Advice on graphics upgrade

M

Meat100

n00b
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
9
Hi, I currenty have a Dell Dimension 8300. It has a P4 3.2, 1gig mem, and an ATI 9800 (non-pro). The system runs great and I have been able to play any game I've wanted for the past 2 years. I have come to the realization that I just don't have the money to build/buy a whole new system for probably a minimum of 1year and half. But its my birthday soon and I told my wife to go in with some of my family for a new graphics card. I was looking at the BFG agp version of the 7800gs for 299, but I have a few questions about this upgrade.

First, do you think it will work in my system and is it a smart move. I know it will be a huge improvment.

My power supply worries me. I'm not sure what dell put in it, but does this card draw significantly more power than my old one? Also, do I need a molex adapter.

Will I need a BIOS upgrade.

Any help, suggestions, ideas will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance
 
Your dell has a pretty robust power supply. It should be ok. You will not have a 6-pin PCI-e Molex connector on that power supply though. So you will need 2 4-pin molex connectors to attach to the 6-pin to 4-pin molex connector adapter that comes with the 7800GS.

It will be a marked improvement over your 9800 Pro. I think it will hold you on high and medium settings at 1280x1024 and lower resolutions for at least a year. 1024x768 for well into another year.

Smart move.... Well that is a matter of opinion. If you game heavily, sure! You can play almost every game out on high - close to high setting with that change. However if you don't game heavily, why not aim for something like an Xbox 360? Its a great alternative nowadays.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, I do game fairly often and although the 9800 always seems to amaze me, I gearing up for Oblivion and the next itteration of Unreal Tournament. The xbox 360 is impressive and your right about being a good option, but if I follow suite as with other consoles minus the DC, I probably will not play it. Not sure why I don't, they just collect dust and I just always go back to the pc.

Thanks, the power supply was my main concern and I feel a bit more confident about it now.

Would I need a BIOS upgrade, or should fine without one?

Thanks
 
I agree with Treyshadow.

Also you should not need a bios upgrade as the GS is a standard AGP card, nothing fancy.

However it's always good to review bios updates to see what they have to offer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top