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szarate

18 Posts

84071

March 24th, 2006 13:00

Compatible Video Cards for Dimension 4550

Hi:

I read several messages in forum about problems with some video cards. For a Dimension 4550, NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT and GeForce 6800 GS are the best options. Somebody is using ATI video cards for Dimension 4550? I know that ATI Radeon X1300 is not working for this model, but what about other ATI models? What about ATI Radeon X1600 or ATI Radeon X800? Please let me know.

Thanks for your help,

szarate

Dale Nihiser

2 Intern

 • 

2K Posts

March 24th, 2006 18:00

szarate

***   ***  UPDATE  ***  ***

It would appear that forum poster, wizard2u, successfully installed an evga 6800gs in his 4500.  I can't speak for other brands, but that card worked.  So disregard information you see below except for the benchies.

Dale

I'm going to give you an update on using 6800gs cards in your 4550.  It appears that the 6800gs is too long and bumps into an ide hard drive connector on the motherboard.

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_other&message.id=271826

This picture posted by Pro depicts the mobo of a 4500.  The case dimensions and motherboard diagrams of the 4500 and 4550 are the same.  Thus the 6800gs will not fit as Pro states.

The next links show the relative speed of the 6600GT in comparison to the  Ati offerings you mentioned.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/page11.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/page16.html

Granted these benchies are run in computers with faster cpus, faster memory,  than a 4550, and with pci-e vid cards.  The only point is to demonstrate that the 6600GT is faster than the ATi solutions.

The only hope is that nvidia will release the 7600GT as an agp card and make it shorter than the 6800gs.

Good Luck

Dale

Dimension 4550
Intel P4 2.53GHz
A08 Bios
768Mb DDR 333MHz RAM
533Mhz fsb
Sapphire OEM Radeon 9800Pro w/128Mb
SoundBlaster Live
D-Link 524 Wireless Router
Lite-on DVD-rom
LG-DT-ST CDRW-rom 848-1b
WD 600BB 60Gb Ultra ATA 100 7200rpm HD
WD 1200JB SE 120Gb ATA 100 7200rpm HD
BenQ FP71G+ LCD monitor
Win XP SP2 (all updates)

 

Message Edited by Dale Nihiser on 03-24-2006 10:56 PM

szarate

18 Posts

March 25th, 2006 03:00

Thanks a lot!

DSPX

10 Posts

March 25th, 2006 21:00

I also have a Dimension 4550 (2.4 GHz). I'm using the GeForce 6600 GT OC AGP card, and it works great. I really want the GeForce 7800 GT though. Does anyone know if that will fit and work in a 4550? I also wish I had a 3.2 GHz processor. I guess the only solution is to get a Dimension XPS 400. The main problem with that is the $1400+ price tag if you get a fast processor, plenty of memory, a big hard drive, and the GeForce 7800 GTX card.

Dale Nihiser

2 Intern

 • 

2K Posts

March 26th, 2006 12:00

To be honest, the 6600GT/6800GS is probably over-kill for a Dimenion 4550 with 2.4GHz cpu.
 
When I purchased my 4550 new, I equipped it with a radeon 9800pro.  The only thing faster at the time was the 9800XT.   So I had nearly one of the fastest CPUs (2.53GHz) and nearly the fastest video card you could buy. 
 
As I understand from posts I've read, the 6600GT is twice as fast as my 9800pro.  Given the age of my system (and yours), are these 6600GTs and 6800GSs being used at their fullest potential.  I doubt it.
 
If my 9800pro laid down today, I'd replace it with a 6600GT because its cheap.  6800GS would be nice for bragging rights I guess.  A 7800GS AGP (if it would fit) is out of the question.
 
I'm sure somone who benchmarks everything in their computer will come along and provide some numbers.
 
IMO, your better off planning for your next system.
 
Good Luck
Dale
 
Cool Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 Mid tower case
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ SanDiego 1GHz fsb
MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 ATX motherboard
1GHz Cosair ValueSelect PC 3200 DDR 400 SDRAM
EVGA GeForce 6800GS 256Mb GDDR3 PCI Express
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 200Gb 7200rpm SATA 150 HD
Plextor 708A 8x burner
Thermaltake TR W0070 ATX 430W PSU
Logitech Optical Mouse MX310
Logitech Wingman Rumblepad
Altec-Lansing headphones w/mic
Viewsonic G90fb-2 19"
Windows XP Home Sp2(all updates)
D-Link 524 Wireless Ethernet Broadband Router

Message Edited by Dale Nihiser on 03-26-2006 08:52 AM

szarate

18 Posts

March 27th, 2006 13:00

Dale Nihiser,

I think about you mention in your message and I agree that nVidia 6800 will not work in fully potential. I think in replace my old 4550 for XPS or 8400, but for my work will be better a laptop. I am making plans to buy a new laptop by end of this year or beginning of the next. By now, I wish approach my dim4550 as many I can.

I looked 6800 because is better constructed and is a little difference in price for a nVidia 6600 GT 256 MB and nVidia 6800 GS 256 MB.

I really appreciate your comments, thanks.

garyhh

1 Message

March 27th, 2006 23:00

I have the same problem with my Dimension 4550.  Dell will not investigate the problem.  They only will support a short list of video cards. The good news is ATI is investigating the problem but a solution has not been posted yet.  For those of you who are experiencing the same problem with either the X1300 or X1600 AGP cards please inform ATI using their customer care system.  This way they may put a higher priority into investigating a solution.

You can find the current status of the ATI investigation by searching their Knowledge Base by ID for 737-21875 at https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894

I plan to get a new case and motherboard if ATI does not come up with a solution.  Need new case since the Dell case is incompatible with the ATX standard.

szarate

18 Posts

March 29th, 2006 13:00

I don't know what happend with ATI support, I already reported 2 times the same problem without a reasonable response since 2-3 weeks. Always the same answer: Go to link: XXXX and read manual for installation problems. First time I say "I am planning to buy ATI Radeon X1300", second one "I already buy an ATI Radeon X1300, but not works in my Dimension 4550". In fact I don't buyed the card, but even in this case without good answer.

Everybody in forum with Dell 4550 returned ATI X1300/X1600 card and buy nVidia GeForce 6600 GT or nVidia GeForce 6800 GS.

I am tired to fight with this problem, so I will buy a laptop HP Pavilion zd8350. Why?
I live in Latin America and Dell don't sell to us XPS Inspiron M170 even none Inspiron XPS of any model.

I looked Acer Travelmate 8200, is really nice, but bad comments in review. So I will go for HP.

szarate

DSPX

10 Posts

March 29th, 2006 23:00

So, buying a GeForce 6800 GT or 6800 Ultra would be a waste of money for a Demension 4550?

If I didn't already have a $9000 credit card debt, I would order a Demension XPS 400 from this website.

I've become a PC only gamer now, and I want a super gaming rig. I probably won't even get the XBox 360 or PS3. I like the keyboard and mouse too much, and I hate sluggish, unresponsive thumbsticks on controllers.

Dale Nihiser

2 Intern

 • 

2K Posts

March 30th, 2006 02:00

Yes I believe that is true.

The more sensible upgrade for a Dim 4400/4500/4550, imo, is probably going to be a 6600GT even though you may be able to slide a evga 6800gs under the hood.  

Perhaps someone has tried it and has some benchmark results.

All is not lost however.  If you're trying to squeeze as many fps as you can, you can find some great tweaks at www.tweakguides.com   I used these guides on my 4550 to help increase the frames on FarCry and HL2.  And they did work but you have to do some reading.

The xbox360 does have one advantage, it will play hd movies when they become available.  From what I understand these generation of video cards won't.

Good Luck

Dale

Dimension 4550
Intel P4 2.53GHz
A08 Bios
768Mb DDR 333MHz RAM
533Mhz fsb
Sapphire OEM Radeon 9800Pro w/128Mb
SoundBlaster Live
D-Link 524 Wireless Router
Lite-on DVD-rom
LG-DT-ST CDRW-rom 848-1b
WD 600BB 60Gb Ultra ATA 100 7200rpm HD
WD 1200JB SE 120Gb ATA 100 7200rpm HD
BenQ FP71G+ LCD monitor
Win XP SP2 (all updates)

 

 

Message Edited by Dale Nihiser on 03-29-2006 10:08 PM

szarate

18 Posts

March 30th, 2006 19:00

Reply from ATI:

Solution:

I would not recommend the X1300 series card for your Dell at this time.

737-21875: No Post on some Dell models with Radeon X1300 Series and Radeon X1600 Series AGP boards

The information in this article applies to the following configuration(s):

* Radeon® X1300 AGP Series
* Radeon® X1600 AGP Series

It has been reported that the Radeon X1300 and Radeon X1600 Series AGP boards are not posting in some Dell models.

ATI Engineering has been advised of this issue and is investigating. Any updates will be published when they become available.

To ensure you are notified of updates to this article, please register your product. Once the product has been registered and you have an ATI CustomerCare account, click "sign-in" in the top right hand corner to log into your account, then click "subscribe to topic" on the right side of the article to be notified of updates to the article.

[E158807]



Ticket Information:
Ticket #: 737-1000897
Date Created: 3/23/2006 11:45 AM EDT
Category: Product Information

To update or check the status of this Ticket:
- Go to: http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&ticketID=1000897
- Log in, and you will be automatically taken to the Ticket page.


Customer Care
ATI Technologies Inc.
ati.com

kcarrollfnp

1 Message

April 23rd, 2006 11:00

Hello.  I need a little help.  My son wants a video card upgrade for his dimension 4550.   Not long ago i put in a GeForce fx 5500. Oblivion is lagging.  We have 1 GB memory installed.  Can the dimension handle the GeForce 7800 AGP and is the power supply adequate.  I really don't want to replace the desktop, he's going to college in August and will be purchasing a laptop.  Thanks. KC

Dale Nihiser

2 Intern

 • 

2K Posts

April 28th, 2006 04:00

I'm not surprised.  Oblivion lags with a 5900XT according to a recent article @ www.tomshardware.com

For the aging 4550, I'd probably recommend nothing more than the 6600GT or possibly 6800gs.  Another possibility is the 7600 if available in an agp slot.

Good Luck

Dale

 

ofcaptain

1 Message

March 30th, 2007 18:00

Greetings:  I've read many of the posts and it seems like this is the best place to ask about upgrading my video card.
 
I have a Di 4550, 533 mhz FSB, Pent 4 at 2.66Ghz, a Nvidia GeForce 4, MX420, at 64MB, and 512 DDR 333 SDRAM PC2700 memory. I plan to add a second 512 stick as well as upgrade my video card. I'm still using a CRT.
 
From the advice I've seen so far, it seems that a nvidia 6600GT, 128 or 256 MG, AGP would be the preferred choice with  XFX, EVAG, and LEADTEK being the favored cards.
 
Will any AGP 6600GT fit or does it have to meet other system requirements? If so, what are they? Any problem using a card with two video outputs? Other considerations?
 
What I hope to do is upgrade the 4550 so I can do two things: play Silent Hunter 4 (I served on a an old diesel boat many years ago) and hold off on a new computer for a couple of years. Thaknks for your help!

mike_conley78

1 Message

May 21st, 2012 02:00

i have a simple question i have a dimension 4550 and i just bought diablo 3 i want to know i either of these cards will work in my system NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800 GT or ATI Radeon™ X1950 Pro if you can get back to me that would be awesome or you can e-mail me thanx

osprey4

4 Operator

 • 

34.2K Posts

May 21st, 2012 06:00

Hi Mike,

I think it's time for an upgrade, my friend. The 4550 is not going to be able to run Diablo III regardless of the video card. The recommended CPU is a Core 2 Duo and the minimum is a Pentium D 820. You're not even close.

The current mid-range desktop, the XPS 8500, can run this game without sweating.

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