Upgrading Graphic Card in Dell Dimension 8400

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
F

findavincent

Distinguished
May 18, 2009
15
0
18,510
I have a dell dimension 8400 here are the specs

OS : Windows 7

BIOS : Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A04

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz

Memory: 4096MB RAM

Card name: Radeon X300/X550/X1050 Series (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)


I want to upgrade my graphic card so I can play more recent games such as Call of Duty 4 (possibly Modern Warefare 2), Left 4 Dead, Team fortress 2 etc. I can now play them at lowest settings fine, but I want to have higher settings. What graphic card can you guys recommend me that wont overheat my system? I am hoping to purchase one during the upcoming black friday. Please respond ASAP as I am in need of a new graphic card.

I am looking for the price range from $0 - $150
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
F

findavincent

Distinguished
May 18, 2009
15
0
18,510
Newcomer
More Information
I have a dell dimension 8400 here are the specs

OS : Windows 7

BIOS : Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A04

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz

Memory: 4096MB RAM

Card name: Radeon X300/X550/X1050 Series (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)


I want to upgrade my graphic card so I can play more recent games such as Call of Duty 4 (possibly Modern Warefare 2), Left 4 Dead, Team fortress 2 etc. I can now play them at lowest settings fine, but I want to have higher settings. What graphic card can you guys recommend me that wont overheat my system? I am hoping to purchase one during the upcoming black friday. Please respond ASAP as I am in need of a new graphic card.

I am looking for the price range from $0 - $150
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
rockyjohn

rockyjohn

Distinguished
Dec 8, 2006
2,813
0
20,960
Rolli has provided a good option.

I assume you still have only the original 350w PSU which limits your options.

Also note that Dell recommends installing a card with a cooling fan when adding a faster graphics card, althought I had a 6600 GT in mine for several years without one with no issues.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

findavincent

Distinguished
May 18, 2009
15
0
18,510
What do you guys think about the Nvidia 8800 GT, can I use this card without changing my PSU, fan etc? My computer has all the default specs except the ram, I upgraded it to 4GB.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
rockyjohn

rockyjohn

Distinguished
Dec 8, 2006
2,813
0
20,960
If his PSU is like mine, then he has 28a on 12v circuits. But I still would not recommend the 8800GT. My 6600GT was pushing it I think and the 8800GT can use over 30w more at full load. The problem is the CPU alone is using something like 60w.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
rockyjohn

rockyjohn

Distinguished
Dec 8, 2006
2,813
0
20,960
I don't think the 4670 graphics card will be bottlenecked that much by a Pentium 4 3Ghz processor since the card is doing most of the work in games and it is not that strong of a graphics card. What are you basing this on edea?

Further, even if the processor bottlenecks it a little, won't it still give much better game performance than a slower card? I beleive it will.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
rockyjohn

rockyjohn

Distinguished
Dec 8, 2006
2,813
0
20,960
By the way, are you sure your hyperthreading is turned on? I only asked because I used my Dell 8400 for 4 years before learning that the hypethreading was turned off and most likely had been since I purchased the computer new. When I turned it on I had a noticeable pickup in speed.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
edeawillrule

edeawillrule

Distinguished
Dec 15, 2008
627
0
19,010
The graphics card will be extremely starved for data because the cpu won't be able to keep up. And the 4670 is much stronger than some people give it credit for. He should try a 4350 or 4550 they will still be massive upgrades from the gpu he has now.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom