What Gives? Inspiron 8200 Video Card...

Question

I have been searching high and low for a replacement video card for my Inspiron 8200. I am trying to keep my price point at about $100... Bottom line: I just need to get the card working more "stably" than it is now...

The CURRENT card is (Dell P/N 4U284) the ATI Redeon 9000 Mobility w/64MB of memory. This one seems to be hard to come by... I have seen two vendors that want about $200 for this USED card.

The OPTIONAL card is (Dell P/N 5J149) the nVIDIA 64MB card. For all intensive purposes, as far as I can read anyway, this card is actually BETTER than the above card - at least when it comes to gaming. At first I was seeing sellers at $350 for this card, however, it appears that there are a vendors/eBayers pricing this (again - USED) for around $100.

The Challenge: If I purchase the nVIDIA card, I am going to have do some serious driver uninstall/reinstall kinds of things... Not that it can't be done, however, I married a Murphy. But I digress...

So the first question is - why is the BETTER card LESS EXPENSIVE? At this point I have chalked it up to supply and demand... Regardless, the prospect of the work required to get the nVIDIA installed just bugs me.

Second Question: are there any other cards, besides the four mentioned on the 8200 Product Spec, that will run on the Inspiron 8200?

Just want to know what my options are... Thanks for your input!

Gill

boppo · Answer

this card will work.

gill_mn · Answer

***OK***

I also see another video card selling that says it is compatible with the Insprion 8200: Dell P/N K0053 (GeForce 4 64MB). Yet... I do not see this as a valid part number for the Insprion 8200... The nVIDIA part number on the Dell Web site is 5J149...

Insights would sure be appreciated!

Thanks!
Gill

boppo · Answer

here is a good place to look or buy. http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=1392&prevaction=category&previd=2&prevstart=45

rwm32 · Answer

Have a look at Bay Wolf for an overview of what cards you can use:   http://www.bay-wolf.com/videoupgrade.htm   You should be able to pick up a factory reconditioned (1 yr warranty) GeForce4 440 Go for around $100, or a replacement for your ATi card for around $115, from a Dell parts specialist.

gill_mn · Answer

Thanks for the reply... As I stated earlier, I have searched high and low for this card... The BEST price I have found is $189. I would appreciate you letting me know which Dell Parts Specialist you have seen the $115 price from. If you are not comfortable posting here, I would ask that you send a Dell Private Message.

Thanks!
Gill

rwm32 · Answer

Ouch!  I am so sorry to raise your expectations like this. You would have thought I'd have got my apology for a brain round the simple fact that US dollars are not British pounds. The prices I gave are correct in pounds. No excuse -- just plain dumb.   So your $189 is a good price.   Once again, I am really sorry for misleading you.

gill_mn · Answer

Actually, that conversion makes perfect sense... Again, No Worries!

What is REALLY killing me in all this - there appear to be MULTIPLE Dell part numbers that are, essentially, the same thing:

ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 M9 64MB (USED $200)
Dell P/N: 4U284 = 5U427 = 5X659

nVIDIA Quadro4 700 Go GL 64MB (USED $325)
Dell P/N: 6X935

nVIDIA GeForce 4 440 GO 64MB (NEW $115)
Dell P/N: 5J149 = K0053 = 5U855

Since this machine MAY become my childrens gaming box, I would really like to keep the Radeon. Why is this so difficult?!?!?!

Gill

rwm32 · Answer

None of these cards is up to running most current games.  If your children are like mine and are into things like Age of Empires I + II / Empire Earth / Age of Mythology / older LOTR games and older sims, they'll be fine. Otherwise...   I have no idea why Dell need so many p/ns for the same item.  I'd hate to think what their stock control systems are like!

tigerwolf7 · Answer

I second that about games-all those are the better part of a decade out of date. The 'Geforce 4' isn't-it's a Geforce 2. It's probably more stable than the Radeon 9000 just because Nvidia's drivers are typically better (and especially back then). That seems like a lot of money for any of those cards :(

raskell · Answer

ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 M9 64MB (USED $200) - First Generation DX9 compatible, not totally stable

nVIDIA Quadro4 700 Go GL 64MB (USED $325) - Card used for CADD in Latitude workstations, not much different than GF4 440 Go , just different clock speeds. Only partially supports DX8

nVIDIA GeForce 4 440 GO 64MB (NEW $115) - Long standing and main line card in the 8200, also worked in some models of the 8100. Good for it's day, but no longer up to par.

There is no miracle upgrade for the 8200. That's one main thing that changed for the I8500 & i8600, new form factor, new generation CPU's and Video card form factor changed. Your 8200 has probably seen it's best days.

abeal7572 · Answer

I have the same laptop. I had to go with a NVIDIA GE FOrce4 440 GO card, and the only ones available were refurbished. Why I dont know. This came not only from Dell but also an independent shop also that shopped for me.

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What Gives? Inspiron 8200 Video Card...

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