# [SOLVED] Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?



## TomHax (Apr 22, 2009)

Hi TSF!

I own a Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower PC, and am seriously considering buying a graphics card for it. This would be my first time buying a graphics card. I am thinking 512 - 1GB. I don't have a clue about these cards, so I don't want to buy one and get home to install it only to find it is incompatible with my CPU or something. That would be terrible. 

My question to you is, which would best be compatible with my specs?

System Specs:

Dell Inc. OptiPlex GX280
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3
3.00 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
2552 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
500.10 GB HDD

Current Video Card:

Name: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
DAC Type: Internal
Approx. Total Memory: 128.00 MB
Current Display Mode: 1400 x 1050 (32 bit) (60GHz)

Does installing a graphics card mean you can achieve higher resolutions on your LCD monitor? That is pretty much the reason I will be purchasing one. My goal is to be able to set my resolution to 1920x1080. This is the resolution the monitor is designed for.

Thanks for any info or suggestions, I appreciate your expertise in this area.

~ TomHax :wink:


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

The OEM PSU is 350W unless it has been changed so that will limit your choices. Do you have a budget?


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## TomHax (Apr 22, 2009)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

See it's things like that which are so valuable and could be the deciding factor. Thankyou.

And no, I'm willing to pay whatever it takes. I really need this 1920x1080 to work. 

Please keep the information and suggestions coming. :smile:


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## emosun (Oct 4, 2006)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

Something like an old x1600 agp would work. It does support the 1920x1080 resolution, and shouldn't have any trouble working on the gx280's bios.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...CODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

The stock power supply might be ok , but your better off getting something like this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&Tpk=corsair 400w

Do make sure your monitor supports 1920x1080 before hand. Also note this will not make HD video play correctly with a pentium 4 , but will give the res you want.


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## TomHax (Apr 22, 2009)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

Thanks for your awesome help emosun! Appreciate it :grin:



emosun said:


> Something like an old x1600 agp would work. It does support the 1920x1080 resolution, and shouldn't have any trouble working on the gx280's bios.


Perfect! This is the exact combination I want. Compatible with the GX280 and supporting the 1920x1080 resolution. I will look into that particular model for sure. 



emosun said:


> The stock power supply might be ok


_Might?_ Why is their doubt? Can you tell me why it's a _might_, because I'll be honest and say I was never planning on purchasing an added power supply. Just the graphics card. 



emosun said:


> Do make sure your monitor supports 1920x1080 before hand


Oh, it does. Absolutely one hundred percent. It was designed to be viewed in that resolution. It's written all over the manual.



emosun said:


> Also note this will not make HD video play correctly with a pentium 4


Please elaborate? I don't quite understand. Will normal video work and still look even _partially_ high-def?

Is there any other models I could consider?


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## emosun (Oct 4, 2006)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

I say might because there's no guarantee that the old power supply in your machine will cope with a new card. Generally even brand new power supplies in stock oem machines will give out when overstressed with to much hardware. Which is why power supply and video card upgrades go hand in hand. Or it may run fine fore years , with agp it's hard to say. That's why it's safer to get a new one , also since power supplies form factor never really change you can move it to a new pc in the future so it's a good investment.

As for video , any video you can play smoothly now will play the same. However getting this card will not enable you to watch very high def movies that you couldn't before. Simply due to cpu lag.


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## crucial09 (Jan 7, 2010)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

Hopefully this fixed your problem if we cannot get the original onboard graphic card to recognize the screens native resolution.

Anyone else have any ideas on how to enable a higher resolution on his screen???

Please post here on this other thread.
http://www.techsupportforum.com/f10/new-monitor-resolution-problem-453837.html


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## TomHax (Apr 22, 2009)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*



emosun said:


> I say might because there's no guarantee that the old power supply in your machine will cope with a new card. Generally even brand new power supplies in stock oem machines will give out when overstressed with to much hardware.


Ahh, I see. Thanks. I appreciate your insight greatly. Unfortunately though, I still think I'll take the risk and only purchase the graphics card without the PSU.



emosun said:


> As for video , any video you can play smoothly now will play the same. However getting this card will not enable you to watch very high def movies that you couldn't before. Simply due to cpu lag.


I understand now. I don't tend to watch many high-def movies on my PC anyway so hopefully it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Now, I've done some research on the x1600 agp model. I couldn't find any on a popular tech site I use, but instead I came across an "ATI 9250 128MB AGP" 

Here are the specs for it:

---

ATI 9250 128M AGP Video Card : DVI VGA 

Overview:

- Digital video support for single and multi-displays on a VGA monitor, flat panel and TV screen.
- A four pixel shader pipeline architecture and up to 256MB of DDR memory for fast action graphics.
- Driven by ATIs ATI Catalyst driver software suite for the most in stability and reliability.

AGP Interface

VGA Output

DVI Output

TV/S-Video Output

Silent Fanless Design

---

What is your opinion? I am using VGA to connect my monitor to my PC, so this seems appealing. Also it is a good price.


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## emosun (Oct 4, 2006)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

I don't know if the old 9 series supports that res , that 9 series came out a long time before 1920x1080 was a common resolution.

Chances are you have to shop ebay or simply use the tigerdirect one to get an x1600/x1650.


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## TomHax (Apr 22, 2009)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

Okay.

Perhaps you know of the "Gigabyte GeForce 6200 AGP 8x 256MB" ? Any good in this scenario?

http://tinyurl.com/yhcdls2

Apparently offers a Maximum VGA Resolution 2048x1536.


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## emosun (Oct 4, 2006)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

The specific 6200 you linked doesn't appear to support 4x agp mode only 8x , you would need one that also supports 4x mode.


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## TomHax (Apr 22, 2009)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*



emosun said:


> you would need one that also supports 4x mode.


Why is this?


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## emosun (Oct 4, 2006)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

Actually now that I look into it , it's actually using a pci-e card and not agp. I thought it would have used agp since it's a bit older. In that case then you would just go for a pci-e version of the same cards.


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## TomHax (Apr 22, 2009)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

Just thought I'd let you know I bought a card and it works great and I achieved the 1920x1080 resolution. Thanks everyone for all the recommendations and support.

~TomHax


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## crucial09 (Jan 7, 2010)

*Re: Graphics card for Dell Optiplex GX280 Mini-Tower?*

Cool. Thanks for letting us know how it turned off! =]


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## ddavel544 (Jan 7, 2011)

Hi, hope this helps....I have a GX280 tower as well (a great fast PC, with 3GB RAM!) ...and I use a nVidia GeForce Asylum 5200 PCI card that gives me excellent graphics on my Acer 22" flat screen. ...at about 1240X800 plays movies perfectly and also plays Unreal Tournament with no problems at all. Now if I want to up grade to a more powerful card, to play 'Clancey's Las Vegas Rainbow 6'.. I will need to buy a minimum of 500watt PSU just to install my GeForce 6800. With the current 305watt PSU ...not gonna happen. That is just my 2 cents worth...:grin:


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