I have the same computer, it will only take a AGP graphics card. The highest card it will take is the  AGP 7600GT with 256mb.  I now run a XFX GeForce 7600GT 580MHz 256MB AGP 8X Video card in my Dimension 4600  and it runs great , the card has a power connection on it , don't forget to plug it into the power supply on your 4600.   it has plenty of power to run this card. I paid about $129.00 about two years ago for this card. good luck to you---jamesstreet

Thanks man, I've been looking around for that card on the internet, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Are you positive it's AGP only? I'm have trouble even finding AGP cards, most just sell PCI Express cards or 2.0.

By the way, was there somewhere in particular you went to find that kind of info.?

I purchased my XFX GeForce 7600GT AGP card on the internet from Buy.com for $130.00. there are other brands of cards that you can use  just make sure  it has the Nvidia GeForce chipset.  It must be a AGP card  or it will not work in your Dell Demension 4600,  that is the only card it will accept. There are still GeForce 7600GT cards out there just keep looking on the internet  Try NewEgg.com, compusa.com,Tiger.com.  I,ve gotten all my info from sites like the one that we are on now  and many more  such as MajorGeeks & Computing.net,  and  with the help of dozens of guys that were alot smarter then me and were willing to help others.  The 7600 GT is the last card that you will ever need for your 4600, after that it,s  buy a new machine. If you give me about 3 or 4 days I will gladly find a good card for you , Good Luck

Yes JAMESSTREET is right , you can get AGp video card........I can suggest you one which is compatible with your computer :

VisionTek XTASY Radeon X1300 512 MB DDR2 AGP---

Features : Ultra-Threaded Core 3D Architecture. (AGP8x).

Max Resolution : 2560*1600 Pixels.

Manufacturer Warranty : Limied Lifetime Warranty.

Operating System Supported : Win 2000, XP, Media Centre, Vista.

Dell Price : $119 (Excluding Tax).

Part Number : A0601303....

 YOU CAN GET THIS CARD BY CALLING DELL SALES : 18002893355.

Regards : Arslan.

.

The card that Arslan suggested can be purchased at Buy.com for $68.19 with free shipping.  I aggree with Muto that the video card is only part of the overall system, but it's the part that you see and can do something about.  A $30.00 to $50.00  card would not be much better then the 5200  that you are now running.  I still like the 7600GT it runs at 560MHz and is DDR3 also HDTV and has output 2560X1600 w/Dual LinkDVI, TV out. what ever card you decide to get, research it well on all the sites and google it, you'll learn alot. Good luck to you,Happy Gaming

Thanks for the help guys. I've been searching around the net and the best cards I can find available for AGP are Radeon's.

I looked for some GeForce 7 series. Sites that do have them sell it refurbished or used except for a couple from sites that supposedly show it new but I would be weary to buy from them.

The card I've decided to buy is this Radeon X1650PRO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102073

It's a price I'm willing to pay, and looks like it's pretty good for the price. Though, I've never had an ATI card and most of the complaints I've seen come from drivers and reliability. But, it should also be able to handle games well enough for a while until I start buying parts (which will take me a good while to get together, much less start) to make a new computer.

There were some slightly better GPUs that were more expensive, but it didn't' seem worth it to spend $40-$60 for just a few features. I'm also fairly confident that I wouldn't have any power supply issues with it, especially considering that I can easily unplug both a floppy and a CD drive and run with just a single DVD/CD drive

Thanks for that link muto, I'll need it for installing a card once I get one. I don't have integrated video, there's a card in the slot and I I don't think it's the one it was bought with either.

It says in the packaging that it comes with a power cord. I'm assuming that it means that I can use that cord as and extension from one of the top power outputs that I currently have in a driver. That'll be the only 4-pin free once I put it in.

.

.

hi i have a question, will this graphics card Sweex NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 256 MB AGP work on this same computer (4600).

Welcome to the forums :emotion-21:

You can use any AGP you want - so yes... that one will work just fine - if that's all you need/can afford (it's a very basic/low-end card) :emotion-1:

How can you be sure

  Thanks to all the posters for this useful thread. I'm having trouble finding the 7600GT online (definitely not in retail), and more so at the price listed by James. My pc is pretty much the same as the poster who started this thread and I'm also trying to upgrade for the wretched FX 5200. Just got Empire Total War and was slightly surprised that my video card (I'm assuming it's the card) simply could not handle the game. I wonder if Radeon x1650 Pro 512 MB card can handle this mildly demanding game?

So far the graphics card has worked pretty well. The installation went pretty smooth, but you definitely need to upgrade the drivers. t is certainly an upgrade from my older card. It has breathed some new life into my older games and I have more wiggle room to play some new ones.

Empire: Total War was a game I was looking at when I got the graphics card. The card meets all the requirements for the game, even some of the reccommended. I played the demo. I could get it to run fairly well by bumping it down a bit, though I think my biggest problem is my processor for that particular game. I barely hit the 2.4gb it requires. The loads in the demo for me were also terribly long, though that is probably a memory and processor issue as well. Although that could be an issue just with the demo.  The processor and graphics card are the two biggest jumps from the previous games.
The 5200 would have trouble playing that game, and the difference in frame rate and graphical quality is noticable when playing older Total War games. Unlike the 5200 I can run everything on High with two max armies withought a hicup.
If play the game with the X1650, or another new card, tell me how it goes.

  Still waiting for the card to come. But I'm hoping I can get some pointers from you guys as to what drivers I might have to download. I've heard horror stories about driver support, or the lack thereof, from ATI, and how I'm gonna have to do quite a bit of googling to locate the right drivers. Finally, my psu only has 250 watt, that's probably insufficient to run x1650?