Upgrading this old Pc...

[Roman Clone]

I must come up with a decent Graphics card for an Old AGP machine. Is this good enough?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130207

The Machine is from 2001. It is a Dell Dimension 4300. I am "refurbishing" it till I can build a New PC hopefully in June. (For details on that, check the "Unusual Request" thread.)

I am also looking at this processor. I believe the socket on this one is Socket 478.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16819116027R

I already upgraded the RAM to 512 from 256. Installed like a Charm.

Ciao

[danzig]

I must come up with a decent Graphics card for an Old AGP machine. Is this good enough?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130207

The Machine is from 2001. It is a Dell Dimension 4300. I am "refurbishing" it till I can build a New PC hopefully in June. (For details on that, check the "Unusual Request" thread.)

I am also looking at this processor. I believe the socket on this one is Socket 478.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16819116027R

I already upgraded the RAM to 512 from 256. Installed like a Charm.

Ciao

Define "decent"...what exactly do you intend to do with it? Obviously options are extremely limited but should probably go with GeForce 6200 its actually a few dollars cheaper and a bit better. I wouldnt bother upgrading the cpu though better to save the $ for your future machine.

[Roman Clone]

Define "decent"...what exactly do you intend to do with it? Obviously options are extremely limited but should probably go with GeForce 6200 its actually a few dollars cheaper and a bit better. I wouldnt bother upgrading the cpu though better to save the $ for your future machine.

My father is presumingly paying for the new PC. Decent means to at least play 3000 men in Rome Total War.

Do you possibly have some benchmarks on the 6200 and 5500? I would understand if you couldn't find any.

[Ruprecht]

AGP...eww ! 478 .... eww !!

Is there any other way of you not updating that prehistoric contraption ?

Rob a bank, go on assassination missions, steal from your grandmother but for the love of silcone don't bother upgrading that pc.

Ok i realize i'm not helping, so the only suggestion i could make is, when you buy the graphics card try to get a second hand one off Ebay and save what money you can for a PCIE/775 socket compatible machine. maybe if you throw some money at your dad he will get a better one.

[invictus]

my bros old machine had that fx 5500 vid card, and to be honest, i could not even run guild wars properly. So im not sure just how much different the requirements between GW and RTW are, but i figure id just give my experience with it. -Leon

[Freddie]

I must come up with a decent Graphics card for an Old AGP machine. Is this good enough?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130207

The Machine is from 2001. It is a Dell Dimension 4300. I am "refurbishing" it till I can build a New PC hopefully in June. (For details on that, check the "Unusual Request" thread.)

I am also looking at this processor. I believe the socket on this one is Socket 478.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16819116027R

I already upgraded the RAM to 512 from 256. Installed like a Charm.

Ciao

Save your money and put it towards your new PC. Your old PC should be allowed to retire gracefully, it's served you for 7 years and adding new ram and the odd video card will only get you so far, by now it needs a new everything.

The FX5500 was a crappy carp when it came out so as you can imagine it's even crappier now, the card to get back when the FX5500 was around was the ATi Radeon 9600 Pro.

[Roman Clone]

Save your money and put it towards your new PC. Your old PC should be allowed to retire gracefully, it's served you for 7 years and adding new ram and the odd video card will only get you so far, by now it needs a new everything.

The FX5500 was a crappy carp when it came out so as you can imagine it's even crappier now, the card to get back when the FX5500 was around was the ATi Radeon 9600 Pro.

I've always had friends complain on how much Crap the 5 series was and I believe them. Should I go for the 6200?

Technically this PC only served me 4 Years 2 years it was away in my basement and 1 year it was used by my brother. In Early March I decided to bring it back from the dead as there was little hope fixing my Gateway and my sister downloaded Spyware on the other computer....

[Freddie]

I've always had friends complain on how much Crap the 5 series was and I believe them. Should I go for the 6200?

No, the 6200 were low end also when they came out. If you must get a new AGP card try and find a 6600 GT or 7600 GT on Ebay. I played Rome: TW with SPQR using those video cards and they worked a treat but as I said before you ought to think about holding onto your money.

And I forgot to mention there is no point in getting the P4 Prescott as you will need a new motherboard which will also mean you need to get new ram.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

(above: Intel called them 'Prescott for a reason. Just like the other one it was crap)

Technology moves on so quickly these days, and I even remember my video card history from when I first built a PC.

- FX 5600 (2003, started to artifact when I replaced the HSF with a Zalman, rubbish card I wish I brought the 9600 Pro)
- GeForce 6800 GT (2004 lasted about 3 months when it broke)
- Radeon 9600 Pro (2004, 2nd hand of ebay, great card, great picture quality, died/artifacted)
- FX 5500 (2004, temp card to hold me over till I went to Hong Kong in 05)
- GeForce 6600 GT (2005, one of the best cards I've ever had, great value, sold when I built a new PC)
- Radeon 1900 XT (2006, noisy HSF replaced with 3rd party HSF, very quick, great picture quality as always with ATI, died when I tired to fix it)
- Radeon 1650 Pro (2007, temp card to hold me over till I brought the below)
- Geforce 8800 GT (2008, very pleased with this so far)

Each of the temp cards were brought from PC World, and when the real replacement arrived they seemed to developed.....faults. Oh well money back please.

[danzig]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][COLOR="Green"]No, the 6200 were low end also when they came out. If you must get a new AGP card try and find a 6600 GT or 7600 GT on Ebay. I played Rome: TW with SPQR using those video cards and they worked a treat but as I said before you ought to think about holding onto your money.

His dell has 305 watt (according to specs) psu he would be cutting it close with 6600gt and 7600GT will probably be a no go since Dell isnt exactly known for best choice for power supplies in their computers.

[Freddie]

His dell has 305 watt (according to specs) psu he would be cutting it close with 6600gt and 7600GT will probably be a no go since Dell isnt exactly known for best choice for power supplies in their computers.

True, I had a Zalman 400 Watt when I had the 6600 GT.

[Roman Clone]

I have a PSU from a Gateway from 2005. That computer [The Gateway] had an 6600 so if I put in in this PC it would be able to run the 6600 If I had it.

I have a 6600, it's just that PCI-Express. Can you suggest a Mother buard thats ~$50 and can support Socket 478, IDE, and PCI-E as well as PCI?

[Freddie]

I have a PSU from a Gateway from 2005. That computer [The Gateway] had an 6600 so if I put in in this PC it would be able to run the 6600 If I had it.

I have a 6600, it's just that PCI-Express. Can you suggest a Mother buard thats ~$50 and can support Socket 478, IDE, and PCI-E as well as PCI?

Why don't you just ebay a 6600 AGP? It would cheaper and a lot more straight forward then replacing the motherboard.

[Roman Clone]

I found one one ebay, it has ~2 days left. The name says the card is AGP, but in the details he says that the card is PCI. (But 6600's are only AGp or PCI-E.] Can PCI-E cards fit into PCI?]

[Freddie]

No.

[Roman Clone]

Doesn't matter now, I found myself a 6600 GT for 10 Bucks on Ebay.

Is there a processor that I can get in the mean-time as well, up from a Pentium 4 at 1.4 GHz?

And quit worrying about the new PC, as I said, my father is paying for it. I also have a stash of money hidden away that can help pay for it. In the meantime, I have 41$ left to spend on upgrading this PC. The new PC will not be bought until the expected Price war in June.

[Freddie]

Doesn't matter now, I found myself a 6600 GT for 10 Bucks on Ebay.

Is there a processor that I can get in the mean-time as well, up from a Pentium 4 at 1.4 GHz?

And quit worrying about the new PC, as I said, my father is paying for it. I also have a stash of money hidden away that can help pay for it. In the meantime, I have 41$ left to spend on upgrading this PC. The new PC will not be bought until the expected Price war in June.

If you know the mark and model of the motherboard you can go to the manufactures website and it will you. By the sounds of it you a P4a compatible motherboard, I'm not sure if the P4b or P4c are backwards compatible. If you look around you may be able to get a hold of a P4 2.4c, if so along with a 6600 Gt that will comfortably handle Rome.

[Roman Clone]

I purchased a 6600 on Ebay for 17$. It should arrive Friday and I plan on putting in a New power supply if needed. Now can anyone find a Socket 478 Pentium 4 Processor that would be compatible with a Dell Dimension 4300? Do I also need to wear an Anti Static wrist strap when handling a processor?

[Doono]

if you have an anti static wrist band you should always use it while handling components. However nothing bad has happened to me from handling one directly.

[Roman Clone]

if you have an anti static wrist band you should always use it while handling components. However nothing bad has happened to me from handling one directly.

I do have one, It's just that it's annoying having it for longer periods of time.

From what I can find your Dell 4300 is a socket 423. See here.



Is this yours?

Yup. Socket 423? I got to look back into that once I am allowed back into the basement.

I wonder how long your old computer will last. My AGP/478 machine failed a couple of months ago, one component after another. It just wasn't worth the money or bother to buy new components so I got a new PC.

First the PSU died, then the graphics card, and then now it's either the mobo or CPU (can't determine without another 478 mobo and CPU). I have it permanently and massively underclocked so my sister can use it. I had it since June 2004. It's still a pretty formidable machine. P4 prescott 3.0GHz underclocked to 2.0, X800pro underclocked by 40%, 2GB ram underclocked from 400MHz to 266. Can still run oblivion on 1024x768 on medium settings. Will run RTW with 3000 men no problems

I wouldn't bother buying anything to upgrade such an old system since if it craps out on you then all that cash is wasted on useless components. I spent 60 bucks on a new PSU for it and I pretty much regret it, although I can still use it to build a new PC when it dies.

It's actually a very tough system. No matter how we mistreated it over the years it would not break on us. It's also from 2001, Running RTW on such a system is a miracle.

[allthesedamnnamesaretaken]

I wonder how long your old computer will last. My AGP/478 machine failed a couple of months ago, one component after another. It just wasn't worth the money or bother to buy new components so I got a new PC.

First the PSU died, then the graphics card, and then now it's either the mobo or CPU (can't determine without another 478 mobo and CPU). I have it permanently and massively underclocked so my sister can use it. I had it since June 2004. It's still a pretty formidable machine. P4 prescott 3.0GHz underclocked to 2.0, X800pro underclocked by 40%, 2GB ram underclocked from 400MHz to 266. Can still run oblivion on 1024x768 on medium settings. Will run RTW with 3000 men no problems

I wouldn't bother buying anything to upgrade such an old system since if it craps out on you then all that cash is wasted on useless components. I spent 60 bucks on a new PSU for it and I pretty much regret it, although I can still use it to build a new PC when it dies.