4700 video card change

Question

In the next few days, I hopefully will be installing a Radeon 9250 128 MB PCI graphics card in my Dimension 4700 system. This card was recommended to me by Dell sales to go along with a larger monitor that I will be using. (Dell 24 inch wide screen). Do I merely install the drivers and replace the present card, or are there other tasks that I must also perform? I will not be doing any gaming, I will be using spread sheets and other general internet usage.Thanks in advance for your help.

Dale Nihiser · Answer

tomfc wrote:

In the next few days, I hopefully will be installing a Radeon 9250 128 MB PCI graphics card in my Dimension 4700 system. This card was recommended to me by Dell sales to go along with a larger monitor that I will be using. (Dell 24 inch wide screen). Do I merely install the drivers and replace the present card, or are there other tasks that I must also perform? I will not be doing any gaming, I will be using spread sheets and other general internet usage.Thanks in advance for your help.

Even if you don't do any gaming, why would you stick an antiquated, low end, dx8, pci video card in your machine when you have a perfectly good pci-e x16 slot made for a dedicated graphics card? I'm not even sure that old card can support the max resolution of your 24inch widescreen.

Who are these knuckleheads at Dell sales?

Try this instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130075

Why spend the money for such as a to-die-for 24 inch widescreen then strap it down to a peice of junk like the 9250?

Expect others to ~~chide~~ chime in.

edit: btw are you using integrated graphics now or are you using a dedicated video card?

Good Luck

Dale

Message Edited by Dale Nihiser on 01-22-200711:57 PM

Markrey · Answer

There are many very affordable PCIe x16 cards around - I'm sure you want your large screen to have the best support it can, even if not gaming. Take the advice and get a budget PCIe x16 card - as said this is precisely what that slot is for.

If you're using integrated video now, installation is a breeze - simply drop in the pcie card, plug monitor in, power up (4700 bios should have video set to 'auto' by default but you can check by going into setup as it's powering up (F2) )

When you get into Windows install drivers as per the card manufacturer's instructions.

I've been running an ATI X700pro pcie card for years now - even this now very cheap card is vastly superior to the 9250 pci

Oh, and Dell sales/support? No disrespect to them but not all of them know everything about everything - this is but one example of plain bad advice. I once helped my wife narrow down a memory issue which Dell said was a bad hard drive.

Message Edited by Markrey on 01-23-200706:44 AM

tomfc · Answer

Dale & Markrey, Thanks to both of you for your response on my  card question. You have enlightened me on video cards. I am returning my 9250 card to Dell. I have not decided on which card to use in this system yet, since I only have a 305 W p/s, It looks as though I should be looking for a card with a passive cooling feature. Also, if I upgrade as suggested, I probably should consider upgrading my ram, I  am presently at 512 mb.   If you have any other comments, I am open to suggestion.  BTW, I am presently using an integrated graphics card, at least that is the info given on the 4700 system. Thanks again

Dale Nihiser · Answer

There again, Dell under-rates their power supply units.  Peak is greater than the 305 watts but Dell won't disclose peak wattage.  You have plenty of power to run just about any video card on the market so your options are plenty.   Here is a passive cooled 7600gs from leadtek:   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122007   Yes I would upgrade ram to at least 1GB. Dells can be finicky about what ram you install.  Ram from Dell is expensive.  Most use ram from  www.crucial.com It is guaranteed to work.  You can go with some no-name or value brand but you roll the dice and take your chances.   Good Luck Dale

4700 master · Answer

Does the graphic card metioned on the link ( EVGA 256-P2-N541-T2 GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail) work? Does any one have it? Does work good?

tomfc · Answer

I was ready to buy the EVGA 256-P2-N541-T2 GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card for my 4700 and 24' wide screen, at the last minute I changed my mind and opted for a new system rather than investing several hundred dollars for the card plus a memory upgrade (from 512MB to 2GB). The aforementioned video card seems like a good recommendation.

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4700 video card change

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