Video Card question

Take Champie Jack's advice! Posting your configuration will help pinpoint where your system can be upgraded.

For instance, if you only have 512mb in memory, upgrading to at least 1gb (if your system supports it) will definitely improve your SL performance.

Thanks a ton for all the help and suggestions! Here's some more info about my computer:

Pentium 4 CPU - 3.00 GHz
2.99 GHz, 760 MB Ram

As far as the current graphics card, is there anyway to find out without opening up the computer?

Thanks again for all the help!

To get the graphics card info:
1.Right click an empty area of your Desktop and select Properties.
2.Select the Settings Tab.
3.Click the Advanced Button at the bottom Right of the Settings Tab.
4.Somewhere in there (click on the different tabs if you have to) there will be info about the type and memory size of your graphics card. It should be obvious once you find it.

I'm not sure if this is exactly the machine in question, but you might get your answer here.

On the subject of power supplies, I've had the best luck with Antec. A 300w power supply these days is kinda measly for powering modern video cards. Personally, I'd go with a minimum of 400w.

yes..the instructions above should be sufficient..

The only further consideration you'll have is the power supply. I think a 450 Watt PS would be good, but I dont want to make any assumptions. You may want to check the dell forums again on that. I just read that the 4700 has a 305 Watt power supply. You may need to replace the PS when upgrading the video card.

This is mostly off-topic, but I just finished my first computer build with an Antec case (P150) that is easy to work with, filled with nice little touches like cord hooks, and is whisper-quiet.

I keep seeing information like this, and my own tests just don't support the need for bigger power supplies. The PSU in my computer is barely pushing 100 watts, and I'm running an Athlon 64 3800 and a Geforce 7600 GT. I've tested several "power hungry" systems by various means (some by means of a "kill-o-watt" and some with a dvm) and never seen a draw of even 200 watts on any of these systems. (And yes, I know all about the fact that each rail has different amperage ratings.)

So unless you know your PSU isn't doing the job, don't waste the money on a bigger one. One way to tell is to use the motherboard monitor program that came on your driver CD (Dells should come with it pre-installed), and look at the supply voltages. If they're close to the ideal voltage, (the sensors are almost always a tiny bit off, so 12.1 or 11.8 volts on the 12 volt line is fine) then you don't need to worry. To be sure, you should do a before and after test. Write down numbers now and then after you install the new card. If the voltages have gone down at all, then you're drawing more amperage than the regulators can supply and you should upgrade your power suppply.

However, Dells are a pain because they use custom power supply wiring, so you have to order a Dell PSU, which is a real PITA.

Now as to video cards... I agree with the earlier comment about the GeForce 7600. For the price, it's a good performer. Of course, SL uses a lot of texture memory, so a 512 MB card wouldn't hurt, but don't expect "night and day" changes, unless you're on a pretty old card right now (however, if you're running PCI-E, chances are your video subsystem isn't really that far out of date).

OMG, I just read your last post.

Yes, get off that Intel card. Get a GeForce. Don't get an ATI. It's not that ATI's are bad cards, but SL was specifically designed for the GeForce cards, and the support for nVidia's OpenGL implementation is much better than for the ATI cards. (I have both, so this isn't bias talking.)