Pci express card 1 0 for my dell dimensions 3100

[planier]

I have a dell dimensions 3100 computer. I want to upgrade and put a HDI or even a HDMI video card in it. I can't use the PCI express 2.0 card. The mother board only has the slots for the 1.0 version. What I'm trying to do is get a HDMI or DVI output on my computer, so I can connect to my 3D ready TV to watch 3D.
Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[rolli59]

The PCIe 2.0 std is backwards compatible with the old 1.0 std. If you game a little I would suggest a HD4650/70 card, if your PSU is 300watt or bigger they should run fine. If no gaming is involved then HD4350 would do the job.
HD4350 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125251
HD4650 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102829
HD4670 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125277
The HD4670 being the most powerful

 

[planier]

Thank you Rolli59.

My computer only has a slot for the old pci e 1.0. Will that changed the cards you suggested?

 

[rolli59]

No the physical size of the slot is the same and the 2.0 cards will fit and run in your 1.0 slot. The change over to 2.0 was just a bandwidth change for the slot that only affects the fastest GPU's today, they will get slight bottleneck running in 1.0 slot but they will run. All the cards I linked to will not even use all the bandwidth of a 1.0 slot.

 

[CefVil]

Interesting, I have a Dell Dimension 3100 and the only slots that it holds are PCI, which lead me to buy a GeForce 8400 GS.

Anyway the best PCI gpu that I've seen is this 9400GT:

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-nVidia-GeForce-Graphics-01G-P1-N948-LR/dp/B002C94RVK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1277173026&sr=1-4

Sadly I couldn't get it in my country.

.C.

 

[rolli59]

Interesting, I have a Dell Dimension 3100 and the only slots that it holds are PCI, which lead me to buy a GeForce 8400 GS.

Anyway the best PCI gpu that I've seen is this 9400GT:

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-nVidia-GeForce-Graphics-01G-P1-N948-LR/dp/B002C94RVK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1277173026&sr=1-4

Sadly I couldn't get it in my country.

.C.

Well according to this you are right the only PCIexpress slot is PCIe x 1! http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/SYSTEMS/dim3100/en/sm/specs0.htm#wp1052310
That is different from PCIe x16 version 1.0!
Maybe PCI card is a better solution?

 

[CefVil]

Well according to this you are right the only PCIexpress slot is PCIe x 1! http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/SYSTEMS/dim3100/en/sm/specs0.htm#wp1052310
That is different from PCIe x16 version 1.0!
Maybe PCI card is a better solution?

Indeed, the 8400 GS was a quatum leap from the old and useless integrated video chip Intel 915GV, with a humble PCI card I am able to play Devil May Cry 4 on mid-high at 800*600 and Quake IV at ultra on the same resolution with playable FPS.

Some games however are a bit picky, just like Beowulf that ran like crap even at lowest settings, also Unreal Tournament 3 was "playable" but with lowest settings it looked a bit ugly.

Maybe that 9400 GT that amazon offers can deliver a bit more of performance since it's DDR2 128, while the 8400 has only 64 bit of bandwith.

Again I can only offer my experience and some wild guesses, but choosing between discarding a potentially obsolete machine or injecting it a little more life with a moderate investment, well I'd get that 9400 GT and see what happens.

.C.

 

[justajohn]

There are a lot of these older dead posts for GPU options for the Dell e310/3100. I can't obviously post in all and the fact that the threads are over 2 years old in most of them the chances of my interference being useful probably isn't too good. But for what it's worth I'm posting to this one also because the info is good and relevant to this specific problem.
Even if the Dell E310 is pretty lame as far as performance gos these days it still can be successfully upgraded enough to have Win7 x64 installed and able to play fairly new games with impresive fps and at higher resolutions.
It just takes a small modification of the hardware... if your willing. I have all the information covered in this post here ---> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/386135-33-video-card-dell-dimension-e310
Just enthused over my results and hope to see someone else be able to keep their old Dell alive. Kinda sad Dell themselves would rather it died so you can buy a newer one from them instead. Better for their business. I for one have found a little more life from my E310 and it's going on 8yrs old. The operation I performed on my E310 should theoretically be able to be performed on any PC that only has a PCIe x1 slot. Don't think I would go so far as trying an SLI or Crossfire configuration using the method... but maybe someone will find it works also. I do have a PCIe x16 and PCIe x1 slot side by side on my E510! Nah I'm good. Unless someone would like to fund my efforts!!! LOL

So just hope this info can help someone keep one less PC from the trash pile.
*Cheers!*