Upgrading video card on Dell 4600

ziggynj24

ziggynj24

New Member
Hey guys. . . and gals, I'm looking to upgrade the video card on my Dell 4600. I recently bought a Nvidia 7600 gt (AGP 512) which worked well but with Nvidia's lame removal of the full screen mode on the 2nd monitor this card will not work for what I need it for. It's getting returned soon.

What do I need it for you ask: I need a card for my HTPC (which doubles as my regular every day desktop). So I'd like a card that can stream high quality video. I wouldn't mind being able to play the few video games I've got but mainly I need a solid card for my home theater system. It doesn't need to be fantastic, just good enough to play without artifacts and stuttering.

My system specifications (I'm not working with much):
  • Dell 4600
  • 250 watts
  • 3Gb Ram
  • Pentium 4 2.4GHz
  • APG (8) or PCI connectors

Budget:
About $150. including any other necessary upgrades (like a power supply)

I'd rather not upgrade the power supply if I can avoid it. The 7600 GT worked fine except for the lack of full screening (grrrrrr).

So I'd love any recommendations you guys have. I'm gonna stay away from Nvidia as I have heard that they have disabled this full screen mode on all of their newer drivers/cards. I guess that means I'm looking at an ATI. I heard the ATi Radeon X850 XT AGP was pretty solid (and in my price range) but I'm not sure that it will fit in my case.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Ziggy
 
Thanks, Rocko, I'll check it out. Yeah I know my hands are tied with this power supply. I'd upgrade the power too but I have a feeling it wouldn't end there--you know? :)
 
No problem. I totally get what you are saying :D

Edit: I saw some of the reviews on that card, not too hot.
 
Yeah I noticed that too. They weren't terrible but enough to get me hesitant. I may try some old drivers for this Nvidia 7600 gt and see if that works.
 
Rocko said:
With that power supply, its hard to recommend a good graphics card. One that you may want to look at is this one;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129137

The PSU requirement is only 270 watts, which will be fine as long as you are not stressing the card all the time.
Click to expand...

A POS Dell 250W wouldn't power that, and @OP, you are in luck that your PSU is a standard ATX power supply, which means near any standard power upply will fit in your case.

So, you could get:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256061

+

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121354

And you are laughing :)

With the MIR + shipping, comes out at $110, and will stream your videos and play games quite nicely
 
Aastii said:
A POS Dell 250W wouldn't power that, and @OP, you are in luck that your PSU is a standard ATX power supply, which means near any standard power upply will fit in your case.

So, you could get:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256061

+

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121354

And you are laughing :)

With the MIR + shipping, comes out at $110, and will stream your videos and play games quite nicely
Click to expand...

The video card you linked to is a PCI-express card and he only has an AGP port.
 
Aastil and John, thanks for the help. Aastil, I'll check out that card; hopefully it'll work out. In the mean time am trying to get an old ATI 9700 to work. It seems to be a step above the old Nvidia FX5200 I've got. Having found out about the no full screening on Nvidia cards I'm just reluctant to put one of their cards back in my computer...even though it did me good for a while now.
 
So, Aasti and/or John, two questions then:

1. I noticed the card you recommended, Aasti (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125281), doesn't have an S-video out. How would I go about connecting that card to a TV that only has S-vid, composite or component connections? I will be getting a HDTV eventually but not for another few months. If I need to buy a connector for it that's cool (i'd rather a card that I can use on a HDTV) but I'm not sure if I can buy such a connector/converter..you know, without shelling out another $100. :)

2. Is it complicated to put in another power supply. I don't need a how to (I can google) but will it require "upgrading" other components and such?

Thanks again for the help!
 
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