Video Card Upgrade Question
Im looking to upgrade the video card on my wife's computer (also the only desktop pc in the house at this point) Its one of those tiny Dell Dimension 5100C's so it requires a low profile video card. Im running Windows XP Home, 3.0 GHz P4, 1gb RAM. Im looking at getting a GeForce 8400GS My question concerns the "64 bit" part of the description - a friend of mine said that it wouldn't work with windows xp, i told him he was full of it, so now I come to you dear people for some help. Does that matter and do you think that card would work in the system described? I really just want to be able to run Neverwinter Nights 2 and maybe the Witcher. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
It ought never to be forgotten that the past is the parent of the present ~ J.C.Calhoun
"Your broken corpses will taste delicious lightly seasoned with nutmeg." ~ The Creature in the Darkness
64-bit refers to the bandwidth of the memory bus, not the addressing in the driver software. There shouldn't be any problems running this with Windows XP. You'll probably have to turn down settings and lower resolutions to run The Witcher with that cheap of a card, though.
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I have the Chaintech version of that card in a HP Slimeline PC running Vista.. and its pretty much at barebones as you can get for gaming.. it will run those games but your talking at 800X600 with low-med details and you'll never break 30fps consistently.
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Are you sure you have a PCI Express slot? A computer with those specs could very well be AGP based.
I'm almost positive the 5100c is PCI Express only and not AGP.
My warning was going to be make sure you get the right backplate, but according to the pictures they come with your card. I had to order a half-height backplate kit and wait another week.
What the hell is the point of selling a half-height card with a standard backplate?
Gbell, does that mini pc sound like an overactive wind tunnel? The fan on mine is almost always running at a level that makes my 360 sound whisper quiet.
"YOU SPOIL, YOU GET SPOILED! AAAAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Actually the system is pretty quiet. It sits on top of the desk right next to the monitor and I very rarely notice the noise.
And yes the system is PCI express.
Thanks for all the comments guys
It ought never to be forgotten that the past is the parent of the present ~ J.C.Calhoun
"Your broken corpses will taste delicious lightly seasoned with nutmeg." ~ The Creature in the Darkness
Does this one fit your needs?
This seemed like an interesting question, so I've been poking around a little looking for the highest-performance low-profile card. As far as I can tell, this one has the best performance in a half-height solution. I don't claim to be an expert though, just chiming in with a random though.
Edit: apparently the visiontech x1650pro also ships w/ low-profile brackets. That might be worth investigating as well.
The Hardforum has a couple of threads that might help. First, there is a low-profile case from HP that is popular w/ the HTPC crowd that will only accept a half-height card. They have a big thread that discusses video options and power supply issues. They also have another thread that specifically discusses half-height and low profile card options.
From what I can tell, most low-profile cards w/ a full height bracket can be adapted to fit. Galaxy has an 8600gt low profile card w/ ddr3 that folks have reported success swapping in a half-height bracket. Tiger Direct has an 8500gt low profile card that does not ship w/ a half-height bracket, but says one can be purchased that fits. (I didn't see a part number, but I suppose you could call and ask.)
*Legion* wrote:
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@ Oso
and trying to get any more gaming performance out of it may be wishful thinking. The video card is the little dinky board wedged into the bottom of the pic.
Unfortunately no it doesn't fit. I need a single height card to fit my pc. It really is a ridiculously small computer -
But I learned that next time my wife doesn't get to pick a computer because its "so cute and small." ( I helped her pick it out just before we married, I wasn't expecting it to turn into the only computer to game on in the house.)
Thanks for the other info, Ill check it out ASAP
It ought never to be forgotten that the past is the parent of the present ~ J.C.Calhoun
"Your broken corpses will taste delicious lightly seasoned with nutmeg." ~ The Creature in the Darkness