A dumb question about video cards...

TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
edited February 2004 in Hardware
I think I already know the answer, but I wanted to get more opinions on it.

I have a Dell 2100 desktop with on board video. It sucks. 1.1 Celeron and 384 MB of PC100 SDRAM.

I'm thinking of buying a video card for it, maybe a 64 MB or 128 MB Nvidia or ATI. Nothing fancy, just something that can easily handle 2 Megabit per second .wmv video playback at 1280 by whatever (1024?) screen resolution.

Will it plug in and work, or will the on board video system cause problems?

Comments

  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited February 2004
    assuming the dell uses onboard video and not a card already plugged in, what you'd need to do is disable the onboard video (in bios preferably, if not then just do it in windows) then shut down and plug in your new card.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    It should work just fine - usually there's a setting in BIOS to either select primary VGA (Built-In/AGP or PCI card should be the options) and maybe even a setting to disable the onboard video as well. Either way it should take a new video card without issue.
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    That's assuming your Dell has an AGP slot. I've got a couple Dell's with integrated video that are a little older than your 2100, but neither of them have AGP slots as a result. You'll need to open your case to verify you have an AGP slot (it's usually brown and slightly offset from the white PCI slots). If you don't have one, you should seriously consider a new computer or start shopping for PCI graphics cards.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    My Dell 2100 does not have any AGP slots. It only has 4 PCI slots, 3 of which I'm using already.

    I've heard that there aren't very many graphics cards out there that plug into a PCI slot.

    I've been looking at different motherboards and parts on pricewatch.com, and am this close to ordering some stuff. Just waiting on the tax refund to get here.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Just remember that you can't just drop a new mobo into a dell - proprietary case designs and non-standard PSUs .. You'll need a new case and power supply as well.

    Guess what? That's essentially a new computer ;)
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2004
    Yeah, DO NOT plug a dell PS into a non-dell board (ask Croc about that one ;))
  • KingFishKingFish
    edited February 2004
    I absolutely hate proprietary stuff. We had a flimsy 100 watt power supply go bad at work in an HP computer. They are charging 200 bucks for a new power supply that will probably break again because it's so cheaply built. It's outrageous. I'm all for open standards and open specs. I'd rather hand build every computer in the "office" than buy dells and gateways all day so I can change out cheap (yet still quality) parts and not have to ship it to Taiwan or wherever to get it repaired. Go atx next time, you won't regret it.

    KingFish
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    If you're dead set on keeping that Dell, newegg has a fairly good deal on a Radeon 9000 PCI that will fit your bill.

    Still, a decent Athlon XP system can be had for <$500. I know because I'm building one for someone.

    -drasnor :fold:
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