Dell Dimension 4550 vid card upgrade question!

Hi techies--

I'd like to begin using my old Dell Dimension 4550 to play World of Warcraft, and although it is rather laughable, it sports an ancient Nvidia GeForce MX 420 64MB vid card, on an equally as wizened AGP interface. I'd like to upgrade to something less with less of a Colecovision essence, but my power supply, at only 250w, can only support cards up to 128MB.

I was recommended an upgrade by the outsourced Dell support staff,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129107

a VisionTek Radeon X1050. However, I'd like to find something a bit cheaper, particularly,

http://www.txmicro.com/ATi-Radeon-9200-128MB-AGP-Video-Card-w-TV-Out-SHIPS-FREE-p-3931.html

this ATi Radeon 9200 w/ AGP. Now, while both are supported by WoW, I was hoping for a reassurance that since all three cards in question are AGP, I shouldn't have any problems with the ATi card.

Any system info needed can be obtained, no problem-- just let me know.

Thanks in advance!

-Justin

 

:confused the megabytes on a video card and the wattage of a power supply have absolutely nothing to do with one another. The quantity of memory on a video card that can be used by a PC has nothing to do with the wattage output of a power supply. Now, with that out of the way, I'd say that you could easily run an ATI x1650 256mb or 512mb video card without any problems. But performance is NOT all about video cards. If you only have a Celeron 1.7ghz CPU and 128mb of PC100 SDRAM, the best video card on the planet isn't going to do much without some help from the other components.
Here's some video cards to consider:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=x1650+agp&x=0&y=0 (I used "X1650 AGP" for the search key words to generate this list)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143102
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141038
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121064R
If you look through all the AGP cards available at Newegg (I just did) you'll find MANY open box deals with incredible prices. Just be sure you get at least a 128bit card. DO NOT get a 64bit card; you'll be very unhappy with the performance. NOTE: I said 128bit. That is totally different from 128mb so don't confuse the two. Ideally, the card you'll want will have at least 256mb of memory (there's plenty of 512mb cards available that will run fine in your system) and 128bit interface. I did see a few 256bit interface AGP cards, but the prices are relatively high and these cards probably wouldn't be stable with your 250w power supply. Like I said: any of the ATI X1650 cards should run just fine with your PC as long as you have enough RAM (at least 512mb, preferably 1gb) and decent CPU (at least 2ghz, preferably 2.6 or better)

If you have any other questions, feel free to post, and Welcome to Major Geeks! :wave :major

 

Yeah, It's got a P4 2.0 Ghz, and I recently upgraded to a gig SDRAM, so, we're good on those fronts.

That's disconcerting, however, that the Dell support people would tell me that I could only run 128mb cards because of my power supply, but then I remember that if there's one more thing that Dell doesn't know about computers, then all is still right with the world.

Something I noticed on the second link, for the BFG Tech card-- it lists a system requirement of a 350w power supply. I was considering this one until I saw that, and am now somewhat hesitant. Could I potentially damage the card, my power supply, or God forbid, anything else inside the case if I plug that one in?

(Also, when it comes to the Newegg search link you gave me, the Radeon X1600 series is the whole reason I'm posting this thread-- the last Sapphire Radeon X1600 card I bought from Newegg wasn't recognized by my motherboard. After some searching it turned out that particular line just doesn't work with Dimension 4550 mobos. So, hopefully you can see why I'm trying not to waste another video card purchase.)

Thanks again!

-Justin

 

Bumping for an answer to my second question please!

 

I don't have a 4550 to check, so I am going on memory as it's over a year since I've been inside one.

Check your reported memory carefully. (Windows key + pause break)
Dell BIOS is notoriously unfriendly. I'm not sure what settings you have available for video RAM shadowing, but you will need to change these to suit your new card. Don't forget that both the motherboard and BIOPS in a Dell are proprietary and often different.

If you have USB keyboard/mouse try to have an ordinary ps2 one available in case you loose control. The ps2 check/setup comes before video, but usb comes after during boot so if there is a setup problem with your new card you may need ps2 input devices to sort this.

I'm sorry to report that Dell are nearer the truth than DLB on the power supply issue. There is most certainly a relationship between available power and the performance of graphics cards. Some graphics cards have extra power connectors as well. Can't remember what is availbale on the 4550. As you have discovered, most graphics manufacturers specify the minimum psu needed. You should add 75 watts for other staff to that figure.

 

I hate to be dead weight, but I don't suppose you could walk me through that, could you? Is this something I have to do before POST?

 

Absolutely. I was saying that the wattage output of a PSU has nothing to do with the megabytes on a video card. The OP said that due to his 250w power supply, he was stuck with a max of 128mb on a video card. I was merely stating that there are plenty of video cards with 256mb and 512mb that will run fine with a 250w power supply. And there's plenty of video cards that won't run fine with a 250w power supply. The cards I linked to are all pretty much use-able with a 250w PSU (I have used probably 75% of the cards listed). I also stated that the 256bit cards would not be stable with his power supply, which is probably true. With faster, better components comes a need for stronger power and most of todays performance video cards have their own dedicated power connectors (I know my 9600GT does), and some of 'em have 2 of these connectors. I was in no way suggesting that he could run a X1950GT on his 250w PSU, but there are plenty of do-able AGP cards that have 256mb that will run with the 250w unit, the 128bit Geforce 6800 series should be OK (NOT the 256bit models), any of the Geforce FX series should be OK, and any of the Radeon 9000 series should be OK except for maybe the high end 9600/9800 cards (some of these are 256bit and have their own power connectors).

 

Just purchased a Hightech Radeon 9550 from Newegg about 5 minutes ago.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161080

Talked to an ATi guy himself to resolve the issue of the PSU, and he said minimum required for the 9550 is 250w. I also used the PSU calculator here,

http://www.journeysystems.com/?power_supply_calculator

and with everything, I should be at around 249w.

Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it greatly!

-Justin

 

Hey. Did Radeon 9550 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP work for you? I also want to upgrade my old Dimension 4550. By the way, I read that it is possible to put in it two GB of RAM into the old Dimension 4550, which is awesome. Here is the website:

http://en.community.dell.com/wikis/desktop/dimension-4550-maximum-memory-2gb-not-1gb.aspx

I am considering Nvidia GeForce 6800 GT Overclocked AGP 256MB. Is this one worst than the one you bought? Will it work with 4550? And what does the number 6800 or 9550 mean? Does it make any difference? Thank you in advance. I hope this message will get to you.

-Dan