Dell and Graphics cards

Lydesia

I bought a Dell machine (bad idea to anyone thinking of getting one) after getting it i found out how dell give you some really cheap components in their machines (including a dodgy DODGY cd and floppy drive) but anyways, in terms of their RAM, dell use their own unique RAM and you must source RAM from them if you want to upgrade. yes, i know.

What i really want to ask, because i am unsure about graphics cards is : Do any of you know any new and resonably priced (maybe 150 quid) graphics cards that are compatible with Dell machines (i have one from the 2350 series) My PC came with an "intergrated graphics intel driver" which is a big piece od c*ap really.
Its really to play more high end games such as doom3 and half life 2 when its realised. Ant help on this much appricated.

Fobia

I bought a DELL about 2 years ago, dunno if they've changed since then but mine was fine.

Had 2 DDR slots, 1 agp, 4 PCI slots.....all standard, I put in another 512meg of DDR ram last year.....works fine (not dell ram or anything).

gfx card - your own fault for buying a pc with "intergrated EXTREME graphics", but go to www.komplett.ie

Of course Dell are useless for the people who can build their own pc's but for the standard home user the only problem I can see with them is the non-atx mainboards they use.

que

Nukem

In a word your FU*KED,those integrated peice of sh*te wont push piss
- but dont feel bad,mad the exact same mistake last year with the Extreme crap card,
Cheaper to build a new comp and get better parts.

Fionn

you know........a little research pays off when spending money, no matter if it's computers or cars whatever.
one google search gave this http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,110186,00.asp

sorta says it all

btw Dell make some really good machines as well as the crappy low spec ones.
I'd agree build it yourself is the best way to go.

It's a case I suppose of: buyer beware!

RicardoSmith

If you didn't know what you were doing when you bought a PC thats hardly Dells fault is it? Its like complaining you bought a t-shirt instead of a coat and its not warm enough.

Whats dodgy about the CD?
Dell DO NOT use unique ram. Where did you hear that?
Dells are a standard Intel machine.
You can upgrade the majority of parts on them.

The 2350 is a great cheap office machine. Not a gaming PC. For fast graphics you need an AGP or PCI Express slot on your motherboard. The 2350 doesn't have either so you can't fit an AGP or PCI Express graphics card. The more expensive Dells have AGP or PCI Express slots.

You can find out more about your PC on the Dell Talk forums. But in short your PC only has the older slower PCI slots. (Note these are different to PCI Express slots) So you can only fit a PCI graphics card. PCI graphics cards are a lot slower than AGP and PCI Express ones and there aren't very many available. You can get a Nvidia fx5200 PCI or a Radeon PCI card a 9100/9200 or something like that. You will be able to play some games but the latest games will struggle, and you'll have to play in low detail and in low resolution.

I doubt that Doom3 and HL2 will run on a PCI card.

unkel

Here are the two big questions for ya, Lydesia, in order of importance:

1. Does the pc have an AGP slot? If not, you'll have to stick in a PCI graphics card. The best available is a card based on the ATI Radeon 9200 chipset. Doom 3 will hardly be playable with that. If it has an AGP slot, you're sorted

In case you haven't a clue what I'm talking about, either lookup the details on the Dell website or open up the PC. If there is a (usually brown) slot in the area of the PCI slots (usually white), then you have AGP

If you have an AGP slot, then just buy a good AGP graphics card**, stick it in and make sure it overrules the on-board graphics

Provided of course that 2. is not true

2. You have a celeron processor. In that case, you're fux0red. Cut your losses, sell the damn thing on the Buy and Sell and go build your own computer. It is way easier than you think. All the help you will need is available (for free) right here on boards.ie. Just ask

Hope that helps!


** post a thread in the comp forum with your budget and the details of your system and we'll advise you what AGP graphics card to buy

unkel

Oops, crossed posts with you once again, RicardoSmith

Don't be too harsh, we've all been newbies once at some point (albeit maybe a very long time ago)

I agree with you about Dell. If you're in the know then unbeatable deals can be had from them. I've just completed the task assigned to me by our MD, which was to upgrade all PC's in our office on a vert tight budget, but with carte blanche for me to decide what kinda hardware to get. We received all the stuff yesterday and today

I can tell you that had I sourced all parts from the cheapest online suppliers in Europe, I could not have done it cheaper, even disregarding the OS that I didn't need to budget for. Obviously the Dell's come with a warranty as well

Everybody should get this point though: If you're planning on buying a PC, post here first! Had you done so, Lydesia, then people would advised you not to go the Dell route as it is not very compatible (in value for money terms) with your gaming needs

Do post your thoughts here anyway!

RicardoSmith

Ha ha....

Dells have their faults, but lets get the facts right!

I wouldn't buy a Dell for myself. But I would for business. I've just finished working on a project where we installed over 700 Dells and had 10 failures. The Dell machines being replaced are 5-7 years old and the majority still working fine. That shows you how reliable they are. At the new job I have a Dell workstation with dual monitors, dual xeons cpus and ok gfx card. Again if it were for me I wouldn't buy it. But for work its perfect.

unkel

RicardoSmith wrote:

if it were for me I wouldn't buy it. But for work its perfect.

That is the mantra that should be communicated to everyone on these boards in relation to buying Dell