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Video Card for Dimension 3000

J

jotajota

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 28, 2004
Messages
79
Hi,

My brother has a Dimension 3000 and has recently purchased Half-Life 2 and Countstrike: Source. I didn't even realize his computer didn't have a video card (it just has Integrated Intel Graphics 2) until a message from Steam came up saying his computer does not meet the minimum requirements for playing Counterstrike: Source. All the other requirements it meets except for the video card one. It has 512 mb ram, either a 2.8 or 3 gig processor. So I opened up the computer and realized it doesn't even have a slot for a PCI Express card or an AGP card (now this is a relatively new comp, 3 months old, so I was astonished at the lack of expansion options). I did notice that it had an open PCI slot. I was thinking that I could put in a PCI card, but I am not sure the PSU can handle it, or if my brother will even see a major improvement. I just spoke to someone at Dell who said that the Dimension 3000 could handle a PCI video card and suggested the following: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...=us&l=en&cs=19&category_id=2999&page=external

I was wondering if there were any other choices that you guys would recommend (mostly for Half-Life 2 and Counter Strike: Source), and if there any problems you foresee with putting this PCI video card in. Also, do you think I should order it from Newegg.com (or some other store like Compusa) or order it directly from Dell.

Thanks!
 
ouch :(

your Brother got owned.
In my opinion it wouldn't even be worth putting in a PCI video card.

Sorry for the lack of help, I've just been up all night cleaning up/out my workshop/workstation.

Here's a bump for somebody with enough sleep to make a constructive post.
 
are you sure it does not have an AGP slot?

btw a stealth would be utter rubish.


if you do not have an AGP slot my suggestion , rather than get a pci card since you are so limited w/ them , is to simpy buy a used motherboard of ebay or the forums that is compatable w/ your processor and ram,

then get a good agp card like a 6600GT or something of that nature.
 
Pretty much a toss up between the 9200SE (what you linked) and a card based on the Nvidia 5200. The 5200 is generally faster than the 9200SE but it HL2 it may be a different story and it's hard to find benchmarks of HL2 on PCI cards. Both cards are too slow to run HL2 in DX9 for sure and I'm pretty sure it will default to DX8.1 path. I seriously wouldn't be surprised in a PCI Ti4200 would run faster than both the 5200/9200 in HL2 DX8.1.

For either one ... make sure you get one with 128-bit memory, I'm pretty sure there are handicapped versions of both that use 64-bit memory. And don't bother getting 256MB on either.
 
forget that motherboard.....grab a good socket 478 or 775.. whichever that cpu is.. and throw in an agp card...
 
motherboards and comparable agp video cards can be had for the same price as a pci video card alone.
 
My vote is on getting new motherboard, its not worth putting money into that motherboard. Cuz you will be upgrading it again in few month (that's if you can upgrade it) Just buy new mobo and put it inside dell. All these damn companies go cheap on the motherboard so they put only pci slots in it. They want you to buy new computer everytime you want to play game.
 
Have you seen a Dimension 3000??? ... I'm pretty sure it's the Dell clamshell case. If he upgrades the motherboard he is probably going to have to buy a new case and PSU. Trust me it will add up to much more than the $50-$70 for a cheapie card. His brother just wants to play HL2 and CS and you would be surprised that the source engine actually runs pretty decent on lower end systems in DX8 mode.
 
Good news. Just purchased and installed a FX 5500 GeForce card and it runs CS: Source pretty well. FPS around 60 on medium settings (at 1024 by 768 res which is the max his lcd supports). Only cost about 100 dollars. He is very happy with it, and it should suffice until he gets a new comp in two or three years.
 
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