Dimension 3000 video upgrade?

Question

I am so frustrated at this point and confused.  I am hoping someone can shed some light.  I have a Dimension 3000 computer...in fact I have two of them. The specs are as follows:   Intel Celeron D Processor 330 (2.66GHz, 533 FSB, 256KB L2 cache) Windows XP 512MB Memory Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics Video Card 80GB Hard Drive   I called Dell because I want to upgrade the video card.  After calling six different departments and being transferred from here to there, they finally told me that I cannot upgrade the video card because it was integrated.  Is this true?  or can I have the Geforce FX 5700LE, 5600, or 5500 PCI card installed.  and I am assuming that these cards are compatible with the system?  My last question is I bought these systems, one in October 2004 and the other in Feb. 2005, so they are still under warranty.  How would I go about getting the video card updated without having the warranty voided.  Thank you in advance for your help!!!

6r1mguy · Answer

sry B.lesbowaski, you posted yers when i was typing mine, you should buy one of those watt meaters that showe how much juice your pc's gulping, than add the video cards and see if youl have a problem. my dimension 2400 is running an extremely cheap 200W PSU but it runs fine with my GeFORCE MX4k OC'd by like 35mhz.

"dibbs"

DELL-Chris M · Answer

All,

Dimension V, L, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2350, 2400, 3000 (PCI video cards) = These systems only have PCI slots. Use www.newegg.com or www.pricewatch.com to search for these video cards. In order of preference:
Geforce 5700
Geforce 5600
Geforce 5700LE

B.Lebowski · Answer

Just like Cdesjardins I'm also in the same position.

I have looked at all the threads above about installation & compatible cards for the 3000.

Other boards claim the Dim3000 power supply is to weak to support a Graphic card. Is this true?

I'm looking at the 5700LE PCI card for my system that has a DVD/CD burner already installed. I guess my question is, will the power supply be able to handle this?

B.Lebowski · Answer

Thanks ChrisM. So...What you're saying is the 5700 & 5600 are more desirable then the 5700le. I shouldn't have any problem with the stock power supply? is that right?

GuitarCanuck · Answer

I think that was a typo, a 5700 card does not exist with a PCI interface...

I believe the order of GeForce PCI cards, starting with the best, would be 5600, 5700LE, 5500, 5200...

They're PCI cards, so don't expect super performance (compared to AGP or PCI-E), but better than integrated graphics!

Kevin

Message Edited by GuitarCanuck on 03-29-2005 02:33 PM

SANTIAGE · Answer

I HAVE THE SAME 3000PC 2.66GHZ.......... DELL GAVE ME A HARD TIME TOO. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. Message Edited by SANTIAGE on 03-30-2005 11:23 PM

SlappyNuts · Answer

I just received a new 3000 (P4 3Ghz, 512mb)and installed a GeForce 5500FX PCI card. I assumed it would be an upgrade. I was wrong. The onboard graphics are actually better. If you are going to upgrade bite the bullet and go WAY up the ladder on the card. Otherwise it's not worth it.

GuitarCanuck · Answer

Yup, everyone will agree with you... PCI graphics cards ARE lame compared to the modern graphics cards. There's no way around it, even with the "best" PCI card available - they are bottlenecked by the low bandwidth of the PCI bus. To play modern games, we STILL need to adjust the graphics option settings WAY down (or off) to run smoothly, without all the fancy shadows, etc...

However, an FX5200 or higher PCI card IS better than the Intel integrated graphics - they can process the 3D graphics calculations quicker, have their own RAM and don't rob the system memory like the integrated, etc. To see a performance comparison, check out an older article here:

http://www.sudhian.com/showdocs.cfm?aid=445&pid=1594

If your new card is performing WORSE than without it, be SURE to update to the most recent video driver - get it directly from the Nvidia website - do not use the driver on the CD that came with the card, I know that has caused problems with other people on this forum, it makes a difference.

I have seen improvement myself with a PCI card. When playing Battle for Middle Earth, my frames per second (measured by the FRAPS program) were <10 FPS with integrated. With my PCI card, it improved to 10-20 FPS, and performed less choppy, more smoother movements. When I upgraded my CPU from a Celeron to a Pentium 4, it improved to 20-30 FPS. But of course, this is still with the graphics option settings set to Low !! It's the best we can do with these budget-level systems...

Kevin

Trolled · Answer

Hi there Hope you can help You say you have managed to install an upgrade How Please   Im trying to install the fx5200 done the bit to disable the on borad card, restarted and gone into bios pressed f9 to resent the defaults and nothing f9 doesnt work any ideas wWould be most helpfull     Trolled

SlappyNuts · Answer

One more thing......download the latest driver from your cards mfg. Odds are there are new drivers available. It helped my situation some.

SlappyNuts · Answer

As always, follow your card manufacturers instructions first. Assuming the new card and drivers are installed already, make sure the bios is set to "auto detect" in the video section. Start the computer, right click on the desktop, click on "properties", go all the way to the right to the "settings" tab, click and change the "intel extreme ....bla bla bla" dropdown to your new card which should be visible. Make it your default, apply, then OK, OK. Restart your computer and hope it works. If not you can always get into the bios and make the original the default and get to see your screen again. Windows has a default VGA driver which will always....well, work.

Good day

Trolled · Answer

Hi Slappynuts

Thanks for the info managed to finaly get it the FX5200 working and definatly runs alot better than the onboard system.

I can now play Snowblind which is a very big game and runs quite smooth.

For any body who else runs into trouble follow the instruction to the letter and you will have no problems,

DISABLE THE ONBOARD VIDEO CARD IN THE DEVICE MANAGER -
* Right click the My Computer icon
* Click Properties
* Click the Hardware tab and/or the Device Manager button
* Open the Display Adaptors. You should see the Intel video card
* Double click the listing for Intel whatever
* At the bottom under "Device Usage", click the down arrow and change this to "Do not use this device, disable"
* Click OK- Apply- OK
* Close all boxes when done
* Click Start- Shutdown- Restart- OK or Click Start- Turn Off Computer- Restart

At the blue Dell screen, press the F2 key
* The message, Entering Setup should appear
* Press the [Caps Lock], [Scroll Lock] and the [Num Lock] keys to light up all three lights on the keyboard
* Press the [Alt] and keys at the same time. The system will emit a beep tone to indicate that nvram has been cleared
* Down arrow to Integrated Devices [press Enter]
* Set everything to On except for USB Emulation which should be set for No Boot
* Press the [Esc] key, and then [press Enter] to save the changes and reboot the system
* Once the blue Dell screen appears, power the system OFF

INSTALL THE PCI VIDEO CARD -
* Open the case cover and add the PCI video card
* Connect the monitor to the added PCI video card
* Power on your computer
* Let the computer boot up and load the drivers off of the CD provided with the card

THEN BOBS YOR UNCLE ITS WORKING

TROLLED

phranksta819 · Answer

slappy what card do u have i am new at this installing video cards and i have a 3000 dell still in building right now might get it by next week!!

ryanknoll · Answer

I was able to get my 5700LE working pretty easy on my Dim 3000 after a few black screens. See my other post on what I did:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_video&message.id=113236#M113236

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Dimension 3000 video upgrade?

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