PNY Verto GeForce 8400GS or Stealth ATI Radeon 9250 PCI Card?

[SuperKitty]

Hi all,

I have a 5-year old Dell Dimension that I would like to upgrade rather than toss out. It could use 2mb RAM and/or a new graphics card.

I play an online MMOG that updated to HD. The game runs ok on this system but would run better, faster, less lag if I could update the graphics card. (They said better to update graphics card than ram.

Looking at the Dell suggested upgrades for my system, I thought these 2 looked best:

PNY Verto GeForce 8400GS 512 MB PCI Graphics Card, or
Stealth ATI Radeon 9250 256 MB DDR PCI Graphics Card.

Knowing nothing about hardware, I was wondering which would work best on my:
Dell Dimension 3000
Intel Pent 4
1 gig ram (can update to 2 gigs)
Windows XP
4 gig hd
Dell M993s display on Intel 82865G Graphics Controller (that's what Display Properties says)

I would appreciate any recommendations, advice, and suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[vjcsmoke]

Hi all,

I have a 5-year old Dell Dimension that I would like to upgrade rather than toss out. It could use 2mb RAM and/or a new graphics card.

I play an online MMOG that updated to HD. The game runs ok on this system but would run better, faster, less lag if I could update the graphics card. (They said better to update graphics card than ram.

Looking at the Dell suggested upgrades for my system, I thought these 2 looked best:

PNY Verto GeForce 8400GS 512 MB PCI Graphics Card, or
Stealth ATI Radeon 9250 256 MB DDR PCI Graphics Card.

Knowing nothing about hardware, I was wondering which would work best on my:
Dell Dimension 3000
Intel Pent 4
1 gig ram (can update to 2 gigs)
Windows XP
4 gig hd
Dell M993s display on Intel 82865G Graphics Controller (that's what Display Properties says)

I would appreciate any recommendations, advice, and suggestions.

Thanks!

At the $60 pricepoint those are both rather weak video cards.

You're better off spending your $60 on an HD 4670.
Here is one on Newegg that is $40 after the MIR. It has 1 Gig of GDDR3 and it will outperform either of those 2 video cards handily.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127440&cm_re=4670-_-14-127-440-_-Product

PS Buy another gig of ram as well. Look on Amazon, they sell cheaper upgrades than Dell does directly. Just make sure you know what ram you are getting.

 

[SuperKitty]

Ok. Any recommendations on type/brand of ram? I dunno which is good or not.

Thanks for the advice on graphics card! I didn't know I could use a PCI Express, thought it had to be just PCI. Also, was going to buy from Dell because they will support me through the install. I dunno how or where to install it, so didn't mind paying extra.

 

[shadow187]

PNY, Corsair, OCZ, Kingston for RAM.

As far as graphics, here's some good graphics-per-$.
$40 HD4670
$60 9600GSO (96SP/128-bit BUS)
$90 HD4850
$125 HD4870
$160 HD5770
$165 HD4890

 

[vjcsmoke]

Well I just looked at the Dell Dimension 300 motherboard diagram. It appears to only have 3 PCI slots with no PCIE ??? So I guess you can't use a PCIE card after all.
Honestly it might be time to upgrade your system to current gen hardware.

Here's a complete system upgrade built on the cheapest possible Athlon platform:
2.8ghz CPU + 4650 GPU + Minitowercase + 585W PSU = $155. Minus 20 MIR = $135.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.274414

AM3 MicroATX Motherboard + 2GB RAM = $91. Minus 14 MIR = $77.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.267296

Total system price before MIR = $246
Total system price after MIR = $202

Here's a slightly better build:
2.8ghz CPU + 4650 GPU + Minitowercase + 585W PSU = $155. Minus 20 MIR = $135.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.274414

AM3 MicroATX Motherboard + 4GB DDR2 RAM = $144. Minus 13 MIR = $131.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.267296

Total system price before MIR = $299
Total system price after MIR = $266

 

[shadow187]

Yeah..any $40 motherboard has a PCI-E slot...

 

[vjcsmoke]

Now that I think about it... have you ever put computers together yourself, Superkitty?

 

[vjcsmoke]

9250 is a decent video card I suppose if you're stuck with PCI. But it's really not very good. What resolution is your screen?

 

[SuperKitty]

Now that I think about it... have you ever put computers together yourself, Superkitty?

No, vjc, that's why I was gonna buy one of Dell's recommended cards cuz they will talk me thru the install.

:\

 

[SuperKitty]

9250 is a decent video card I suppose if you're stuck with PCI. But it's really not very good. What resolution is your screen?

Umm... let me guess... lol....

Looking at Display Properties, the max resolution I can select is 1600x 1200. I have an old 19" crt that came with the system 5 years ago.

Hope that answers your question.

Fyi, I have opened the box before, but I forget why, now. I did vacuum it out before to get the dust out.



Vjc, I wish I could get a 512 or 1G vid card for this silly pci slot. Mebbe then, I would not need to purchase ram. Now I look back, it was sneaky of Dell to put a pci card in this machine at that time. They were using older model parts to cut costs I guess.

 

[SuperKitty]

Guess I might add...

I'm hanging on to this old system as back up, and cuz it works ok.

I purchased a new Gateway NV5814u laptop for my new comp. (Buy a new one every 5 years.)

Want to network a new printer to both this old Dell and me new Gateway. The awful Dell (Lexmark) that came with the system is dying fast.

I will get new graphics card first and see how it goes. I have a feeling that will help alot. Then I will add the 2gig ram at once.

Thanks eva so much, for your suggestions.

You've been great!

 

[SuperKitty]

I think I can buy the graphics card from anyone because I watched YT vids this weekend on how to install a g card. It looks easy enough, just plug it in to a slot.

Just need to make sure I buy something that will fit the slot in my comp and that it will run on the system configuration I have. And, I don't know what would fit.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

e nos

 

[SuperKitty]

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