Revamping an old desktop

[lacoa1]

I have a couple of older units laying around and would like to start using one for video editing. I hope to get away with a cheap video card upgrade as I would like to use a dual monitor setup. I am looking for help in deciding which unit to work with and what else I need to know. Each are Dell units unfortunately, one is a dimension E520 and the other is an optiplex 330. I believe they are pretty similar and I am sure you will need more info from me. If anyone could help me choose a video card in the $50 range to support dual monitors and help with which unit to move forward with it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[ElFenix]

E520 is core2, iirc. No idea about the 330. For dual monitor a radeon 5450 or geforce 210 would be sufficient. Both can be had dirt cheap and will drive dual monitors. Just get one that matches the output ports you need.

If you want acceleration of your software package then we'd need to know what that is, first.

 

[lacoa1]

Sorry i'm not real well versed when it comes to computers, what do you mean by the software package? Also will I need to change my power supply to run one of those cards?

 

[LTC8K6]

Specs of each computer? CPU/RAM/Windows version?

What video editing software will you use?

 

[cruzinforit]

Of the two, the optiplex is probably the better built system, but you could have issues with either. This was the era where Dell was using the nippon chemi-con KZJ and Rubycon MCZ series mainboard caps. The KZJ especially are prone to bursting and leaking. We are in the process of a Windows 7 migration, and have tons of older Opti 320, 330s, and 360s. The 320 and 330s in particular very commonly have blown KZJ series mainboard caps. If I recall, these have a Core 2 Duo or C2D based pentium chip of some description. Neither of these is really fast enough to do video editing these days. I wouldn't really use either for anything beyond basic email/web browsing. Also if I'm recalling correctly, the pre- optiplex 360s have only a 25W PCIe 16x slot, not 70W like the later models do. So you are severely limited in what cards will work in that slot. You likely would have to use a PCI graphics card, or onboard. And again, considering how slow both of those systems are, you are better off doing something newer.