Second Life Forums Archive - video card upgrade

Lone Jacobs

Best of all worlds *wink*

Join date: 24 Aug 2004

Posts: 89

05-29-2005 19:31

I have a Dell Dimension 2400 w/ 2.2ghz P4 - 1028mb RAM - 40gb hard drive space and DSL. I wnat to upgrade to a GeForce FX 5200 Video Card. Does anyone else have a dell dimension and have upgraded thier video cards? i caled dell and they said not to but im tired of playing sl on a sucky video card.

right now i have a Intel Extreme card in it.

Thili Playfair

Registered User

Join date: 18 Aug 2004

Posts: 2,417

05-29-2005 20:03

even a humble FX 5200 , beat Intel Extreme by a century

, i wouldnt listen to them to much.

I have zero experience with Dell , name brand pc's, so im not sure what you can upgrade to, long as it either has a agp, you could easy upgrade,, this looks to old setup to be a pci-express.

get a fx5200/5500 or something like that with 256ddr ram, youll be in another SL entirely

Michael Martinez

Don't poke me!

Join date: 28 Jul 2004

Posts: 515

05-29-2005 20:44

The only thing you might have to do, if you put in new video card, and video still by default goes to the internal video, is in the CMOS (Setup) change default video from AGP to PCI or swap whatever it is current to make it look at other card....

Had to do this at work in a dell gx150 to get it to default to video card in slot instead of the intel extreme..

Hiro Pendragon

bye bye f0rums!

Join date: 22 Jan 2004

Posts: 5,905

05-30-2005 01:23

1. Dell's Customer Support has gone from great to suck since they've outsourced to South Asia.
2. Check your manual to make sure you have an AGP slot.
3. Uninstall your old drivers.
4. Turn off your machine, remove any old card (or not, if it's on-board), and plug in your new card.
5. Boot up your machine into CMOS and make sure you switch vid card settings to AGP. (though machines SHOULD auto-detect this in many cases)
6. Once your PC boots up, install the new software.
7. Download the latest drivers for your video card and update.

With that said, for not much more, you could get a 5700 instead of a 5200 for minimal cost and noticeable improvement.

_____________________

Hiro Pendragon
------------------
http://www.involve3d.com - Involve - Metaverse / Emerging Media Studio

Visit my SL blog: http://secondtense.blogspot.com

Vixen Valkyrie

Registered User

Join date: 2 Jan 2004

Posts: 123

05-30-2005 02:22

We were huge fans of Dell for many years, and always used their company for computers. Last time around though....my husband had SO many problems with their customer service (now located in India I believe), that we cancelled the order and never looked back.
We've upgraded the video card in at least three Dells without any problems. The only query would be if you are still under warranty.....supposedly carrying out an internal upgrade CAN invalidate a warranty.

_____________________

Robin Linden: "it isn't our intention to make governing a 'game' or requirement of Second Life."

Teeny Leviathan

Never started World War 3

Join date: 20 May 2003

Posts: 2,716

05-30-2005 07:39

There is one other thing you may want to consider when upgrading a Dell. I recently rebuilt an old Dell I found. It had a low profile desktop case. It had an AGP slot, but the low height of the case made putting in a regular height card impossible. I ended up getting a PCI card. Apparently, few video card manufacturers make half height cards with modern chipsets.

_____________________

The Default Avatars were created by Linden Lab
They evolved.
They rebelled.
There are many copies.
And they have a plan.

Delorus White

Second Life Resident

Join date: 31 Oct 2004

Posts: 17

Dell problem with video card

05-30-2005 08:24

Hi i have a Dell Dimension and my Dell technotold me to change my video card to a ATI RADEON..and up date the Video card ..to 5.5 CATALYST..the up grade is in the web page www.ATI.com..good luck

Thili Playfair

Registered User

Join date: 18 Aug 2004

Posts: 2,417

05-30-2005 10:26

hehe

i liked that link [ www.ATI.com..good luck ] , im prob going to get some people on my neck now, but id never use ati for SL, its very good for just about everything then SL ,

However my friend has the complete opposite , tried gforce and it went really bad (she has a Mac)

Im guessing ati's drivers getting better tho, oh yeah i had a friend that had problem with name brand's cause their casing are build so slim he couldnt fit a vid card cause of the height (duh), or the lenght, need to look :x

video card upgrade
Lone Jacobs Best of all worlds wink Join date: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 89	05-29-2005 19:31 I have a Dell Dimension 2400 w/ 2.2ghz P4 - 1028mb RAM - 40gb hard drive space and DSL. I wnat to upgrade to a GeForce FX 5200 Video Card. Does anyone else have a dell dimension and have upgraded thier video cards? i caled dell and they said not to but im tired of playing sl on a sucky video card. right now i have a Intel Extreme card in it.
Thili Playfair Registered User Join date: 18 Aug 2004 Posts: 2,417	05-29-2005 20:03 even a humble FX 5200 , beat Intel Extreme by a century , i wouldnt listen to them to much. I have zero experience with Dell , name brand pc's, so im not sure what you can upgrade to, long as it either has a agp, you could easy upgrade,, this looks to old setup to be a pci-express. get a fx5200/5500 or something like that with 256ddr ram, youll be in another SL entirely
Michael Martinez Don't poke me! Join date: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 515	05-29-2005 20:44 The only thing you might have to do, if you put in new video card, and video still by default goes to the internal video, is in the CMOS (Setup) change default video from AGP to PCI or swap whatever it is current to make it look at other card.... Had to do this at work in a dell gx150 to get it to default to video card in slot instead of the intel extreme..
Hiro Pendragon bye bye f0rums! Join date: 22 Jan 2004 Posts: 5,905	05-30-2005 01:23 1. Dell's Customer Support has gone from great to suck since they've outsourced to South Asia. 2. Check your manual to make sure you have an AGP slot. 3. Uninstall your old drivers. 4. Turn off your machine, remove any old card (or not, if it's on-board), and plug in your new card. 5. Boot up your machine into CMOS and make sure you switch vid card settings to AGP. (though machines SHOULD auto-detect this in many cases) 6. Once your PC boots up, install the new software. 7. Download the latest drivers for your video card and update. With that said, for not much more, you could get a 5700 instead of a 5200 for minimal cost and noticeable improvement. _____________________ Hiro Pendragon ------------------ http://www.involve3d.com - Involve - Metaverse / Emerging Media Studio Visit my SL blog: http://secondtense.blogspot.com
Vixen Valkyrie Registered User Join date: 2 Jan 2004 Posts: 123	05-30-2005 02:22 We were huge fans of Dell for many years, and always used their company for computers. Last time around though....my husband had SO many problems with their customer service (now located in India I believe), that we cancelled the order and never looked back. We've upgraded the video card in at least three Dells without any problems. The only query would be if you are still under warranty.....supposedly carrying out an internal upgrade CAN invalidate a warranty. _____________________ Robin Linden: "it isn't our intention to make governing a 'game' or requirement of Second Life."
Teeny Leviathan Never started World War 3 Join date: 20 May 2003 Posts: 2,716	05-30-2005 07:39 There is one other thing you may want to consider when upgrading a Dell. I recently rebuilt an old Dell I found. It had a low profile desktop case. It had an AGP slot, but the low height of the case made putting in a regular height card impossible. I ended up getting a PCI card. Apparently, few video card manufacturers make half height cards with modern chipsets. _____________________ The Default Avatars were created by Linden Lab They evolved. They rebelled. There are many copies. And they have a plan.
Delorus White Second Life Resident Join date: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 17	Dell problem with video card 05-30-2005 08:24 Hi i have a Dell Dimension and my Dell technotold me to change my video card to a ATI RADEON..and up date the Video card ..to 5.5 CATALYST..the up grade is in the web page www.ATI.com..good luck
Thili Playfair Registered User Join date: 18 Aug 2004 Posts: 2,417	05-30-2005 10:26 hehe i liked that link [ www.ATI.com..good luck ] , im prob going to get some people on my neck now, but id never use ati for SL, its very good for just about everything then SL , However my friend has the complete opposite , tried gforce and it went really bad (she has a Mac) Im guessing ati's drivers getting better tho, oh yeah i had a friend that had problem with name brand's cause their casing are build so slim he couldnt fit a vid card cause of the height (duh), or the lenght, need to look :x

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video card upgrade