Best Video Card Available Today for Dell Dimension 8250?

[jena_blondie]

I have Dell Dimension 8250.
Specs are:

CPU 3.06-GHz Pentium 4
System memory 512MB of PC1066 RDRAM
Video Type AGP 4X, PCI
Power supply wattage 250 W

I know that this desktop is really outdated and I should either upgrade the power supply, ram, motherborad or just buy new desktop, but I really need to know the best video card available today for this unit. I am very aware that upgrading the power supply will allow me to install a better card and it is more cost effective to upgrade the unit, but that is not the answer I am looking for so please don't advise me to change something else..lol (not trying to be rude).
If you can just tell the best video card that will work the best under these specs, that will great. Thanks!

 

[jay2tall]

I would first ask what the reason your reason for upgrading is. The reason I ask is you only have an AGP 4x slot to work with and a 250w PSU. That doesn't leave room for much. So asking the intent of the upgrade is probably best. Do you just want to get away from onboard graphics, or are your intentions higher?

In my honest opinion, this machine isn't work putting any money into. Save it for a new machine. Unless you have some specific purpose that isn't very graphic intensive.

 

[jena_blondie]

I am not into playing high res games or anythiing like that. I really like this machine but the original video card is broken. I am planning to replace it but I want to replace it with something that is better than what I had without upgrading anything else.
Can someone just tell me which card will give me the best possible resolution based on my current specs?

 

[pepperman]

If you just want a decent graphics card, you can get this one for a little more than $30.

 

[jay2tall]

^ yeah that is about as good as you will get with your system. I'd go with pepperman if you are looking for something a little better.

Otherwise you can get several AGP cards on eBay for $10.

 

[jena_blondie]

If you just want a decent graphics card, you can get this one for a little more than $30.

After some research, I came down with 2 options. Please let me know which one of these will perform better.

ZOTAC ZT-62AA250-HSS GeForce 6200 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500051


or


XFX PVT73AUDF3 GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150233

 

[deadlockedworld]

I think the 7600 will perform better, as its the better of the two cards. (better specs all around) I am not certain to what degree the AGP will bottleneck the card, but if the price difference isnt too great there doesnt seem to be a reason not to try.

(Typically with Nvidia cards the first number is the card's generation, and the second number is its relative power within that generation. Higher numbers are usually better)

 

[pepperman]

Though the 7600 will perform better, personally I wouldn't spend the extra money for it; you won't be able to carry it over to a new build, and your current system likely won't be able to utilize the card to its fullest potential. Depending on what you had before, the 6200 may still be an upgrade for you, and even if it isn't, its still a decent agp card.

Edit: this is void of course if you can find a 7600 for the same price as the 6200.

 

[jena_blondie]

Thanks for great replies...

I think one of my friends has the 7600 on his older Dell. I thought maybe there is a better one out there for me to use... Price is not an issue so I don't mind buying one.

 

[pepperman]

If price really isn't an issue, this is one of the best agp graphics cards on the market; however, its overkill for your system.

 

[jena_blondie]

If price really isn't an issue, this is one of the best agp graphics cards on the market; however, its overkill for your system.

Would it work well with my 250watt PSU? I heard that I can use any graphics card that has the minimum requirement of 300watt w/o any problem...

If price isn't issue but you need to keep 250watt psu.... only thing that you can upgrade is graphics card, which one would you buy?

 

[pepperman]

What exactly was the original video card of your machine? Knowing this, I could recommend the best card requiring the same power.

 

[jena_blondie]

What exactly was the original video card of your machine? Knowing this, I could recommend the best card requiring the same power.

I threw it away as soon as it broke so i dont know... I thought you buy the best graphics card based on your CPU, RAM, typ of interface, psu, etc, not what you had in there before.

Here is the specifications for my model.. mine is 3.06ghz

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8250/specs.htm#1084976

 

[pepperman]

Indeed you do, but I wasn't sure how much extra wattage your psu has. After a little research of your system, I found that (in terms of power requirements and performance) the 7600 GT is the best card your current psu will be able to run. To be honest, I think that's probably the most you'd want to go with anyway, since your cpu and memory will be holding you back.

 

[CRJPilot]

Hi, I have the same system, except my cpu is 2.8.

I upgraded the power system from PC Power and Cooling... http://www.pcpower.com/index.html
a few years ago and installed a BFG Geforce 7800 GS OC AGP...

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/bfg7800gs_agp/

As soon as I installed the power upgrade, I saw a dramatic improvement in the systems performance. Although this is still a pretty old system now, it still seems to work better than some of the newer equipment at my house.

Obviously there are some limitations, but this was a very expensive, top of the line computer when I first bought it, and I am loath to replace it.

Economically, these upgrades are debatable, but they have certainly extended the useful life of my computer.

Regards