The computer is a dell 4550 dimension, using a GeForce4 MX. I'd like to upgrade to a 6000 series or greater. Motherboard doesn't have PCI-E slots...
2007-05-21 14:59:08 · 7 answers · asked by unclewaltsworld 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
Running a P4 processor - 2.66ghz.....so i'm not ready to turn it in for new yet....
2007-05-21 15:04:53 · update #1
Try the ATI 9600 Pro. It consumes about 18watts only. Your current GF4 MX could be consuming around 10-12 watts.
2007-05-21 23:09:38 · answer #1 · answered by Karz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wouldn't bother. Why is this? Well, a lot of Dells use propriatary wiring on their power supply. I know for a fact a modern 6xxx, 7xxx, or 8xxx series nVidia card will eat about 5x the power that GF4 MX440 uses at the LEAST. So lets pretend you get the fastest video card your system will take and slap it in there. Well maybe now you start getting random restarts and reboots (typically at the worst times...when you're gaming or doing something important). So now you have to go find yourself a Dell compatable replacement power supply. Now you've spend $150 minimum on your video card, and $75 at LEAST on a power supply. Of course if you put in a high power video card it'll create more heat, which your Dell case really isn't designed to vent in the first place (they sell more replacement parts that fail due to thermal overload than you'd realize). So you'd also need to either put it in a new case to deal with the thermal loads, or stick in additional fans and/or mod the case to hold more fans.
The point I'm trying to make is it'd probably be cheaper to build a new custom pc instead of trying to soup up a crappy Dell.
2007-05-21 22:08:13 · answer #2 · answered by letmepicyou 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I understand your want to upgrade video cards but doing so on this type of computer could end up really slowing it down even more. You may not even have a strong enough power source. I recommend buying at least a new motherboard and processor and RAM before buying a new video card. It's really not all that expensive and you will be able to play more modern games with a faster processor. I am assuming that's why you want the new video card. This is a great store to go to if there is one near you. www.frys.com Hope this helps!
2007-05-21 22:08:01 · answer #3 · answered by Ryan M 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Dell computers don't usually allow upgrading by yourself. I had a Dell, but I got rid of it and built a computer from scratch so that I could upgrade whenever I needed to. The Dell I had had a weird video card slot that seemed to be custom made for that specific card and could not be upgraded.
2007-05-21 22:05:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
You should have no trouble using a standard agp run of the mill video card - nvidia or ati
PCI express is really quite new
A lot of boards still use agp
No shortage of cards
2007-05-22 00:13:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it's time for you to upgrade to a new computer.
2007-05-21 22:01:27 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
you can use ATI or Readon series
2007-05-21 22:09:36 · answer #7 · answered by unique 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋