Redsauce

First time poster, long time lurker.
I've discovered what kind of motherboard I have (Board: Dell Computer Corp., Bus Clock: 533 megahertz,BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A03 11/12/2002,2T482 Motherboard Service Kit (includes NIC, RJ-45 jack and audio jacks), SVC,CRD, PLN I2650) but have no idea how to find out what video cards are compatible with this. I talked to Dell's support & they gave me an eGeForce 7600GS 256MB DDR2 AGP Graphics Card to check out, so I'm guessing that I've got an AGP slot.
Tied into the compatibility issue, how do I know what kind of power supply I've got? I'd rather not have to add a separate power supply/cooling system as I'm a rather beginning user.
Thanks!

HawMan

What is the model of your Dell ? Or download Everest home Edition and see what the model of your motherboard is ( From what you told me i cant see what type of slot you have ).


To check the psu you need to remove the side from your case and look at the details on the sticker. The PSU is located in the top Left hand side of your case. Although Dell's Use pretty low-end PSU's so i would advise getting a better one.

Redsauce

I ran Everest home edition on the motherboard & got this:
"
Motherboard Properties:
Motherboard ID <DMI>
Motherboard Name Dell Dimension 4550

Front Side Bus Properties:
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 133 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 533 MHz
Bandwidth 4267 MB/s

Memory Bus Properties:
Bus Type DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 167 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 333 MHz
Bandwidth 2667 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties:
Bus Type Intel Hub Interface
Bus Width 8-bit
Real Clock 67 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 267 MHz
Bandwidth 267 MB/s
"

HawMan

Took a while to find it, but got the documention from Dell website, and yes you have an AGP slot.


You can try the card in the system, but my bet is that you'll probably need a better PSU as these are not one of Dells strong points.

Redsauce

Hawman, could you send me the Dell website where you found the documentation, if you still have it? I couldn't find it all.

HawMan

Sure - Here you go: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4550/

Redsauce

Thanks very much! Is there a quick & dirty method for knowing whether I'll need to add some sort of extra cooling mechanism to the computer for a particular video card?

koala

The stock cooling system on graphics cards is usually good enough, unless you're overclocking or your case fans are inadequate.

Monitor your temperatures and PSU voltages while putting the system under stress by playing a 3D game. Let SensorsView or SpeedFan run in the background, then after a few minutes Alt-Tab back to the desktop and note the temps/voltages.

Redsauce

Sorry for I'm sure what is a rather dumb question, but as I'm monitoring these levels, how will I know when the temps/voltages are too much for the computer/graphics card? What's unacceptable/possibly dangerous/perfectly fine?

koala

The PSU voltages should be within a 5% range of the expected value. For example, the +12V value can be from 11.4-12.6V. Anything outside this range could be an indication of a failing PSU.

The temperatures will have a small flame icon next to any that are too high.

The 7600GS will be fine up to about 50C at rest and up to 80C under stress.

Redsauce

I just noticed something---my documentation says that I've got a 250W power supply. The Dell support guy recommended the graphic card in my first post that needs a 350W power supply. He said it would work with my computer. Did he just recommend something knowing that I'd have to upgrade my power supply but not telling me???

koala

Open the case and check the label on the PSU to confirm it's only 250W. If it is, then you'll need an upgrade.

To see what kind of PSU you need for the new graphics card, enter your full system specs into this power calculator, and add 30% to the total to allow for PSU inefficiency.

T2024

ok ok, sorry i didn't have time to read the previous posts but my suggestion is to just open up your computer and look at the motherboard, then look at google images for the differnece between a pci agp and pci-e slot, you can tell right away when u look at it.
then for the psu, i recommend going to newegg.com and getting a 400watt one, like mine, it was only $30

and btw, dont ever buy from dell, too expensive, my recommendation is go to newegg.com and look for the video card that u want there. really cheap, great reviews, good rating system, and standard ground shipping is like 1.5 days