Old Dimension E521- trying to upgrade video for son

[AndyE1983]

Hello,
I recently picked up a E521 dimension from a garage sale that looks brand new. Its a athalon 64 - 3200+ at 2.0 ghz - 448 MB with a 256 on board video shared. We picked this up for our son to play World of Warcraft on it but with the on board video its a slide show with everything turned down to the lowest other than in instances where he says he gets 15fps. So we told him we would go about getting him a video card. I have no idea if its an agp or pci slot so that is where I am hung up at. I searched but it seems I am getting conflicting answers from the web. If someone could help me with that I would really appreciate it and maybe a recommendation for a card that will play wow with medium settings - he does not play anything else and I do not want to spend more than 60$ on an aging computer. Also, will a video card upgrade really help out or is it just that the computer is old?

Thank you for any help.

 

[the last resort]

Check the color, length, and placement of the slot. Usually AGP is brown, and farther away from the case than a PCI slot (which is white). If the MB uses AGP, I'd say there really isnt a card to get, the cheapest and most powerful is the HD 2600 PRO from ATI.
If the motherboard has PCIe, the best for $60 is probably 8600GT or GTS if youre lucky. Other than that, most choices are more than $60.

 

[ghstbstr65]

Hope this helps. You need to open your case to see this. http://img.zdnet.com/techDirectory/PCXSLOTS.GIF After you determine which it is, it will be easier to recommend a card.

 

[Aurora18]

maybe you could get a new mother board with integrated graphics just look for the same cpu slot type

 

[ibp_john]

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/dimen_e521?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

It's PCI-E. I'd go with an Nvidia 8600GT or maybe a ATI 3560.

8600GT: $58.25AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125070

 

[AndyE1983]

There are a few smaller pci slots and the one that looks like a video card slot is a little longer and has a hold down clip on the end. Its blue maybe black in color - is there some software or something I can use to look and see if its pci-e?

 

[Tinkers_damn]

Just be carefull about the power requirements for the card. Dell and others seriously underpower their boxes for upgrades, and power supply replacement probably wasn't part of your budget.

 

[carver_g]

It's a PCI-e 16x slot. Your PSU has 22A on the 12v rails, but doesn't have a 6-pin power connector, so the 8600GT mentioned above would be a good fit.

 

[Aurora18]

you tell the slots apart by physical appearance and color

 

[Aurora18]

8600gt i have requires at least 350 watts it might not be right for you

 

[evongugg]

If the label of the power supply says you have 22 amps on the 12v rails, you can safely get the 8600GT.

 

[AndyE1983]

If I were to go to the route of the 8600gt would that be able to run world of warcraft for him? Should I be worried about the power supply? I really do not want to upgrade the entire computer - just the video card.

 

[Aurora18]

an inadequate power supply can cause numerous issues so watch your wattage

 

[AndyE1983]

Dell - N305n-03
input 100-120v / 9.0a 50-60 ghz
200-240 /4.5a
Output +5v / 22.0a -12v / 1.0a
+12va / 18.0a +3.3v / 17.0a
+12vb / 18.0a +5vfp / 2.0a

max comined power on +5v a 3.3v output is 150pw
max combined output current on +12va % 12vb output is 264 w


so not seeing any 22's anywhere- I have no idea what any of that stuff means. Just a single mom trying to help her son out. Thanks for the help guys -

Andrea

 

[carver_g]

It doesn't actually say 22 on the PSU. 264W divided by 12 = 22A.

 

[evongugg]

Edit: carver_g beat me to it.

264/12=22.

 

[Shadow703793]

FYI: You don't need to open up the case to figure out the sockets. Just download CPUZ and check under Motherboard.

 

[AndyE1983]

Wonderful - so with all that out of the way I need to find this 8600gt - I went to newegg and the cheapest was

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814136019

Someone for mentioned :

"Your PSU has 22A on the 12v rails, but doesn't have a 6-pin power connector, so the 8600GT mentioned above would be a good fit. "

Will the video card work - I have no idea what a 6pin power connector is - but this one is cheap and has no rebates which works for me. Thanks again for all the help.

Andrea

 

[Aurora18]

that doesn't work i just tried it all it displayed were slots for ram but that was in a different tab

 

[kpo6969]

I ran an 8600GT in my E521 for almost a year with no issues on the stock psu.
I even ran my 8800GT in it with an upgraded psu.
This is the card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229

 

[doomsdaydave11]

Also, another 1GB of RAM would make a significant performance difference If you could go to CPU-Z and look at the memory tab, and tell us what it says there, then we can help you in that regard. You could get a gig for $20.

 

[AndyE1983]

So
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814136019
that video card will work with the PSU since someone said
"Your PSU has 22A on the 12v rails, but doesn't have a 6-pin power connector."


type - ddr2
size 512 mb
channel single
dram 250.5
cpu/8
4
4
4
12
17
t1

 

[kpo6969]

Most 8600GT don't require the 6pin power connection.

 

[doomsdaydave11]

That particular 8600GT does not require the 6-pin connector- you should be fine.

Here is a pair of 2x1GB RAM sticks for $37. Replace the 512MB stick that's already in there and you should be cruising. This will significantly increase performance in every aspect- boot up times, web surfing, gaming. Last year that pair cost $150. RAM has never been this cheap. I'm not saying you should buy it right now, but it would definitely be a good option to upgrade to in the near future.

 

[evongugg]

Your system meets the recommended specifications for the game:

World of Warcraft PC Game BLIZZARD - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832127112