PCI non-E graphics card

[Potato Joe]

So I have an old Dell Dimension 3000 and I've decided that instead of simply letting it rot I'm going to connect it to a tv and use it for watching Youtube videos. I plan to upgrade the CPU from a Celeron D 320 to a Pentium 4 at 3.4GHz for $20 (Thank you eBay) but I can't find a graphics card that uses PCI. I know that was the standard forever ago but I thought there would be at least one or two floating around, and the motherboard doesn't have any PCIe slots. I don't know what an AGP slot looks like, so I wouldn't know if it has one. It was originally purchased in 2004, has 512MB of DDR1 RAM, and 76GB of space on a PATA hard drive.

 

[Komayy]

2004.. oof.. please take a picture of this motherboard.

 

[apk24]

You might be able to find an HD5450 or A GTX610 in PCI. I think those chips are about as new as you can go where they made PCI cards. And even then, finding one on PCI that supports HDMI will be a pain. Life is a bit easier if you are okay with DVI/S-Video/VGA/etc. If buying new, don't expect them to be cheap, 50-100ish range. If buying used, don't expect them to be common. As for generic video cards on PCI, sites like ebay are litered with them.


Edit: Checked Newegg found some stuff:
An HD5450 with HDMI and a DMS-59 (basically 2x DVI you need to find a splitter) JATON Radeon HD 5450 @ $57 on Newegg

Listing of all PCI graphics cards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007709%20600007853

 

[rhysiam]

According to the product manual from Dell you don't have AGP, it's PCI only.

Honestly, it's not going to handle youtube videos. The reason cheap laptops, tablets and phones can handle youtube and other video playback is because they have dedicated hardware which is specifically designed to decode those types of video streams. If that kind of workload is left to a CPU alone, it is actually quite demanding. I have a couple of Core2 Duos which run Linux (they're old machines, but spring chickens compared to your system there). It took me a while to get the right settings to leverage the GPU for youtube playback, and until I did that those CPUs struggled even with 480p... 720P playback was a slide show.

Even if you could find a PCI video card, I highly doubt it's going to provide hardware assisted decode for youtube (or any vaguely modern video streams), and there's no way that CPU can handle it on its own.

If you really want a youtube machine, you're probably better off looking for a cheap Core2Duo system on ebay which would at least have a PCIe slot.

 

[atomicWAR]

here some PCI cards on newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600007853%20600031507&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=30

 

[k1114]

I wouldn't spend that $20. $50 gets you a whole pc with a core 2 duo and would play vids just fine. Look for them locally and you won't have to worry about shipping.

 

[rhysiam]

I wouldn't spend that $20. $50 gets you a whole pc with a core 2 duo and would play vids just fine. Look for them locally and you won't have to worry about shipping.

Yup... this.

 

[apk24]

If you really want a youtube machine, you're probably better off looking for a cheap Core2Duo system on ebay which would at least have a PCIe slot.

There are plenty of second hand systems capapble of playing youtube videos for about the price of a new PCI card. Like I said in my above reply, a PCI GFX that's even vaguely capable by modern standards will run you 50-100 bucks. I have gotten a Core 2 Quad workstation, with some kind of discrete graphics ( I forget which cuz I really didn't care as long as it had DVI-I out) and 4GB Ram for 70 bucks on second hand ebay.

 

[atomicWAR]

the radeon 7350 does have hardware video playback BTW which is on that link.

 

[Potato Joe]

If the computer didn't have sentimental value I wouldn't bother. I could just take it up to Micro Center to have it recycled since I live close enough to one, but I'd prefer to keep it as long as it works.

 

[rhysiam]

the radeon 7350 does have hardware video playback BTW which is on that link.

Well if that's the case it's a nice find in one sense. The problem is that it's $105. There's no way sinking that kind of money into a 12 year old system is worth it when you can get an entire system, that's much newer and better, for less.

But that is a good find. I'll admit I didn't think such a card would exist anymore.

 

[apk24]

the radeon 7350 does have hardware video playback BTW which is on that link.

At a 100 bucks, you better have a compelling reason to keep the old machine.

An arguably better youtube box for the same price (granted it's not a proper box, but still):
NEW (not refurb) Lenovo Desktop Computer IdeaCentre Stick 300
Intel Atom Z3735F
2 GB DDR3
32 GB Storage
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883798517

Is there better? Yes. Is this the first thing I saw? Maybe.

 

[rhysiam]

If the computer didn't have sentimental value I wouldn't bother. I could just take it up to Micro Center to have it recycled since I live close enough to one, but I'd prefer to keep it as long as it works.

Display it on a shelf? Connect a monitor to it and use as an oversized digital photo frame?

I'm 100% in for recycling and reusing old hardware. Most of us (myself included) are all to quick to throw stuff away. But I just think that youtube is asking way too much from a machine that old.

 

[Potato Joe]

Also, the 7350 is $70 on ebay. If I find one cheaper than that, I'll pick it up. The digital picture frame is a good idea, but I don't have a shelf to put the tower and monitor on together since the only available monitor is a 14 inch CRT monitor.

 

[atomicWAR]

the radeon 7350 does have hardware video playback BTW which is on that link.

Well if that's the case it's a nice find in one sense. The problem is that it's $105. There's no way sinking that kind of money into a 12 year old system is worth it when you can get an entire system, that's much newer and better, for less.

But that is a good find. I'll admit I didn't think such a card would exist anymore.

i would agree with you for the most part. that said if he wants his current rig to do video, the sad fact is he needs new PCI graphics card. Now I found a new one, it is possible he could get one for a 1/3 the price used if he looks around for one online.

 

[rhysiam]

i would agree with you for the most part. that said if he wants his current rig to do video, the sad fact is he needs new PCI graphics card. Now I found a new one, it is possible he could get one for a 1/3 the price used if he looks around for one online.

Yeah, and in that sense it's a good find. How confident are you though that even with that card the machine will be capable of reasonable youtube playback? Youtube playback (720p) on my SP3 regularly has the CPU pegged at 30-50%, even with some help from the Haswell iGPU.

I'm still pretty sceptical it will work at all. I fully concede that I don't know, I might be wrong and it might work fine. But there's a good chance OP will spend time and money, and still be no better off.

 

[atomicWAR]

i would agree with you for the most part. that said if he wants his current rig to do video, the sad fact is he needs new PCI graphics card. Now I found a new one, it is possible he could get one for a 1/3 the price used if he looks around for one online.

Yeah, and in that sense it's a good find. How confident are you though that even with that card the machine will be capable of reasonable youtube playback? Youtube playback (720p) on my SP3 regularly has the CPU pegged at 30-50%, even with some help from the Haswell iGPU.

I'm still pretty sceptical it will work at all. I fully concede that I don't know, I might be wrong and it might work fine. But there's a good chance OP will spend time and money, and still be no better off.

no argument from me. I do believe it will work for 720P but when working with such old hardware...nothing is a certainty. Like you I would upgrade the CPU n mobo but I have also been in his boat and know you sometimes just have to wing it and hope for the best.