Upgrade GeForce2 Mx 400

amen

Right I have Dell Dimension 8200
with a GeForce 2 M 400.
I really want to upgrade the graphics card
Any idea what to get and whats compatible ?

I have 768MB of RAM, a120GB HD and nice DVD drive and P4 1.8GHz processor so I would like to keep the above.

I might upgrade the processor if any one can think of what to go for.

Is been a long time since I did any of this so all help appreciated

J-blk

Wow... a GeForce 2 MX 400 - at this stage, almost any mid-level to high level graphics card you can get, would completely blow away what you currently have. Not sure where you might find limitations with that DELL though, the AGP slot is possibly only 4X but that does not mean you can't use an 8X card. You may encounter difficulties with the PSU though - can't imagine the DELL having a powerful one... As a card to upgrade too, a GeForce 6600GT should give you a pretty hefty boost.

The CPU will be a bit of a bottleneck though so it would possibly not be worth going for an overly powerful graphics card. What and if you can upgrade the CPU to, depends on what the motherboard/BIOS actually supports.

If you have 768MB of RAM, either you have 1X512MB and 1X256MB or 3X256MB. If you have the first configuration, sell off the 256MB chip and try to get a matching 512MB, so that you get to 1GB instead.

Kintarō Hattori

With the CPU you have I wouldn't really go down the route of getting a 6600GT, better value for money would be to pick up a 9800 Pro cheap, and save money for a new system in the future when you can really go all out!

You can pick up this beauty for less than €150!

DemonOfTheFall

That processor would be a crippling bottleneck to any directx 9 card. I second the vote for something cheap enough / second hand. A radeon 9800 pro is about the best card you could get before you'd stop seeing performance advantages

TerrorFirmer

Hi,

Sorry to be intruding here, but I'd give you a tenner for your GeF2?

J-blk

@amen - I'll agree with the further posts here. A 6600GT even may have been overkill as a suggestion. It's just the minimum card that is worth its' salt from the current gen - I am not aware of how easy or difficult it may be to find an ATI 9800 Pro/XT still on the market but even those would give you a considreable boost. I'm currenly using a 9800XT myself with an Athlon 64 3200+ (S754) and there's little to no point in upgrading at this point - I'll be simply waiting for the next generation, which will most likely require a mobo/CPU replacement as well. Sorry for the initial post - it was in no way meant to steer you wrong or anything...

amen

great posts and thanks for you help but from looking at the 9800 and my GeForce 2 the card interfaces seem to be different. Would the 9800 fit my machine ? I think I have AGP 4 and the 9800 is AGD8 ? would this be true ?
any help appreciated
maybe I should open my machine and have a look ?

uberpixie

amen wrote:

great posts and thanks for you help but from looking at the 9800 and my GeForce 2 the card interfaces seem to be different. Would the 9800 fit my machine ? I think I have AGP 4 and the 9800 is AGD8 ? would this be true ?
any help appreciated
maybe I should open my machine and have a look ?

Radeon 9800 series supports agp x8 and agp x4. Will work grand if you have an agp x4 slot.

amen

so when buying a 9800 do i need to make sure is an agp x4 card or does the once card do both ?
how do i verify that the GeForce2 is AGD 4
sorry for all the silly questions
any good books/sites to read on this stuff ?

DemonOfTheFall

He'd want to make sure that it's even an AGP card in the first place. Could easily be PCI

amen

so how can u tell its agp vs PCI ?

Ciaran500

http://www.benchmark.co.yu/tests/mainboards/asus/a7ve/agp.jpg

AGP is the brown one. PCI are the white ones.

Dinner

amen wrote:

so how can u tell its agp vs PCI ?

If you have your user manual handy there should be a diagram of your computer somewhere in it saying whats what.

I think cpu z will say if its AGP or PCI.

Its a handy program anyway.

J-blk

The Dimension 8200 was released around 2001 and was a pretty hefty gamer's PC for the time... I'd guess he does have an AGP 4X slot, though it is possible of course that the GeForce 2 MX already in his machine is a PCI version instead so that's why it looks different.

SiSoft Sandra can also tell you if you have an AGP slot or not, amongst a lot of other information... I'd still recommend Ciaran500's suggestion as the best one though: take a look inside the case and compare what you have with the screenshot he linked to...

amen

thanks for all the help I'll check it out tonight