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Dell Dimension 5000 Video Card Upgrade

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  • 23-02-2010 6:18pm
    #1
    IrishEmperor
    Registered Users Posts: 180 ✭✭


    A family friend was having some problems with their 4-5 year old Dell.
    I reinstalled Windows, but they don't have a driver disc:
    I've been to the Dell support site to download the necessary drivers:
    the only ones that are missing & seem to posing a problem are the sound & video ones.. I'm getting an error message when I try to install the ones I've dl'ed. I tried getting different/earlier versions of the drivers from other sites too. It currently uses a basic PCI express graphics card, an Intel 915G as far as I can tell.

    It's got a P4 @ 3Ghz & 1Gb of Ram:
    I was gonna suggest getting a new low end passive video card & an extra couple gigs of ram.
    (the reason I'm opting for passive - I'm not sure if there are spare connectors on the mobo for a fan if there's a cable that would need connecting)
    They're only casual gamers, the PC is mostly for Internet & Word docs.
    The Dad wants to play older titles like MOH Airbourne (min req is a 6600GT)
    & one of the daughters wants to play Sims 2 or 3, which is not that graphically demanding either.

    Any suggestions for a video card?
    No point buying anything too fancy, as the P4 cpu will bottleneck it.
    I was thinking a 4650 or 4670:
    http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=442781
    http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=426718

    Might I be limited by the Power Supply too?


Comments

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    #2
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    If it already has a graphics card then the 915G chipset drivers won't help the graphics side of things if the monitor cable is plugged into the card; you'd need to find suitable video drivers for the card itself.

    As for the new card, there's a cheaper HD4650 on Komplett - GPU fans don't need a fan header unless you're strapping a random case fan onto a passive card! Stock fans on cards are already plugged into mini-headers on the cards themselves. The one you picked is a passive card. Its nice and quiet (silent in fact!) but you'd need good airflow and/or a fan pointing at it to keep it properly cooled. PSU should hopefully be no problem, if only because the HD4650 is a relatively low-end card that requires minimal power to operate :)


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    #3
    IrishEmperor
    Registered Users Posts: 180 ✭✭IrishEmperor


    Thanks for that.

    I guess I'll have to take another closer look at the video card, it didn't seem to have any markings at first glance & no name or description came up for it when I was scanning the hardware.

    Otherwise I'll recommend he buys a 4650 from Komplett & there seems to be another one that's even cheaper:
    http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=575157

    or a GT220
    http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=500495


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    #4
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    IIRC the G220 is slightly inferior to a full-blown HD4650.

    And that HD4650 you just posted isn't a HD4650. Its technically a HD4630 but for some reason some companies have been selling them as HD4650s, which they aren't - you can tell by the low-profile PCB. Oh, and said PCB is based on the HD4550 and isn't really much use for any gaming, the 64-bit memory bus cripples bandwidth and would cause performance bottlenecks as the GPUs working too fast for the memory to keep up! :o


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