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[Bigherb72204]

How d I know what video card is best for my machine(Dell Deminsion 8400)?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Unless you are willing and able to replace the PSU your choices will be limited to cards that can run on 350w but knowing what CPU is in your PC would be helpful.

 

[Bigherb72204]

CPU
Intel Pentium 4 530
Cores 1
Threads 2
Name Intel Pentium 4 530
Code Name Prescott
Package Socket 775 LGA
Technology 90nm
Specification Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
Family F
Extended family F
Model 3
Extended model 3
Stepping 4
Revision D0
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
Bus speed 199.5 MHz
Rated Bus speed 798.0 MHz
Stock core speed 3000 MHz
Stock bus speed 200 MHz
Caches
L1 data cache size 16 KBytes
L1 trace cache 12 Kuops
L2 unified cache size 1024 KBytes
Core 0
Core speed 2992.4 MHz
Multiplier x 15.0
Bus speed 199.5 MHz
Rated Bus speed 798.0 MHz
Thread 1
APIC ID 0
Thread 2
APIC ID 1
Would a bigger power source work?

 

[Bigherb72204]

Best answer selected by Bigherb72204.

 

[Bigherb72204]

Thanks for the quick reply!!

 

[Mousemonkey]

The CPU would hold back anything above a GTS250 or HD47xx which is a moot point anyway as you would need a 400 - 450w PSU anyway. How much are you willing to spend and how do you feel about replacing the PSU?

 

[Bigherb72204]

How do I find out what power I have and would a $300.00 infusion make a difference anything beyond that I might as well look at another machine?

 

[Mousemonkey]

On the side of the PSU there is a label like this:-

which would tell you the wattage of the unit, and I can't really recommend that you spend any money on an old P4 machine when for a bit more you could build a new rig if you salvaged the ODD, HDD and case of the old one. Why not start a thread in the Homebuild section to get some ideas?