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I have a friend who needs help upgrading his Dell's graphics. I know that he currently has a Pentium 4 2.0GHz, a GeForce4 MX AGP, and 512MB DDR RAM, though I'm not sure about anything else.

He wants to upgrade his graphics card so he can play (mainly) Age of Empires 3, and he wants to spend no more than 100 USD max. Since he has a Dell and is constrained by his (likely) weak power supply, I was looking to find the best card with a low power consumption. So far, I've narrowed it down to these choices in order of performance:

GPU - (idle watts/load watts)
GeForce 6600 vanilla (11? / 20?)
Radeon 9600 Pro (8.69 / 18.68)
GeForce 5700 vanilla (10.16 / 24.61)

I couldn't find any hard power numbers on the 6600 vanilla - though it seems that it might not be a good choice, just because it requires a molex power connector. I realize that this is an obsolete system in terms of enthusiast-level gaming, but keep in mind that up until now, he's been gaming on a GF4MX on an LCD at non-native resolutions, so this will be a huge upgrade for him until he upgrades to a completely new system.

Any alternative ideas out there? Or anyone with experience upgrading a similarly configured Dell?

he shouldn't upgrade the power supply. Throwing any money into that system aside from a graphics card and maybe a memory upgrade wouldn't be the best idea. I'm not even sure dell uses a standard PSU, so upgrading may be more work than you think.

As far as upgrades go, maybe you could look for something used. A used 6600GT would be the fastest option, it is a tad faster than a 9800pro.

Just be lucky he has AGP, if he didn't he would be SOL

SpotTheCat wrote:

he shouldn't upgrade the power supply. Throwing any money into that system aside from a graphics card and maybe a memory upgrade wouldn't be the best idea. I'm not even sure dell uses a standard PSU, so upgrading may be more work than you think.

As far as upgrades go, maybe you could look for something used. A used 6600GT would be the fastest option, it is a tad faster than a 9800pro.

Not planning on upgrading the PSU, which is why I'm looking for graphics cards with low power consumption. I think a 6600GT would push him over the limit, which is why I was looking at the 6600 vanilla. Almost certainly will buy used though.

It should handle the 6600GT without any problems. If your concerned then the 9600pro would be a better deal than the 6600 vanilla. At any rate coming from what he has to either card will be a huge improvement. Ram is cheap..add another stick of 512 while your at it

Radeon 9800Pro
GeForce 6600GT

Honestly, I'm opposed to sinking any money into an AGP system at this point. It's time to upgrade to PCI-Express.

LicketySplit wrote:

It should handle the 6600GT without any problems. If your concerned then the 9600pro would be a better deal than the 6600 vanilla. At any rate coming from what he has to either card will be a huge improvement. Ram is cheap..add another stick of 512 while your at it

Yup, was planning on upgrading the RAM too. I'm only trying to get another year of life out of it before he buys a whole new system. I just don't want to get stuck in the situation of telling him to buy something and then not having it work because of the PSU. I suppose I could plug my own 6600GT into his system and see if it works *finally dawns on me, d'oh!*

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Radeon 9800Pro
GeForce 6600GT

Honestly, I'm opposed to sinking any money into an AGP system at this point. It's time to upgrade to PCI-Express.

I agree, and he's been told this repeatedly, but this is the budget he's giving me, and I don't think it's an unreasonable upgrade considering his current card.

I would not sink more money into more memory. 512 memory is just fine for that system.

DaveG wrote:

I suppose I could plug my own 6600GT into his system and see if it works *finally dawns on me, d'oh!*

I think that's the best idea -- failing that, buy a card from a local store so if he has power supply problems he can return it.

512mb sticks are so cheap now that more memory would be a worthwhile upgrade even for a non-gaming rig.

Should probably remember that they recommend a 6600GT minimum for 1024*768 at all high settings in AoE3. Since that's what he wants it for, you should probably convince him to get that much at least.

The GeForce 6600 Vanilla would probably be the best option of the three mentioned.

DaveG wrote:

LicketySplit wrote:

Coming from what he has to either card will be a huge improvement.

I suppose I could plug my own 6600GT into his system and see if it works *finally dawns on me, d'oh!*

Here's the ticket:
1) Sell your 6600GT to your buddy for $100.
2) Purchase a bigger better faster upgrade for your own system.

I'm with JBI on that one

Heh...how much you had to drink today..i assume you meant JAE

Ahem.. JAE.

What is an underaged kid supposed to do when the house is empty for the weekend

I've made 2 orders from the ABC store around here in the last few days though, different older friends come through.. can't turn em' down now can I?

JustAnEngineer wrote:

DaveG wrote:

LicketySplit wrote:

Coming from what he has to either card will be a huge improvement.

I suppose I could plug my own 6600GT into his system and see if it works *finally dawns on me, d'oh!*

Here's the ticket:
1) Sell your 6600GT to your buddy for $100.
2) Purchase a bigger better faster upgrade for your own system.

I 2nd, or 3rd that idea...

That is a great idea and in fact I am doing just that (replace buddy with mother) same exact price and everything.

I don't think you need to be worried too much about the power supply being sufficient unless it's a really skimpy one on there, like only 200W or so. My desktop is a PowerEdge 400SC (basically the same as a Dimension 8300) with a nominal 250W power supply, and I'm running a 3.2GHz Northwood, 1.5GB of RAM, an overclocked 7800GS, two hard disks, DVD-ROM, sound and TV/FM tuner cards on it just fine, no problems, even under intense 3D games. If your friend's system has at least a 250W power supply, it should easily be able to handle a 6600-series card, even if the CPU is an old Willamette core.

That said, I concur with the suggestion that you sell your friend your current 6600GT and get a better card for yourself, if indeed you need a better card and can shell out the cash for, say, a 6800GS or something like that.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

DaveG wrote:

LicketySplit wrote:

Coming from what he has to either card will be a huge improvement.

I suppose I could plug my own 6600GT into his system and see if it works *finally dawns on me, d'oh!*

Here's the ticket:
1) Sell your 6600GT to your buddy for $100.
2) Purchase a bigger better faster upgrade for your own system.

Great idea, There is your answer.