Dell Dimension 8200 graphics card problem?

Question

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 desktop-- March, 2002 vintage.
Came with 512MB PC800 RDRAM but have upgraded to 1GB over the years.
Came with Pentium 4 1.8 GHz processor...have upgraded to 2.8 GHz over the years.
 Think it is a 400 FSB unit....but how to verify??
The current graphics card is a 64MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX.
Just recently on startup I've been getting weird graphics on the monitor which is
a Sony Trinitron 19". I can't get to a screen will let me access Windows XP Pro SP3.

Assuming it was the graphics card I interfaced another desktop that I have to the same
monitor and was able to go to Win XP without problems.

I tried cleaning the video card and vacuuming the input slot just in case there may have been a minor dust related problem but upon retry...getting the same weird stuff.

I've got a lot of info on this machine and want some advice as to what graphics card I should purchase and where. Any advice is appreciated and if there are additional tech specs I need to supply just let me know.

Kerensa · Accepted Answer

Honest answer is that it's a lost cause. That computer is just too old.

I think it's using AGP, so Radeon HD 2600 XT would be a decent replacement if you can find a cheap one. It can't even use pci, so i'd just save up for a new machine.

The pentuim 4 is completely obsolete, as is the GPU and ram. I kinda feel bad about throwing out a better computer than the one you are using, I should have saved the GPU as it was a Geforce mx 440.

Personally I'd save your money and move on from that.

This advertises itself as a gaming computer, but really it's just a good all round PC that can be upgraded well if so needed http://www.amazon.co.uk/4170-QUAD-CORE-GAMING-COMPUTER/dp/B007SNNLQC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1350206866&sr=8-3

The difference would be spectacular, and would offer better video playback, the abilitty to play title such as Battlefield 3 in some decent settings (not sure if that is relevant to you, but I'll tell you anyway).

So yeah I mean getting hold of an AGP card is very costly and hard because there are none left, it's just better to save your money and buy something new with it.

If you don't plan on gaming or anything this is a better bet http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoostorm-7877-0095-Premium-i5-2320-Windows/dp/B006ZINMP6/ref=sr_1_20?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1350207443&sr=1-20
This one comes with Windows 7 too.

Anonymous · Answer

For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/ax8LQ

yes, it will run; see however note about power supply (!) neither of the three cards you are looking at do run so fast that the AGP4x (1GB/s) can't feed them with data. i myself run a X1-600 on my AGP Pro (~= AGP4x) motherboard and didn't have problems with it. now that i upgraded to a X-800XT PE (it is an upgrade, yes), i can clearly see that thru the AGP4x port the CPU can not communicate quickly enough with the GPU and the frame rates drop when there are lots of moving objects whose pathes have to be calculated by the CPU, in a game. i'm still able to play games with better details then i could with the X1600, though. independantly of the AGP port, the power supply of the Dell Dim.8200 will however not support the X1-650; it has only 250W and that's DEFINITELY not enough :( need @ least a 400W unit; can still try to use connector P7 (with NOTHING connected to P6!) for theX1-650 but probably not going to be enough. beware, however, that the reign of AGP4x stops at 1280x1024 (SXGA, 17" or 19" LCD or CRT). playing @ higher resolutions is no fun.

Trending News

Dell Dimension 8200 graphics card problem?

2 Answers