# what are my upgrade options? dell dimension 8200



## newVid_7 (Jun 14, 2005)

hi - please educate me! I'm eager to learn but kind of starting from serious ignorance -

I have a (bought in 2002) dell dimension 8200 with - (copied from parts of my original order) - 

Dimension 8200 Series, Intel Pentium 4 Processor at 2.53GHz
2048MB PC800 RDRAM
RAMBUS INLINE MEMORY MODULE, 512, 400M, 288X16, 16C, 40
128MB DDR NVidia GeForce4 TI 4600 Graphics Card with TV-OUTand DVI
Dell Edition 120GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with Data,Burst Cache,Tied
Intel Pro 100 PCI Ethernet Network Card

Since I got it I've used up all my PCI slots - added firewire ports - it has only USB 1 not capable for 2 because of ?? motherboard issues -
other as far as i understand it - 
motherboard Dell (I gather theirs are not standard?? ) 850E 
533 front side bus
80532 Intel

anyway I have an old crt monitor and want to upgrade to maybe a dell ultrasharp. They need better video cards but I'm not sure which if any my system is compatible with - I gather that RAMBUS and Dell motherboards each limit compatibility??? Help! Thanks!


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

Gah, RAMBUS is gonna whoop you good in the wallet if you ever want to upgrade.

You should theoretically be able to install almost any modern card, assuming tht your AGP slot is AGP 3.0 and backwards compatible.


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Do you need a better video card cause you think you need a better one for a different monitor or because you want better game performance ?

You dont need a "better" video card for a different monitor. Who told you so ? And why ? The one you have once was top of the line and more than capable of supporting high resolutions/ framerates.

If you are looking for better game performance then the only problem holding you back is the power supply in the DELL case. You might get away with a 9800Pro or 6600 non GT but there is always a big "?". Thats why most people with similar systems end up taking all existing components out of the DELL case and buying a new case+ powerful PSU that allows for upgrades.


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## newVid_7 (Jun 14, 2005)

hi,
I'm not really looking to upgrade for gaming, more for work stuff which in my case does include some streaming video and lots of images which I need to look at in very fine detail. My monitor is a Dell version of a Sony Trinitron CR monitor - P1130 Trinitron - it's a pretty nice monitor, but I saw someone's Dell Ultrasharp and the images seemed a little sharper. Or maybe it's my perception because that's an LCD? - I don't think the pixel size is that different.

On the Dell website, after lots of looking around, it seemed like the widescreen format Ultrasharps require a higher level video card. So that's why I'm looking to upgrade. My resolution on what I have is 800x600 w 64k color per my system properties. 

What happened was - I couldn't find specs for the specific monitors I was looking at , but on Dell's site - http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-4221&link_number=
is the specific link - under a very high end monitor they say to click to see if the monitor is compatible. Then that link lists a bunch of video cards and says whether or not they will support this fancy monitor. My card isn't listed. So I was left wondering whether the monitors that are a bit less high end have also outpaced what my card can do.

(and please feel free to point me to links that explain more about video cards, monitor specs etc - I've been reading but am a definite newbie.)

finally - I don't think I have an AGP slot at all - looks like my video card is in my highest PCI slot. And AGP isn't listed anyplace I can find in system properties where it lists PCI, ISA, and USB as bus types.


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Well first of all - like i said the Ti4600 was a top of the line card at one time and even nowadays still plays most games at decent speed. Its also capable of his resolutions with very good refresh rates. I pulled this table off the web:

Resolution Color Depth (BITS) Max Refresh Rate (Hz) 
640 x 480 8/16/32 240/240/240 
800 x 600 8/16/32 240/240/240 
1024 x 768 8/16/32 240/240/200 
1152 x 864 8/16/32 200/200/170 
1280 x 960 8/16/32 170/170/150 
1280 x 1024 8/16/32 170/170/170 
1600 x 900 8/16/32 150/150/120 
1600 x 1200 8/16/32 120/120/100 
1920 x 1080 8/16/32 100/100/85 
*1920 x 1200 8/16/32 100/100/85 * 
1920 x 1440 8/16/32 85/85/75 
2048 x 1536 8/16/32 75/75/75 

Which brings me to another point - you can easily run your current resolution at a much higher colour depth setting and insane refresh rates (not advisable of course as your monitor couldnt handle that - but it shows the potential).

If you intend on getting an LCD - their native resolution is usually 1280x1024. The monitor your linked has a max resolution of 1920x1200. As you can see on the table above the video card is easily capable of providing that resolution - and at a refresh rate higher than needed for the LCD (max 75hz).

Now so far i'd have to say - no need to upgrade - what you have will run the monitor fine.
If you however decide to upgrade anyways - i still have to look into the slots you currently have and what upgradeabilities there are. I have to say though i didnt come across a Ti4600 as PCI version - which of course doesnt mean much as its impossible to know all cards.
I'll post back in here in a few hours when i have more time.


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## newVid_7 (Jun 14, 2005)

hi, thank you so much everybody, as I said I am a total beginner.

Turns out - I do have an AGP slot which is called PCI slot 1 in Device Manager, someone sent me a link to better documentation than I was aware of for my Dim8200.

And it seems worth trying without a new video card anyway, so I think I'll get the monitor, then upgrade cards if need be.

Thanks all!


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Your welcome. Should you run into any problems with the installation process let us know.


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