Upgrade assistance for AGP graphics card for Dimension 4550

Hi, Your manual specks are HERE,  and you can use this card 5500  HERE, or this 4350 HERE, though it says 300w, you will get away with it. There are more cards HERE, just look for the 4x.

I would recommend radeon 4650 agp.

  14-102-851

Well, you could run Windows 7 without Aero; it is no big loss. On the contrary, with a 4550 (this is what I am using as my desktop) being limited to a maximum CPU of 3.06Ghz and 2 Gig Ram (yes, twice what the manual says and it works perfectly well)  Aero will probably slow evreything down somewhat.  If your graphics card satisfies your present and immediate future needs then, personally, I wouldn't worry about getting another. Having said that, I did manage to get an XFX Nvidia 6800 GS 256Mb AGP card for only £23 on Ebay. It works brilliantly and would support Aero if I chose to upgrade to Windows 7.

Shaun

I would like to upgrade my 4550 from XP to Windows 7 (32-bit).  I ran the Windows 7 Upgrade application.  The only thing lacking is a graphics card that can run Aero.  I requested support from the Dell tech folks and they gave me no advise on what AGP Video Card I can upgrade to satisfy the Windows 7 upgrade requirement. I'm very displeased with this response especially when the Dell web site has "Windows®. Life without WallsTM. Dell recommends Windows 7." on most of its' pages. I understand the 250W power supply may limit which AGP graphics card that could be used for the upgrade. I also understand that there are a lot of other Dell owners that may want to upgrade to Windows 7 without having to buy a new computer. If anyone has the answer, please provide a list of which AGP cards can be used to upgrade the Dimensions 4550 to  Windows 7 (32-bit)

The Sparkle 8400GS PCI was a darling on AVS Forum (for HD playback) , and it has excellent driver support. No, it's not AGP but if you don't plan on gaming then it's more than enough.

I had one working very well in a 2350 Celeron -- I even had Blu-ray playback working. (The 8400GS fully accelerates h.264, VC1, and MPEG-2.)

Thanks for your advice...  I ordered the SP8855-DT.

However...

I looked in the Windows 7 compatibility site and it wasn't listed...

I also did a Google search and found a bunch of folks having Windows 7 compatibility problems with FX5500 AGP graphic cards.

Your thoughts...

Thanks for your advice...  I ordered the SP8855-DT. However... I looked in the Windows 7 compatibility site and it wasn't listed... I also did a Google search and found a bunch of folks having Windows 7 compatibility problems with FX5500 AGP graphic cards. Your thoughts...

I contacted Sparkle Tech Support concerning the above recommended GeForce Fx 5500 AGP Graphic card, Here is my question and their reply:

Question: I've been trying to upgrade my Dell Dimension 4550 from Windows XP to Windows 7 32-bit.  I ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Application and it stated I needed to update my AGI graphics card.  I contacted Dell and they gave me no help.  I went on the Dell Forum and asked what graphics card I needed to upgrade to windows 7.  One response was to upgrade to a SPARKLE SF8855DT GeForce FX 5500 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card.  I ordered the card and it's on the way.

I went to your site, after I made the purchase, and saw no Windows7 capability for this card.

Will this card work properly if I upgrade my OS from XP to Windows 7?

Reply: The Sparkle GeForce FX 5500 is NOT compatible with windows 7.

This Specific Chipset does not support some features offered in windows 7 and no official windows 7 driver is available.

The only AGP video card we offer that supports windows 7 is model SA6200256D2HPP

Here is a link for this video card offered by one of our resellers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187122

Does/has anybody have a eVGA e-GeForce 6200 Graphics adapter - 256 MB - DDR2 SDRAM  AGP card on a Dell 4550 and does it work on XP and Windows 7 32-bit.

Please provide experience, either good or bad.

I used a 4550 for a while, but not with Vista or 7. I have used the Sparkle 8400GS PCI with a 2350 under XP, Vista, and 7 with great success and it should work in a 4550.

I have not tried a 6200 AGP with Vista or Windows 7. I did use a 4650 AGP in an 8X board and it worked reasonably well, but it was expensive and had to be used with "hotfix" drivers.

Newegg has the Sparkle 8400GS is on special for $38. They also have 4650 AGP cards, but in the $80-90 range.

Have a dell 4550 that I upgraded from windows xp to windows 7 everything so far is working fine but am getting this message when trying to play microsoft games. Message window reads--The game is running in software rendering mode. ----Hardware acceleration is either disabled or not supported by your video carddriver, which could slow game performance. Make sure you have the latest video card driver installed and that hardware acceleration is turned on. -----I have done all this gone to all manufactures and downloaded all drivers that are compatible. Do I need a new video card for just this or some new drivers that I have not found.

May I ask what video hardware is being used? Onboard video? A video card? Is the Windows 7 driver for the video hardware properly installed?

I am by no means computer literate so here it goes. Video controller; AGP 4X--- Chip type; NVidia---DAC; 8 bit---Adapter string; VGA---Bios info; chip Rev. A2---memory; 64MB---Generic PnP monitor---standard VGA graphics adapter--- Dell E772c monitor

Have checked all drivers using device monitor all say operating correctly and updated. Went to Microsoft and Dell checked and downloaded any relevant drivers and downloads. No luck maybe I should not worry about this other than if I want to load some games and the speed will be to slow. Any help will be appreciated. Thank You

From the sounds of it, you have a very old video card that is not supported by Windows 7.

You might consider something more modern, like a Sparkle 8400GS (nVidia) PCI or a Sapphire 4650 (ATI) AGP. The ATI card will require "hotfix" drivers. (At least it did when I used one.)

WE have a Dell 4550 upgraded to Windows 7-- 32-bit --250 watt power supply, just want to upgrade the video card to do some lite gaming. Will the card you list above work with 32-bit system .

Yes. My 2350 is a 32-bit system and the Sparkle works fine with it.