Video card help!!

[ironimages]

I need some help!!

I just purchsed a Dell 2005fpw monitor for photo editing on my Dell Dimension 4600 that was purchased in 2004. The dell has a Pendium 4 chip with only AGP and PCI ports no PCI-E port and a 250 watt poer supply.

So I was going to use a Radeon 9800xt AGP to support this wide screen dell LCD but it seems that it needs 300 watts of power. I was told by the dell Tech rep that I could not update the power supply to 300 watts as the mother board is not compatable?

So now what?

Do they make a Video card that used an AGP port with less than 300 watts of power? that will support the wide screen LCD?

Help Me!!

 

[aweigh]

Well, you'll either need to buy a lower-spec AGP video card (like a 9600 Pro for example, if you want to stick with ATI), or upgrade your power-supply through Dell. I'm not familiar with the atrocities Dell does to their computers to make everything "proprietary", so it may be true that your particular motherboard doesn't support a higher-than-250w Dell PSU. Either way, you don't have to worry about what cards support what monitors, they all support any display.

 

[ironimages]

Yes, I looked at the 9600 pro but I don't think it will support the wide screen 1680X1050? Will it? I'll have too look into this. the screen size seems to be a problem at 1680X1050 as far as I can tell not many cards support that size. So I think I'm still back to squre 1!

 

[ironimages]

Bump to the top still need some more advice!! thanks!!

 

[Kalessian]

I don't see why a 9600pro wouldn't support 1680x1050. Why not buy a new motherboard + PSU + case, instead? Reuse the P4, RAM, and vid card.

Do you actually own a 9800xt or can you get it for cheap? The xt model isn't very cost effective. A 9800pro would be much better bang for the buck if you haven't bought one yet.

 

[ironimages]

I do have the 9800xt I put it in and had problems. Every thing on the screen kinda looked like it was moving like a little top to bottom wiggle, kinda gave you a headache looking at it!

 

[Zane5100]

I'm glad I found this thread through Google.

I'm in the same situation as ironimages: same computer, same card, same problem.

I saw on the specs that the Radeon 9800XT needed a minimum of a 300W PSU, so last night I upgraded my PSU to 425W.

Imagine my frustration when I turned on the machine and saw that the wavy distortion on the monitor hadn't gone away.

I was going to call Dell tech support when I got home tonight, but it seems like ironimages has already followed that path.

Do I need to yank the 425W PSU now if the motherboard doesn't support it?

 

[ironimages]

I think it might be an issue with a bad 9800xt card I have a 9600pro on the way and will try it. THe tech reps at ATI said it should work with out problems although I'll need to down load the powerstrip program to get the correct size monitor

i'll keep you informed!

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: aweigh
Well, you'll either need to buy a lower-spec AGP video card (like a 9600 Pro for example, if you want to stick with ATI), or upgrade your power-supply through Dell. I'm not familiar with the atrocities Dell does to their computers to make everything "proprietary", so it may be true that your particular motherboard doesn't support a higher-than-250w Dell PSU. Either way, you don't have to worry about what cards support what monitors, they all support any display.

Obviously the people at dell have no idea what they are talking about. If your mobo can't handle more that 250w, then I bet I could put my 600w PSU in your case and it wouldn't do a thing (meaning it would work and not fry your mobo.

Just go to newegg, grab a new PSU, and try it out. Just watch out if your mobo uses a 20pin conector to use an adapter to make it 20pins.

 

[TheRyuu]

Sorry, wrong thread.

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: wizboy11

Obviously the people at dell have no idea what they are talking about. If your mobo can't handle more that 250w, then I bet I could put my 600w PSU in your case and it wouldn't do a thing (meaning it would work and not fry your mobo.

Just go to newegg, grab a new PSU, and try it out. Just watch out if your mobo uses a 20pin conector to use an adapter to make it 20pins.

Agreed. That's BS that "you can't replace the power supply." I've replaced Dell and HP power supplies with no problem.

Excellent guide for selecting PSU:
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=136602

-z