DIMENSION E310 Video upgrade

Question

Ok here goes, i bought a DIMENSION E310 a couple of months ago and i wanna upgrade my video. Ive read several posts on this board about what may work and what may not. Has that been worked out yet. Has anyone found the best upgrade option for the E310? Ive seen 2 choices i am looking into

1: The power leap option 3DFusion nVidia GeForce 6200 PCI 128 MB DDR VGA Card
Although i think i read somewhere on this forum that it wont work.

and a couple of other options

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814103016

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7638292&type=product&id=1130987962366

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145087

im trying to get the best card as far as performance on my system(not neccessarly for gaming altho i may game a little). What is the best card for the DIMENSION E310 System?

TDK1044 · Answer

As your system is limited to a PCI Bus rather than PCI-e 16X which allows for much faster cards, I'd go with the GeForce 6200 OC 256MB DDR PCI Graphics Card.

speedstep · Answer

The E310 requires a PCI 2.3 compatable 3.3v card.

Many of the Geforce 6200 pci cards are 5v only cards and therefore will not work properly if at all in a PCI 2.3 bus.

ATI's X1300 PCI from visiontek works fine.

http://www.visiontek.com/products/cards/retail/x1300_256pci.html

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=A0683254

Manufacturer Part# : VTK X1300256PCI
Dell Part# : A0683254

Dale Nihiser · Answer

diablozx

Personally I can no longer recommend the3dfuzion/bfg 6200 pci video cards to E310/3100 owners. The debate boils down to the pci version(s). Your E310 pci slots are pci version 2.3 according to your system specs. PCI cards that are "universal" or are 3.3volt cards only are supported by pci version 2.3. The 3dFuzion 6200 is neither. It is a 5volt card only. The 5volt standard isn't supported pci version 2.3.

On the other hand, two forum members have posted that they have successfully used the 6200 in their E310/3100 Dells. I remain skeptical because logically the card shouldn't work. So until I see definitive proof, the 3dfuzion 6200 pci card remains off my list of recommended cards for E310/3100 users.

As for the most powerful card available, I would recommend the more expensive Diamond x1300 pci. Its about $90.00 after rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814103016

The card features a 128bit memory interface and would easily outperform the Radeon 9250, FX5200, FX5500 and outperform the Geforce 6200. One reviewer on newegg said the card was only a 64bit memory interface. Diamond's website lists the card as 128bit memory interface.

But remember these are pci cards. None of them can compete with their agp or pci-e x16 brethern.

Good Luck

Dale

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speedstep · Answer

Visually speaking the diamond card and others are 64 bit interface.

If you look at the card the ram is on on side of the gpu.

128 bit would be on the top and the back in an L pattern which its not on the diamond card.

I personally own a Visiontek X1300 PCI card that I purchased from dell at the time I ordered my Dimension 3100. It works fine with XP and works fine with Vista RC1 beta.

There are reports of black square artifacts with the 6200 series cards from PCI 6200 users.

Its a shame that BFG/3DFUSION decided to make a 5v card.

DiabloZX · Answer

hmm  Still a little confused as to which to buy. i suppose a little more research would hurt tho.  What about the powerleap card. Would that on not work?

speedstep · Answer

Powerleap sells the 5V 3DFUSION 6200 pci 2.0 card.
Not compatable as far as I am concerned.

The X1300 is a low end card but its 3.3V PCI 2.3 compatable.

I can say with with certainty that the X1300 pci from Visiontek works fine in a Dimension 3100.

Also the PCI X1 versions of the X1300 seem to use system memory sharing rather than dedicated GPU ram. So I'd say thos are also
iffy.

DiabloZX · Answer

im thinking of going with Visiontek X1300 PCI card , as speedstep suggested. Anyone else who owns a e310 use thin card?

Djamj · Answer

I'd go with the Xtasy Radeon 1300 PCI.

DiabloZX · Answer

So the 5V 3DFUSION 6200 pci 2.0 card from power will def not work.........

DiabloZX · Answer

Also i would like to upgrade the power supply. Any suggestions?

speedstep · Answer

Keep in mind that all of these cards are LOW END.

However the X1300 represents the very minimum to run very new
games with 100 percent Directx 9.0c shader model 3 video.

Its never going to be faster than a PCI-E 7600GS.

Its not all about the MHZ.

A dimension 4600 with Geforce 6800GT OC AGP is going to be near
8 to 10 times faster than the X1300 pci.

Not due to the AGP vs pci but 256 bit vs 64 bit GPU.

speedstep · Answer

Not sure cuz I dont have an E series. No power supply upgrade is needed for the X1300 pci card. Works fine with stock dell 250W psu.

Dale Nihiser · Answer

Thanks for the heads up SpeedStep. Newegg and Diamond website are mislabeling the cards as 128bit memory interface. Too bad.

Thanks

Dale

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electromagnetic · Answer

Has anyone in the U.K. got any pci card to work in the Dell 3100 ?   What if you disable the Integrated graphics and can't install the pci card?     Message Edited by electromagnetic on 11-27-200602:03 PM

RCD74 · Answer

I have the Dimension E310 and just purchased the ATI Radeon X1300 PCI video card . It works with my system but still isn't allowing me to do what I want.  I do lots of video projects using Roxio Easy Media Creator 9 and for some reason it isn't allowing me to Hardware Render but rather defaulting me to Software Render. I have been on the phone with Dell, Roxio, and VisionTek. Dell tells me it is the wrong card, Roxio told me my settings are incorrect in my BIOS, and VisionTek tells me to contact Roxio. I have HAD IT with the run around. Dell has suggested I get the Ge Force 7300 256MB PCI express 16x. I don't think this is the correct card either. If anyone here can help me and tell me EXACTLY what I need, I would greatly appreciate it!! This has been going on for a week now!! I am on the phone/computer for hours trying to figure this out!!   RCD74

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DIMENSION E310 Video upgrade

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