Should I replace my Graphics card?

rizla01

Hi,

Advice needed please.

I have been offered a RADEON X600 128Mb graphics card and wondered if it is worth fitting to my Dell which has on-board graphics.

What difference would it make to me?

I believe that I may have to go through to the Bios settings to switch off the existing on-board to enable this to be recognised and I have heard of some people having difficulties in this aspect.

The specs of my Dell are as follows.

It's a Dell Dimension e520.

Intel(R) G965 Express Chipset Family [Display adapter] (2x)
DELL E197FP [Monitor] (19.1"vis, s/n HM0706AV2KGS, October 2006)

Operating System

Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)

System Model

Dell Inc. Dell DM061
System Service Tag: D8SDN2J
Chassis Serial Number: D8SDN2J
Enclosure Type: Mini-Tower

Processor a

3.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium D
16 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Main Circuit Board b

Board: Dell Inc. 0WG864
Serial Number: ..CN481116BI050T.
Bus Clock: 800 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc. 2.4.0 05/24/2007

Drives

357.36 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
232.24 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

Memory Modules c,d

TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S203B [CD-ROM drive]

WDC WD2500JS-75NCB3 [Hard drive] (250.00 GB) -- drive 0

2038 Megabytes Installed Memory


Thanks in advance for your replies.

JasX

you seeem to have a PCIe slot so assuming its the PCIe version I'd go for it. It will take graphics processing load away from your main processor freeing it up for other tasks (ie running programs).

Installation should prove trivial. (take static precautions, unplug your PC and don;t 'force' anything, it should need a firmish push into the slot but nothing more, you will need a small screwdriver to remove the blanking plate or it could be a cheap 'punch out' type). if you have trouble take it back out (might have a small retaining clip that latches at the far end) and ask on here.

you'll posssibly need to go download the drivers from the manufacturers site if it doesn't come with a disk but you can do this after install as it'll fire up with basic/generic windows ones which will allow it to funcction albeit not vert efficiently (windows may be 'jerky' to drag around)

rizla01

Hi, Thanks for that.

Yes it is a PCI-E device.

(I was offered a NVIDIA G-Force 5800FX but this isn't any use for my machine as it is a AGP Card)

What difference would I notice?

Will it speed up the machine in general use (Browsing Etc) and would the display improve (Not that I am unhappy with it as is.).

JasX

rizla01 wrote: »

Will it speed up the machine in general use (Browsing Etc)

JasX wrote: »

It will take graphics processing load away from your main processor freeing it up for other tasks (ie running programs).

I'll just repeat myself :j

TheMiner

It is a low end card to be honest so not sure if you'd notice much of an improvement. If you are looking at a significant improvement (and gaming) then some investment would have to be made I'm afraid

JasX

TheMiner wrote: »

It is a low end card to be honest so not sure if you'd notice much of an improvement. If you are looking at a significant improvement (and gaming) then some investment would have to be made I'm afraid

Its also a low end main processsor and PC generally, a separate graphics card will ALWAYS incrementally improve things over onboard graphics running on the main processor

spakkker

The x600 scores 147 on this chart, assuming not the x600se-far worse- and intel g965 scores 109
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php -you may notice a small difference but they are both just basic graphics hardware.

This would be a major step-up

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/512MB-ATI-RADEON-HD-4550-PCI-EXPRESS-VIDEO-CARD-DDR3-/250672933163?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW

edit - I don't think you have to adjust bios as if there isn't a graphics card pc will default to onboard but it should "see" a card.

Russel245

Those are fairly old graphics cards, your PC isn't exactly new though. You will prob see a small improvement for reasons mentioned above but you could prob find a better GPU just looking around.

I picked up some servers that were being thrown away and those all had nvidea 6 series cards in.

Just avoid cards that require additional pci power connectors.

kwikbreaks

spakkker wrote: »

edit - I don't think you have to adjust bios as if there isn't a graphics card pc will default to onboard but it should "see" a card.

I recently fitted a low-end graphics card to replace the onboard graphics on my own desktop and didn't need to alter anything in the CMOS settings. I did look first just in case and there wasn't even any option to turn off the onboard graphics.

Fitting high-end graphics cards to a fairly cheap machine may require a PSU upgrade.

rizla01

Thanks for all of the advice.

I think I'll stick with the existing until something better turns up.

I might even go out and BUY one. (The one offered was free, BTW)

JasX

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Fitting high-end graphics cards to a fairly cheap machine may require a PSU upgrade.

yes but doubt it for little one the OPs been given for free, strongly recommend OP takes the 5 mins it'll take to pop it into your PC case, will also let you see how easy it is and confirm everything works ok before you go out spending money.