PCI graphics card for an older Dell

[techwanabe]

My sister has a 5+ year old Dell desktop PC with onboard graphics. Her daughter is getting to the age where she might be playing some games which actually require some kind of 3D graphics card in liu of the really slow on-board graphics. Her Dell is the older Dimension 2850 and I looked inside the case - sure enough, only PCI slots. Surely there must be something out there she can toss in there which will allow some older 3D kids games to work. I couldn't even get an MMO game to run on her computer that first came out in 2004, thats how bad her current onboard graphics are. Heck I'd give her one of my old cards (have a couple laying around) but they are all AGP slot cards.

Suggestions for something cheap but decent for PCI slot?

 

[toyota]

what cpu and how much memory does that old Dell even have in it?

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I was surprised how many PCI graphics cards are still available, they don't seem to go any higher than the Geforce 9 series but here are some cheap options that should get the job done.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814187041

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814187057

Obviously the more expensive one will offer you better performance, but it is unlikely you will need it or see the benefits on an ancient machine like that.

What are the specs? low end ram can be had for dirt cheap, maybe throw in a few hundred megs if you want.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: toyota
what cpu and how much memory does that old Dell even have in it?

Your going to laugh. I think it has a 1800 mhz Intel CPU, not sure of the flavor, and until yesterday it had 256mb RAM. It ran like a dog until I wiped it clean, re-installed windows, ran the updates and added a second 256mb stick RAM discarded by my Dad when he put 2 gigs in his PC. Funny thing is my dad will probably never benefit from 2 gigs and my sister could benefit from more if her daughter plays 3D games. She could probably benefit from 1 gig RAM. Heck, I've been fine with 1 gig in my 4 year old Dell gaming rig and just bumped it up to 2 gigs for good measure. Can't Windows XP only address 2 gigs anyway?

Keem in mind this is a 7 year old girl who's tends to like cartoons and stuff aimed at 5 year old girls so we aren't talking games which will push this PC much, and mostly what my sister gets are used games or older games sold at garage sales or maybe in the bargain bin at stores. However, the onboard graphics won't even run MMO's made 5 years ago with minimum specs of 1 ghz CPU and Geforce 2 cards.

Anyway, any older cheap PCI card still sold new will probably be fine in this computer, just need to beef it up to handle older 3D games, which it can't handle now with onboard. I'll check out the links provided by the 2nd poster.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

weird double post...

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: OVerLoRDI
I was surprised how many PCI graphics cards are still available, they don't seem to go any higher than the Geforce 9 series but here are some cheap options that should get the job done.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814187041

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814187057

Obviously the more expensive one will offer you better performance, but it is unlikely you will need it or see the benefits on an ancient machine like that.

What are the specs? low end ram can be had for dirt cheap, maybe throw in a few hundred megs if you want.

It makes sense if you think about, there's plenty of reason to support PCI considering the technology is still very alive unlike AGP. Even system with PCI-e can use PCI cards to drive additional monitors (last I knew, PCI-e x1 cards were still pretty expensive and rare).

 

[alyarb]

i saw this and had to laugh. geforce 6200 GX2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814139037

 

[alcoholbob]

I wonder how many games will have a built-in SLI profile with that card

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: alyarb
i saw this and had to laugh. geforce 6200 GX2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814139037

it really isn't intended to be a performance solution at all, its actually intended as a practical quad monitor solution capable of running Vista's Aero

 

[alyarb]

didn't notice the DMS cables, figured it was just dual dvi. still, there are cheaper ways to do it.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Originally posted by: alyarb
i saw this and had to laugh. geforce 6200 GX2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814139037

Laughable from a gaming perspective for sure, but still that is a pretty nifty solution.

 

[Barfo]

kiddo will want to run her games with details maxed out, 2560x1600 8xAA 16xAF.