Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (
More info?)
Tom Scales wrote:
> "FatKat" <robynari@juno.com> wrote in message
> news:1118091667.799433.196960@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >
> >
> > ricardo wrote:
> >> FatKat wrote:
> >> > My dad, a great guy sometimes overwhelmed by computers, went out and
> >> > replaced my broken down 2 gig P4 system with 3GHz Dimension 3000.
> >> > Unfortunately, it looks like the new machine has less potential for
> >> > graphics upgrade than the machine it replaced - itself a 3.5 year old
> >> > machine - lacking both the new PCI-e slot or the old AGP slot. This
> >> > isn't a post about the wisdom of Dell's restrictive MoBo architecture,
> >> > or the agony of integrated graphics or sound. There's plenty of that
> >> > on usenet already.
> >> >
> >> > I simply want to know if anybody's had any reasonable degree of luck
> >> > adding some high end PCI graphics card to their non AGP/PCI-e machine.
> >> > Will PCI cards provide any improvement over "Intel Extreme"? Will they
> >> > conflict with the on-board graphics set? I'm not expecting something
> >> > comparable to AGP, but I'd like to know I can exceed what I already
> >> > have.
> >> >
> >> I have put a Radeon 7000 PCI 64 meg graphics card in my 3000 and haven't
> >> met with a great deal of success.
> >
> >>From what I've seen around here, you're not likely to seen any
> > improvement unless you use a 128 meg card. The FX 5700 LE seems to be
> > the card of choice according to CW. Anything less than 128 won't be
> > enough, while more than 128 meg won't get past the bottleneck of the
> > PCI bus. man, to think that a 12 meg 3DFx card was once the most I had
> > to look forward to.
> >
> >> First off I had to install the Radeon
> >> card in the machine but still connect the monitor up to the itegrated
> >> onboard card to get something to display. Once i had done that I got
> >> into device manager and disenabled the onboard graphics. Then I
> >> connected the monitor up to the newly installed PCI card and re-booted
> >> the pc.
> >
> > This is what I don't understand. The original 3D cards weren't
> > supposed to replace your existing graphics hardware - just augment it.
> > So instead of messing with jumper settings or mess with the device
> > manager, you just use a pass-through cable. When I put in my Monster
> > Voodoo2, it was auto-detected immediately. I thought that was the
> > saving grace of PCI - data-transfer would never match AGP, but what you
> > put in was taken in seamlessly. I would have thought that that fact
> > remained as true 5 years later - but then again, I'm still getting over
> > the fact that my brand new computer has less upgradability than the one
> > I got in 2001. What's next? A stereo deck with an 8-track? Cars w/o
> > power doors and locks?
> >
> >> Upon rebooting the new Radeon card did its thing and the display
> >> worked. Also I noticed after the reboot that the integrated garaphics
> >> that I had disabled was now enabled and now both graphics cards are
> >> enabled and don't conflict with each other.
> >
> > Which doesn't suprise me. I've got an extra sound card on my board - I
> > haven't got the sound to work yet, but the game port seems to function
> > as advertized.
> >
> >> I have to say though if I had the option I would return the machine and
> >> upgrade to one that has PCIe as although the Radeon card is working it
> >> aint working as well as it should.
> >> Hope this helps
> >> ricardo
> >
> > Thanks for the response. Good luck whatever you decide.
> >
>
> I'm confused. If you have a 1999 BMW and then buy a 2005 Hyundai, then
> you're going backwards with a newer car.
This is lost on me - mostly because I'm not into trophy cars. I drove
a rental Hyundai once and found it quite peppy. Though I'm sure I'd
miss some of the bells and whistles that come with a BMW (GPS,
multi-disk CD player, bullet-proof glass, rearward looking security
cam), and because I'm not the Chuck Yeager of cars, that extra
performance would be lost on me. The analogy is also somewhat
misplaced because the core technology of automobiles doesn't advance
from year to year as that for computers does (odometer aside, you
seldom have to worry about accidentally buying yesterday's car at
today's prices), and cosmetics aside, who really upgrades their cars?
Getting that new Hyundai doesn't put you behind an older BMW.
>
> If you buy a Dimension 2400 or 3000, you bought a Hyundai -- perhaps
> reliable transportation, but no BMW.
I don't see the analogy. If you buy a 3000, you're getting something
made for the 3rd world car with the veneer of something higher class.
No frills in a Dell case with color-coded labels.
> If you wanted a PCIe slot, then a 4700 or an 8400 or an XPS were all
> available to you. Sorry you made a bad choice.
Could you go back and find where I even suggested I wanted PCI-e? All
I wanted was the same AGP slot I had on my 2001 machine or, barring
that, a simple and vendor-supported option to replace the existing mobo
with a new one that I'd be willing to pay for and install myself. I
didn't choose this machine, and I can't very well go back and ask my
dad for the invoice, telling him that he doesn't know how to buy a PC.
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