Dell e310 video card bus type confirmation.

Okay, thank you.  What would be the best PCI-e x1 video card out there that would be compatible with this machine?  Also, can I use any PCI-e video card, or does it have to be PCI-e x1?  Thank you.  

The E310b has both PCI and PCI Express-1x, but if you are considering upgrading the video card, I would suggest the Zotac GT 610 in PCI. This card is capable of modest gaming and is HDCP-compliant for use with DRM-protected video and audio playback.

There is a PCI Express-1x variant, but it has a fan and it may not be compatible with the E310.

I don't recommend ATI-based PCI cards, because the driver does not support video acceleration.

I don't think there's much difference, and the others are out of production as far as I know.

The GT 610 is about the best card available in PCI and PCI Express-1x. Last weekend, someone here reported sucess with the PCI version in a ten-year-old Dimension 8300 (after the BIOS was upgraded).

AGP123

The Dimension e310/3100 supports both PCI and PCI Express x1 video cards.

Personally, I would install a PCE card, if there is a open PCI slot available.

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

Bev.

Thanks.  Is the Zotac GT 610 better than the GT 520, or GT 430?  Get confused trying to compare.  

Will there be a big difference in performance between the PCI and PCI-e X1 cards?  It is ridiculous how much both of these cards go for....PCI-e express X16 cards go for soooo much less.

Will there be a big difference in performance between the PCI and PCI-e X1 cards?  It is ridiculous how much both of these cards go for....PCI-e express X16 cards go for soooo much less.

Will there be a big difference in performance between the PCI and PCI-e X1 cards?

Supposedly PCIe 1x has higher bandwidth, but the card has to work for this to be realized. I'd be interested in finding out if the PCIe 1x cards work; I've heard they won't.

It is ridiculous how much both of these cards go for....PCI-e express X16 cards go for soooo much less.

I installed a Geforce 6200 PCI in a Dell E310 and it worked great (XP). I then installed Windows 7, even better. Then I added a DVI cable even better. Then I went to upgrade to a PCIe Geforce GT610, big mistakes. I can not get ti to work. I guess I was just hoping for too much out of a 8 year old PC. 

If your BIOS hasn't been flashed to the latest version, you might try doing so.

Rumor has it that the PCIe 1x version of the GT 610 has trouble with the E310, and that's why I was hesitant to recommend it.

Flashed the BIOS after installing Windows 7 and before trying to install the GT610. The computer had a P4 2.8, I picked up a P4 3.2 on ebay for $6. Well worth the $6 bucks! Not to go from 2.8 to 3.2, but to get the level 2 cache from 1Mb to 2Mb.

HIS ATI Radeon HD5450 Silence 1 GB DDR3 VGA/ DVI/ DisplayPort Low Profile PCI-Express Video Card H545H1GD1

$69.99 - HIS H545H1GD1 Radeon HD 5450 Silence 1GB

HIS H645H2GD1 Radeon HD 6450 2GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express x1 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card

• Chipset Manufacturer: AMD
• Core Clock: 625MHz
• Stream Processors: 160 Stream Processors
• Effective Memory Clock: 1000MHz
• Model #: H645H2GD1
• Item #: N82E16814161398

Flashed the BIOS after installing Windows 7 and before trying to install the GT610. The computer had a P4 2.8, I picked up a P4 3.2 on ebay for $6. Well worth the $6 bucks! Not to go from 2.8 to 3.2, but to get the level 2 cache from 1Mb to 2Mb.

I think the issue is PCI Express, as users report success Zotac's PCI GT 610 with old Dells.

I read the Newegg feedback and got the impression that the E310 just isn't compatible with the PCI Express 1x GT 610. I'm not sure about the AMD-based cards; there is a 6450 available in PCI Express  1x, but I haven't tried it in a Dell.

If you bought the card from Newegg, you can RMA it and get the PCI version. I did this with a 4350 PCI card I bought for my Dimension 2350; it didn't work properly and I returned it in favor of a Sparkle 8400GS PCI, which worked splendidly.

The issue i Have with the setup is that the onboard video is NOT disabled when you add the card.  So it takes 2 monitors and disabling the onboard video manually in windows to get it working.

Is that the problem (Windows defaulting to the onboard video)?