PCI Card for Flash Acceleration

[FirNaTine]

A friend asked me to look into some simple upgrades for a secondary computer of his. One of his main complaints was Youtube video performance.

The computer is a Dell Dimension B110 with a ~2.8Ghz Celeron D /1 GB DDR. I found a few compatible processors and memory upgrades, but I am unsure if any would be worth the money invested.

I came across the GPU acceleration of Flash video information, and thought that with a cheap card he could see a solid improvement in performance for Flash content.

The only issue is that the only expansion available is a PCI slot, and I am wondering if the interface will allow the card to accelerate the video successfully.

I am looking at a 8400gs PCI card for around $40. NVIDIA supports the Flash 10.1 Beta on 8400gs hardware.

The current integrated graphics are Intel 865 extreme.

Thanks.

 

[alyarb]

that geforce is your only hope. your motherboard won't support any decent CPUs like conroe.

 

[Jd007]

Remember that GPU acceleration for Flash is still in the Beta stage. TBH I think if the computer can't even play YouTube videos smoothly (non-HD), it's time for a complete upgrade. A 8400GS might help, but probably not by much.

Also how could a motherboard supporting Celeron D (so LGA775) not have PCI-E or at least AGP? Or is it occupied?

 

[FirNaTine]

Remember that GPU acceleration for Flash is still in the Beta stage. TBH I think if the computer can't even play YouTube videos smoothly (non-HD), it's time for a complete upgrade. A 8400GS might help, but probably not by much.

Also how could a motherboard supporting Celeron D (so LGA775) not have PCI-E or at least AGP? Or is it occupied?

It was a low end dell from about 4 years ago. The motherboard does not have a video slot, so PCI is it.

I have talked to him about a complete upgrade, but this is a secondary computer for internet/email/word processing. When he gets a video forwarded to him, it has some trouble with playing the content. For all other purposes it is acceptable. A new computer would run $200-300 which is a little much for what he uses it for.

He would like to be able to coax a little more life out of the dekstop, but he also has a laptop that is a lot more current.

And the processor is a socket 478 not 775. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeron#Celeron_D

 

[soccerballtux]

yikes 478 that _IS_ old LOL.

 

[FirNaTine]

yikes 478 that _IS_ old LOL.

Yup.

 

[sciwizam]

I thought the video acceleration in the beta was for only videss encoded in h.264 or is it for every kind in flash?

 

[soccerballtux]

I thought the video acceleration in the beta was for only videss encoded in h.264 or is it for every kind in flash?

I thought so too.

 

[tommo123]

umm, if the video is AVC and can be decoded via DXVA isn't all that's needed some kind of splitter to pass the video to the gpu?

 

[Fox5]

PCI cards are basically an unsupported configuration at this point, even if they can technically accelerate flash, don't be surprised if it doesn't work well.

You could probably swap in a new motherboard cheaply, why not do that?

 

[FirNaTine]

PCI cards are basically an unsupported configuration at this point, even if they can technically accelerate flash, don't be surprised if it doesn't work well.

You could probably swap in a new motherboard cheaply, why not do that?

If I get him to swap in a new board I would probably have him upgrade the processor/memory too.... and that gets to be more than he would like to spend.

I am looking for cheap deals on them, and even a cheap basic system from a big box.

Thanks.

 

[Fox5]

If I get him to swap in a new board I would probably have him upgrade the processor/memory too.... and that gets to be more than he would like to spend.

I am looking for cheap deals on them, and even a cheap basic system from a big box.

Thanks.

There were plenty of DDR based socket 478 mobos with both AGP and pci-express. Still, the motherboard is one of the most annoying components to replace, as it requires uninstalling everything and then putting it back in.

I was faced with the same problem for my dad, and ended up just getting a refurbished system for him rather than bother upgrading anything. I then scavenged parts from the old computer to finish it off.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...c:2628|&Sort=4
http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=SYS

Replacement mobos (some include cpus):
http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=MBB
Also consider the FS forum here, I'm sure some people would have cheap old system's they'd like to dump.

 

[blanketyblank]

I take it you're not near a frys. I've seen e5200 combos for like $60. DDR2 memory is pricy now though so that would be like another 30 or more for some of that.