Hey all - I was considering upgrading to an actual video card rather than my onboard video chipset - which has served me just fine until now.
Here is a link to the available cards at tigerdirect
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=697
I do not know much about video cards other than I want to be able to run Everquest and some more recent games without any video lag at all.
Here is my current computer setup off the Dell site. My computer currently has Win XP Home and 768 RAM. My big question is - other than which vid card would be best suited for me, will I have to replace any other parts in order to be able to upgrade my vid card? Thanks in advance for your help
Technical Specifications
Dell™ Dimension™ 2300
Microprocessor Video
System Information Audio
Expansion Bus Controls and Lights
Memory Power
Drives Physical
Ports and Connectors Environmental
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microprocessor
Microprocessor type
Intel® Pentium® 4 that runs at 1.80 GHz internally and 400 MHz externally or Intel Celeron® that runs at 1.70 GHz internally and 400 MHz externally
NOTE: Microprocessor offerings vary by country.
L1 cache
8 KB first-level (Pentium 4); 32 KB (16-KB data cache; 16-KB instruction cache) (Celeron).
L2 cache
256- or 512-KB (displayed in the system setup program) pipelined-burst, eight-way set associative, write-back SRAM (Pentium 4);
128-KB SRAM that resides in the processor’s core. The L2 cache runs at the processor’s internal clock speed (Celeron).
System Information
System chip set
Intel 845GL
DMA channels
seven
Interrupt levels
24 APIC mode
System BIOS chip
2 Mb (256 KB)
System clock
400-MHz data rate
Expansion Bus
Bus types
PCI
Bus speed
PCI: 33 MHz
PCI connectors
four
PCI connector size
120 pins
PCI connector data width
(maximum)
32 bits
Memory
Architecture
SDRAM
Memory connectors
two
Memory capacities
128-, 256-, or 512-MB
Minimum memory
128 MB
Maximum memory
1 GB
Memory type
PC133 SDRAM (non-ECC)
Drives
Externally accessible
two 5.25-inch bays
one 3.5-inch bay
Internally accessible
one bay for 1-inch–high IDE hard drive
Ports and Connectors
Externally accessible:
Serial
9-pin connector; 16550C-compatible
Parallel
25-hole connector (bidirectional)
Video
15-hole connector
Keyboard
6-pin mini-DIN connector
Mouse
6-pin mini-DIN connector
USB
two front-panel and four back-panel USB 2.0–compliant connectors
Audio
three back miniature connectors for line-in, line-out, and microphone; one front miniature connector for line-out
Internally accessible:
Primary IDE channel
40-pin connector on PCI local bus
Secondary IDE channel
40-pin connector on PCI local bus
Floppy drive
34-pin connector
Video
Video controller
Intel integrated AGP graphics*
*Integrated AGP graphics uses a maximum of 32 MB of main memory.
Audio
Audio controller
Integrated AC97
Controls and Lights
Power control
push button
Front-panel power light
solid green for power-on state; blinking green for standby state
Hard-drive access light
green
Power
DC power supply:
Wattage
200 W
Heat dissipation
682 BTU (fully-loaded computer without monitor)
Voltage (see the safety instructions in your Owner's Manual for important voltage setting information)
100 to 120 V at 60 Hz; 200 to 240 V at 50 Hz
Backup battery
3-V CR2032 coin cell
Physical
Height x Width x Depth
36.8 x 18.4 x 42.6 cm
(14.5 x 7.25 x 16.75 inches)
Weight
10.4 kg (23 lb)
Environmental
Temperature:
Operating
0º to 35ºC (32º to 95ºF)
Storage
–20º to 70ºC (–4º to 158ºF)
Relative humidity
20% to 80% (noncondensing)
Maximum vibration:
Operating
0.25 G at 10 to 500 Hz at 1/2 octave/min
Storage
1.48 G at 10 to 500 Hz, vibration with the computer
Maximum shock:
Nonoperating (half-sine pulse)
105 G, 2 ms
Nonoperating (faired-square
wave)
32 G with a velocity change of 596.9 cm/sec (235 inches/sec)
Here is a link to the available cards at tigerdirect
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=697
I do not know much about video cards other than I want to be able to run Everquest and some more recent games without any video lag at all.
Here is my current computer setup off the Dell site. My computer currently has Win XP Home and 768 RAM. My big question is - other than which vid card would be best suited for me, will I have to replace any other parts in order to be able to upgrade my vid card? Thanks in advance for your help
Technical Specifications
Dell™ Dimension™ 2300
Microprocessor Video
System Information Audio
Expansion Bus Controls and Lights
Memory Power
Drives Physical
Ports and Connectors Environmental
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microprocessor
Microprocessor type
Intel® Pentium® 4 that runs at 1.80 GHz internally and 400 MHz externally or Intel Celeron® that runs at 1.70 GHz internally and 400 MHz externally
NOTE: Microprocessor offerings vary by country.
L1 cache
8 KB first-level (Pentium 4); 32 KB (16-KB data cache; 16-KB instruction cache) (Celeron).
L2 cache
256- or 512-KB (displayed in the system setup program) pipelined-burst, eight-way set associative, write-back SRAM (Pentium 4);
128-KB SRAM that resides in the processor’s core. The L2 cache runs at the processor’s internal clock speed (Celeron).
System Information
System chip set
Intel 845GL
DMA channels
seven
Interrupt levels
24 APIC mode
System BIOS chip
2 Mb (256 KB)
System clock
400-MHz data rate
Expansion Bus
Bus types
PCI
Bus speed
PCI: 33 MHz
PCI connectors
four
PCI connector size
120 pins
PCI connector data width
(maximum)
32 bits
Memory
Architecture
SDRAM
Memory connectors
two
Memory capacities
128-, 256-, or 512-MB
Minimum memory
128 MB
Maximum memory
1 GB
Memory type
PC133 SDRAM (non-ECC)
Drives
Externally accessible
two 5.25-inch bays
one 3.5-inch bay
Internally accessible
one bay for 1-inch–high IDE hard drive
Ports and Connectors
Externally accessible:
Serial
9-pin connector; 16550C-compatible
Parallel
25-hole connector (bidirectional)
Video
15-hole connector
Keyboard
6-pin mini-DIN connector
Mouse
6-pin mini-DIN connector
USB
two front-panel and four back-panel USB 2.0–compliant connectors
Audio
three back miniature connectors for line-in, line-out, and microphone; one front miniature connector for line-out
Internally accessible:
Primary IDE channel
40-pin connector on PCI local bus
Secondary IDE channel
40-pin connector on PCI local bus
Floppy drive
34-pin connector
Video
Video controller
Intel integrated AGP graphics*
*Integrated AGP graphics uses a maximum of 32 MB of main memory.
Audio
Audio controller
Integrated AC97
Controls and Lights
Power control
push button
Front-panel power light
solid green for power-on state; blinking green for standby state
Hard-drive access light
green
Power
DC power supply:
Wattage
200 W
Heat dissipation
682 BTU (fully-loaded computer without monitor)
Voltage (see the safety instructions in your Owner's Manual for important voltage setting information)
100 to 120 V at 60 Hz; 200 to 240 V at 50 Hz
Backup battery
3-V CR2032 coin cell
Physical
Height x Width x Depth
36.8 x 18.4 x 42.6 cm
(14.5 x 7.25 x 16.75 inches)
Weight
10.4 kg (23 lb)
Environmental
Temperature:
Operating
0º to 35ºC (32º to 95ºF)
Storage
–20º to 70ºC (–4º to 158ºF)
Relative humidity
20% to 80% (noncondensing)
Maximum vibration:
Operating
0.25 G at 10 to 500 Hz at 1/2 octave/min
Storage
1.48 G at 10 to 500 Hz, vibration with the computer
Maximum shock:
Nonoperating (half-sine pulse)
105 G, 2 ms
Nonoperating (faired-square
wave)
32 G with a velocity change of 596.9 cm/sec (235 inches/sec)
