Newbie needs help - need new video card for new Dell 2350

[SmoochyTX]

Hi everybody, newbie here. Been reading these forums out every day for the last couple of months and you guys and gals seem really helpful so I figured I would sign up with a problem of my own now....

Here's my system specs: (BTW, just got my system 3 weeks ago....)

Dell Dimension 2350
Pentium 4 - 2.4 GHZ
120 GB 7200 RPM Ultra
512 MB DDR SDRAM
17" (16" vis) monitor
Win XP Home SP1
16x DVD
48x/24x/48x CD-RW
**Integrated Intel 3D AGP Graphics**

OK, I bought this system for the usual surfing, CD burning, DVD playing and only occasional gaming. (not a big gamer here) Basically I'm the kind of person that dabbles in a little of bit of everything computer-related EXCEPT opening up cases.

I have all my Sims games installed and they run just fine so I figure no problem if I get Postal 2 right? Right.

I get home with my new game today and install it. All seems fine. I open the game and I get a message on the screen saying basically that my video card doesn't support the game and that it's going to play in 16-bit mode. I begin to play anyway because I'm excited...LOL Well, the game lasted about 20 minutes before it crashed my system.

According to the P2 box: 32Mb GeForce 2 or Radeon class video card minimum required. 64Mb GeForce 3 or Radeon 8500 card recommended.

I've searched all over the Dell site trying to find some kind of help about upgrading my video card and which cards I could get that would still keep my Dell warranty valid. I've googled about upgrading Dell's video cards.

After all of this, I'm even more confused than ever....LOL Dealing with video cards is something I haven't done before. Never had a prob before with graphics in my old system.

So.....

Does anybody know which video card I can upgrade to in my Dell and still keep my warranty valid?

If both of the above video cards will keep it valid, which is better? When googling, I found video cards better than P2's recommended vid card specs so are those better for future use?

And are there any good deals out there on vid cards for me??? LOL

(Sorry for the long post....please cut me some slack and don't make too much fun of me behind my back....hehehe)

Thanks everybody for your help ahead of time.

 

[dexvx]

The 2350 doesnt have an AGP slot.

The best video card you can get is a Radeon 9100 PCI version.

 

[nick1985]

i think this guy got the same model as you

 

[SmoochyTX]

Yeah, it does sound like he got the same system I got. Only one exception. I'm not running around town bragging about it to all the computer gurus.....LOL

My system's gonna suit me just fine for years to come and as I said in the beginning I'm not a gamer. No flight sims, no Doom, no Nascar Thunder, etc......

Just me and my Sims. 🙂 And my Postal 2 which I would really love to play.

I'm not concerned with hooking a TV up to it and I only have dial-up so not concerned with playing games with others online. (DSL not avail in my area but that's beside the point...)

So the 9100 PCI is what I need?

Thanks everybody.

edited to add: Does anyone know if this will keep my warranty valid? Anybody know of any good deals on the 9100 card?

 

[FearoftheNight]

yes indeed smooch :wine:

 

[SmoochyTX]

Thanks dex and fear.

And also a big thanks to Nick 🙂 for making fun of me in the 'bragging' thread. I appreciate the exposure.

With the added exposure maybe somebody will know about whether or not I'll be voiding my warranty or could point me in the direction of a good deal for a card. And yes, I checked newegg.

Thanks for your suggestions everybody. I did state I was a newbie. Newbie to this site and newbie to video cards....

 

[Tavoc]

In my understanding of the warranty on Dells (I have had two), It wont void the warranty on the rest of the comp, but of course they wont cover your 9100. You'll probably just want to make a quick call to Dell to make sure.

 

[Mloot]

I just added a 128mb 9100 PCI to my AGP-less Dell. This is basically a Radeon 8500LE for a PCI slot. It's a nice card that you can find at CompUSA (they are just now arriving on the shelves) for $99/64mb or $129.99/128mb. If you will be keeping your 2350 for awhile, I would recommend getting the 128mb card. The extra memory does make a difference in gaming performance.

 

[SmoochyTX]

Thanks Mloot! That's exactly what I'll be doing....getting the 128 that is.

Thanks for all the help everybody. 🙂

 

[Kwad Guy]

I think I read somewhere that you need to make sure you have an up-to-date BIOS to use a PCI video card on the 2350. One of the BIOS updates added proper support for using a PCI video card...

Kwad