Which video card would be best for a Dell Dimension 4600 with onboard video.

[TomC25]

My girlfriend is sick of having gaming issues with her Dell Dimension 4600. She wants to add a video card and I wondered if anyone here had any experience with these Dells and adding cards and could lend some advise. Thanks

Would someone know what card works best or worst with a Dell P4 chipset?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

The 4600 has an AGP slot (lucky for her) so any AGP card should work fine. Haven't heard of any issues with either ATI or Nvidia.

I recommend not getting a high-end card that requires a lot of power or that puts out a lot of heat.

Help us out a little:
What games (if any) does your g/f play?
What other uses does she need it for (tv-out, dual-monitor)?

 

[hans030390]

How much can you spend? I'd look into a 6600gt...great card for the price, great performer, doesnt need a huge PSU

 

[TomC25]

She wants to spend around $100 for a card. The games she plays are not ones where she needs framerates or high end resolutions. She has a 17 inch panel running at 1024x768. Need for Speed Underground runs alright, but graphics have to be turned way down. She wants a card to help her system out but not for high end gaming.

Ones I have thought of are:

geforce 6600 agp 256mb
geforce fx 5700 (or 5600) ultra 128mb

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: TomC25
She wants to spend around $100 for a card. The games she plays are not ones where she needs framerates or high end resolutions. She has a 17 inch panel running at 1024x768. Need for Speed Underground runs alright, but graphics have to be turned way down. She wants a card to help her system out but not for high end gaming.

Ones I have thought of are:

geforce 6600 agp 256mb
geforce fx 5700 (or 5600) ultra 128mb

The 6600 is a much better choice than the 5700, and a 256MB version is a waste of 128MB on that card.

ATI's X700 is a good choice also.

Here is an awesome deal on a card that would be better than the ones previously mentioned.

 

[TomC25]

Thanks for the link that was helpfull reading the reviews for the card.

This does look like a good choice, and with my system being AMD 1.8Ghz and a 5700 Ultra 128MB I can't wait to see what her system will do with games. I believe she is running at 2.8Ghz and 800Mhz RAM.

One issue we read about was the noise level of this card. She likes a quiet computer and with her stock Dell it is pretty quiet.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: TomC25
Thanks for the link that was helpfull reading the reviews for the card.

This does look like a good choice, and with my system being AMD 1.8Ghz and a 5700 Ultra 128MB I can't wait to see what her system will do with games. I believe she is running at 2.8Ghz and 800Mhz RAM.

One issue we read about was the noise level of this card. She likes a quiet computer and with her stock Dell it is pretty quiet.

There does seem to be quite a few complaints about the noise for that card, which leaves you with several options:

1) Run Expertool (works on all brands) to slow the fan speed while slightly underclocking the card (to prevent overheating)

2) Replace the stock heatsink/fan with an aftermarket GPU cooler ($$)

3) Get another card, preferably a 6600 non-GT

4) Give her your card and install the 6600GT in your comp