Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > [Solved] Possible bottleneck by PCI card?
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Salsa   10-24-2009 at 05:27:20 AM

Hi, I'm trying to extend the life of a dell dimension 2400 by adding a graphics card to make it able to play back HD video.

The processor and ram are:

2.2 GHz Northwood Pentium 4
1 GB of ram

The motherboard only accepts PCI graphics cards, and after some searching, I found this:

PNY VCG84512SPEB GeForce 8400 GS 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Video Card - Retail $39.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133245

Will this be bottlenecked by my processor, ram, or system? If possible, I'm planning to see if I can use this for light gaming too.

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Best answer from TheGreatGrapeApe
PCI interface will bottleneck for any real gaming, and HD video depends on the content. Copy-protected BR not likely to be smooth at all, but either open BR or else a good codec HD content should be fairly usable especially at 720P, as long as the bitrate isn't too high.

 

Both the P4 and weak GPU with very VERY limited interface will pose restictions, but you can work around them if you lower your expectations.

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Bronze Graphics badge TheViper   10-24-2009 at 05:31:26 AM

Those parts shouldn't bottleneck each other.

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Salsa   10-24-2009 at 05:34:41 AM

Thanks, so I'll order right away. Should it be good enough to game on a 1024x1024 resolution?

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Bronze Graphics badge TheViper   10-24-2009 at 05:44:43 AM

You can game at that resolution but you may still need to reduce detail levels to keep the frame rates playable.

If you are serious about gaming, you may want to look at a different card.

PCI Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit DDR2 - $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161283

It cost a good deal more but your gaming and HD playback experience will increase greatly.

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Silver Graphics badge TheGreatGrapeApe   10-24-2009 at 05:45:00 AM
Best answer

PCI interface will bottleneck for any real gaming, and HD video depends on the content. Copy-protected BR not likely to be smooth at all, but either open BR or else a good codec HD content should be fairly usable especially at 720P, as long as the bitrate isn't too high.

 

Both the P4 and weak GPU with very VERY limited interface will pose restictions, but you can work around them if you lower your expectations.


Message edited by TheGreatGrapeApe on 10-24-2009 at 05:45:58 AM
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Salsa   10-24-2009 at 05:55:42 AM

I'm pretty much trying to get the best bang for the buck, but my budget is about $70. IS there a reasonable upgrade for this price?

Edit: Sparkle GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI - $67.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187057

Would this be fine?


Message edited by Salsa on 10-24-2009 at 05:58:53 AM
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Bronze Graphics badge TheViper   10-24-2009 at 06:03:23 AM

That will work too. Just make sure your case has good air flow as that card gets hot.

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Salsa   10-24-2009 at 06:05:04 AM

Okay. Thanks for the help.

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