Is the Video card compatible with Dell Dimension 2400?

[dreadlyknife]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PNY-nVIDIA-GeForce-8400-GS-512MB-DDR2-PCI-Video-Card-/271053110955?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item3f1c063eab

[dreadlyknife]

Halp?

[DaveLembke]

I'd avoid that card which has NO return warranty when sold as-is. The quote below is off that ebay auction. So you could be buying a card that is dead and not able to return it for refund given the shady terms.

Condition:  Used, sold as is. "See Pics"

Testing:  Although we try to test each item, we do not always have the proper equipment to fully test everything. 

Warranty:  Our 14 day Dead-on-Arrival (DOA) warranty applies to all items not listed "As Is".  See details in returns/refunds.

In relation to if this would work in your system. It would work if the power supply can handle it. You may find yourself replacing the power supply to 350 watts or better to run this video card.

Also to mention if this system is still just the Celeron 2.4Ghz, you will likely find that the CPU is a bottleneck to any games you want to play. You can pick up a Pentium 4 socket 478 CPU cheap to upgrade that system. Although I would suggest replacing this system with something newer as for its hardware is almost 10 years old if not already 10 years old.

The other day I saw a socket 478 Pentium 4 2.66Ghz for sale for just $5.00 with $2.99 shipping on ebay. I have a eMachine that is a 2002 model which was originally a Celeron 2.0Ghz with 128MB RAM when new. I replaced the Celeron 2.0Ghz with a Pentium 4 2.0Ghz and saw an immediate improvement in performance with the extra cache. I also upgraded to 1GB RAM from the 128MB and even got Windows 7 32-bit to run on it for single-tasking due to low ram, although I went through a struggle to get the display drivers to work with the Intel 845GL integrated video. I have since downgraded it back to Windows XP Pro which runs very well on it.

Far better computers can be bought inexpensively new or a good used can be bought that is far more powerful.

I wouldnt invest much money into this computer! And if it were my computer and you can afford to do so, I'd replace it with newer more powerful processing power if you are looking to game on it with modern games.

Lastly PCI is weak for gaming because of the lack of bandwidth for any high end games. I ran into this issue back when I bought a HP Pavilion new in 2001 and it was lacking an AGP port, and only had 3 PCI slots available. I installed a GeForce 4 MX 440 with 64MB RAM and it was horrible for gaming trying to play GTA Vice City. My friend who had a weaker 1.0 Ghz  Pentium 3 while I had a Pentium 4, and of which he had a weaker gpu GeForce 2 with 64mb ram AGP slot type video card gamed far better than the PCI bus on mine.

[dreadlyknife]

Oh ok thanks And people say that a 250 W PSU can work that video card without any upgrades because PCI video cards only use about 30 watts. I currently play a game called "Crossfire" By Z8games and the Recommended GPU is 256MB video ram and I now have 64MB.

[dreadlyknife]

And I currently have a Pentium 4 2.8GHZ 533/512 and willing to upgrade to a Pentium 4 3.06Ghz with HT would it make a big difference with HT?

[DaveLembke]

HT makes it act like a dualcore with a virtual 2nd core which is what HyperThreading is. On a system with a HT CPU if you look at the system properties you will see that the OS shows 2 cores, although the 2nd is virtual. *You may have to flash your BIOS prior to the CPU upgrade, see the quote below about the BIOS version A03 or higher. There is a small risk that you can brick/kill the motherboard by a bad flash. I haven't killed a motherboard yet with a bad flash, but have heard others who have. So if the risk is worth the performance gain, that is if this is not your only computer and its worth upgrading this inexpensively, then I'd do so myself if the game lag is related to not enough CPU processing power. You might want to hold off and see how it behaves with the video card upgrade before performing a CPU upgrade as for you may find out that its not needed. However a Pentium 4 HT is better than a single core.

Looking online your motherboard doesnt support 800Mhz FSB CPU's which is a shame... your stuck with 533Mhz. Also it appears that you are stuck with just 512k Cache vs 1M Cache which kind of stinks as for the Pentium 4's with 1M Cache are more powerful for gaming.

I upgraded a single-core Pentium 4 2.66Ghz to a Pentium 4 3.0Ghz HT in a 2nd hand gaming system tower that I bought for $80 in 2006 when the original owner wanted to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo from the Pentium 4 2.66Ghz and couldnt find a buyer and was selling it cheap. The ABIT motherboard supported 800Mhz and 1Meg Cache and a friend of mine had a HP that was dead and I got the RAM and CPU out of this system and stuffed it into my $80 tower and it was way better for games like need for speed carbon and world of warcraft etc.

Yes, the Socket 478, Northwood P4 3.06GHz 533MHz FSB processor, should work fine.

Prior to installing the processor you need to upgrade the BIOS to version A03 [or higher] when updated CPU microcode was added to support the latest CPUs.

Bev.

From here: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19286123.aspx

[dreadlyknife]

I currently play a game called "Crossfire" FPS game and I would like to improve the FPS because I only get about 15-25 MAX fps. These are my current specs
System:
          Microsoft Windows XP
          Version 2002 SP3
COMPUTER:
             Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.80GHz 2.79GHz, 2.00GB of RAM. With a 250W power supply. And with a Interrogated 64.0MB Video Card. And BTW thanks for help.

[dreadlyknife]

Because when I play Crossfire my CPU uses 100% with a P4 2.8GHZ if I upgrade to P4 3.06GHZ HT would it not use 100% of the Cpu. Like you said it uses 2 cores right would it be faster and my Fps would increase in gaming? Because its really hard to snipe with this lag. I think upgrading the Video card might help right? But I don't know what is compatible.

[DaveLembke]

If this is the game you are referring to ... then it looks like CPU should be plenty, and it may be running at 100% because of the way that its programmed. http://crossfire.real-time.com/requirements/

Client Requirements
•Internet Connection, for Public Server access = 256/256 Kb connection (or better)
•Similar to what is needed for Windows 2000 and/or Windows XP, keyboard and mouse
◦Required Hardware = 233 MHz Processor, 160MB of RAM (128MB for Windows, 32MN for GTK), 20MB of free disk space* (12MB for GTK, 6 MB for the client)
◦Recommended Hardware = 300+ MHz Processor, 256+ MB of RAM, 20+ MB of free disk space* (12MB for GTK, 6 MB for the client
** More bandwidth is of course better - even if not constantly being used, just so that the bursts of data get delivered faster

* Assuming the server or client is installed from the packaged .exe file

I find it interesting that it has no info on GPU requirements, or suggested minimum spec. Games created to run on as low as a Pentium II 233Mhz shouldn't bring a Pentium 4 2.8Ghz to its knees at 100% unless its programmed really poorly, or something else is going on to waste CPU processing power.

I have some older games written during Pentium II era, such as Casino Empire, Warcraft II, Diablo II,  that I run on a ( 2002 model e-machine motherboard ) Pentium 4 2.0Ghz with 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD, and integrated Intel 845GL video with 64MB shared memory of the 1GB system RAM, and the CPU varies between 30 and 40% in task manager properties of CPU use under Win XP Pro for those programs on the single-core Pentium 4 that is less powerful than your 2.8Ghz.

I cant test this now, but I have a good variety of systems at home that I can test this on to see if I see same system performance issues with this game. From the looks of it this should run without any problems on my oldest laptop a Dell Pentium III 600Mhz running Windows XP Pro SP3 with 512MB RAM, and 80GB HDD

[dreadlyknife]

Those specs are really off/outdated, Here are the real specs http://support.z8games.com/systemrequirement.aspx
CrossFire

MINIMUM REQUIREMENT   RECOMMENDED
CPU   Pentium 4 - 1.5GHz   Pentium 4 - 2 GHz
MEMORY   512mb   1GB or higher
VIDEO CARD   GeForce 5600 or equivalent class   GeForce 6600 or better
HARD DISK   1.2GB
SYSTEM   Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
DIRECT X   9.0 C or later
INTERNET CONNECTION   Cable/DSL or better

I dont know why it is hogging up 100% of my CPU

[dreadlyknife]

RECOMMENDED
CPU   Pentium 4 - 1.5GHz   Pentium 4 - 2 GHz
MEMORY   512mb   1GB or higher
VIDEO CARD   GeForce 5600 or equivalent class   GeForce 6600 or better
HARD DISK   1.2GB
SYSTEM   Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
DIRECT X   9.0 C or later
INTERNET CONNECTION   Cable/DSL or better

[DaveLembke]

Looking back I saw that you had stated:

System:
          Microsoft Windows XP
          Version 2002 SP3
COMPUTER:
             Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.80GHz 2.79GHz, 2.00GB of RAM. With a 250W power supply. And with a Interrogated 64.0MB Video Card.

and the website I looked at due to heavy filter of where I can/cant get to from work computer only let me get to a Crossfire game that was not FPS, but instead an RPG.

Realizing it was a FPS and not an RPG, I then realized that you really need a video card and not use integrated video. With a video card vs integrated video the CPU shouldnt be as hard up for processing power. With integrated video it may be using Software Video Hardware Emulation which runs your CPU hard to render the game. With a real video card Hardware Emulation wouldnt be required and the video cards GPU would handle the rendering instead.

An example of a similarity with a FPS game I have to this is that I had an old Pentium III 850Mhz with integrated video and 32MB shared memory running Unreal Tournament 99. It used Hardware Emulation for the video processing and this had my Pentium III just about pegged while running Windows XP Home on 320MB RAM ( 256mb + 64mb PC100 sticks)

Thinking your dealing with same issue and a video card added will lighten the load on the CPU as well as increase game performance.

[dreadlyknife]

Ok do you know any compatible video cards for the Dell Dimension 2400? I have the ones available here.
VIDEO CARDS COMPATIBLE:
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 PCI
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 PCI
ATI Radeon 9250 PCI
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 PCI Card
PNY GeForce 8400 GS PCI
Radeon X1550 256MB PCI
ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro 256 MB PCI

Which ones do you think is the best without PSU upgrades. People say the 8400GS is the best and the websites says 250 W cpu recommended. Is that much needed? I currently have a 250W PSU

[Computer_Commando]

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-dimension-2400-pentium/4505-3118_7-30824846.html

The good: Full-fledged Pentium 4 CPU; spacious 120GB hard drive; dual optical drives; 15-inch LCD offers strong image quality; attractive case.

The bad: Limp speaker system; no AGP slot to upgrade weak onboard graphics chip; minitower case leaves little room for future expansion.

The bottom line: A solid desktop for families or students, Dell's budget Dimension 2400 trades 3D gaming prowess for multiple optical drives and general functionality.

[DaveLembke]

I would suggest the GeForce 8400GS PCI out of the list as the best performer. I have run a 8400GS on a 300 watt PSU. Its not a high end video card, but its about as high end that you will get for performance out of a PCI BUS which is a severe bottleneck for graphics. I have tested my 8400GS on Windows XP as well as Windows 7 32-bit. XP is flawless, and Windows 7 works with it if Aero is disabled. Aero can run on 8400GS, but its not stable. I am guessing your sticking with XP.