AGP card.

I hate to drag out this thread but in the interest of getting the right part, a PCI card is the only choice for the Dell Dimension 2400 shown. There is no AGP slot, only the solder points where it would have been.

[Smokey]

Now I'm the one that misunderstood. I just glanced at the screenshot the you posted Berton and didn't look close enough the first time. I thought I saw a AGP slot and didn't read your post good enough (this has been happening a lot lately). Thanks for clearing that up Berton.

Harry, I goofed, you were right with the PCI (card on the Left). That's the type of card that you need.... sorry.

Don't spend too much money on one because the performance will be down below Vista's standards.

[Harry The Cat]

Thanks Berton & Smokey......lots of good info from the both of you.

Have a great day!!!!

Best we close this thread while were ahead........ha ha ha ha

[Berton]

You're welcome.