Upgrading a Dell Optiplex GX240

dude101 · 06-04-2008, 12:37 PM

I need to upgrade a Dell Optiplex small mini-tower computer to run Second Life decently (don't ask me why). The machine has a 4X AGP slot and PCI but no PCI-E. I'll obviously be upgrading to 1 GB of memory (the maximum it supports) but I'm concerned that the power supply may not be good enough to support a powerful enough video card. I'm not positive, but I think the power supply it came with is 250W max output. Anyone have any suggestions for a a video card that this system will support and be able to run Second Life?

**emosun** · 06-05-2008, 12:24 AM

Welcome to tsf. Integrated graphics should be fine for second life. It doesn't require any kind of heavy graphics power.

But if you still want to get one anyway heres a few. None require psu upgrades.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...660&CatId=1603
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...226&CatId=1603

dude101 · 06-05-2008, 08:00 AM

Thank you.

Well, actually the system requirements http://secondlife.com/support/sysreqs.php
for Second Life rule out the integrated graphics. Those cards are nice but I'm looking for something cheaper as I actually need to upgrade 6 machines. Someone has suggested the Radeon HD 2400 PRO 256MB 64-bit GDDR2. The only thing that worries me about it is the memory width. 64-bit sounds kind of paltry by modern standards. How does an older card, such as the Radeon 9600 PRO, which is 128-bit compare to this one ?

**emosun** · 06-05-2008, 09:48 AM

The radeon 9 series is pretty old , we don;t even recommend them anymore as there are several chocies that can replace them. The 2400 pro is kind of risky. The agp 200 series has about a 65 to 70% chance of working. There mostly made for newer machines and might not work at all in the old 4x agp slots.

dude101 · 06-05-2008, 10:16 AM

65-70%? are you serious?

**emosun** · 06-05-2008, 10:50 AM

Yes, several people I see here all the time having driver issues. Some have gotten them to work on old machines but they mostly only work on newer agp machines. And since low profile agp cards are either expensive or hard to find with low profile brackets , I recommended the pci x1300 or x1550.

Although I could try harder to see if I can't find any cheaper low profile agp cards.

**emosun** · 06-05-2008, 10:47 PM

Well the low profile agp cards I found really are not very good and are kind of old. mostly geforce 4's and radeon 9 series.

06-04-2008, 12:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
dude101 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Windows XP Pro	Upgrading a Dell Optiplex GX240 I need to upgrade a Dell Optiplex small mini-tower computer to run Second Life decently (don't ask me why). The machine has a 4X AGP slot and PCI but no PCI-E. I'll obviously be upgrading to 1 GB of memory (the maximum it supports) but I'm concerned that the power supply may not be good enough to support a powerful enough video card. I'm not positive, but I think the power supply it came with is 250W max output. Anyone have any suggestions for a a video card that this system will support and be able to run Second Life?

06-05-2008, 12:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,087 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Upgrading a Dell Optiplex GX240 Welcome to tsf. Integrated graphics should be fine for second life. It doesn't require any kind of heavy graphics power. But if you still want to get one anyway heres a few. None require psu upgrades. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...660&CatId=1603 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...226&CatId=1603 __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

06-05-2008, 08:00 AM	#3 (permalink)
dude101 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Upgrading a Dell Optiplex GX240 Thank you. Well, actually the system requirements http://secondlife.com/support/sysreqs.php for Second Life rule out the integrated graphics. Those cards are nice but I'm looking for something cheaper as I actually need to upgrade 6 machines. Someone has suggested the Radeon HD 2400 PRO 256MB 64-bit GDDR2. The only thing that worries me about it is the memory width. 64-bit sounds kind of paltry by modern standards. How does an older card, such as the Radeon 9600 PRO, which is 128-bit compare to this one ?

06-05-2008, 09:48 AM	#4 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,087 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Upgrading a Dell Optiplex GX240 The radeon 9 series is pretty old , we don;t even recommend them anymore as there are several chocies that can replace them. The 2400 pro is kind of risky. The agp 200 series has about a 65 to 70% chance of working. There mostly made for newer machines and might not work at all in the old 4x agp slots. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

06-05-2008, 10:16 AM	#5 (permalink)
dude101 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Upgrading a Dell Optiplex GX240 65-70%? are you serious?

06-05-2008, 10:50 AM	#6 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,087 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Upgrading a Dell Optiplex GX240 Yes, several people I see here all the time having driver issues. Some have gotten them to work on old machines but they mostly only work on newer agp machines. And since low profile agp cards are either expensive or hard to find with low profile brackets , I recommended the pci x1300 or x1550. Although I could try harder to see if I can't find any cheaper low profile agp cards. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

06-05-2008, 10:47 PM	#7 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,087 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Upgrading a Dell Optiplex GX240 Well the low profile agp cards I found really are not very good and are kind of old. mostly geforce 4's and radeon 9 series. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list