Dimension 4550 AGP Video Card Recomendations
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From: powrwrap on 4 Jul 2010 19:58 On Jul 4, 6:34 pm, Bob Villa <pheeh.z...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Jul 4, 4:52 pm, powrwrap <powrw...(a)aol.com> wrote: > > > > > On Jul 4, 9:37 am, "Pat Conover" <pub...(a)comcast.net> wrote: > > > > Hi All; > > > > Well, I know I shouldn't have, but I went ahead and upgraded my old trusty > > > Dimension 4550 with a 2.4 GHz P4 processor and 533MHz bus from 768MB of RAM > > > to 2GB of RAM. Dell said it would only take 1GB, and that upgrade was not > > > worth the effort. But I was on the Crucial site the other day, and ran the > > > memory advisor program that said it would take up to 2GB of memory. So $100 > > > and two 1GB sticks of DDR PC3200 memory later, this old workhorse is running > > > like a new machine! > > > You have just described my 8 year old machine. I too, have a 4550 with > > 768MB of RAM, and have long wondered if I would benefit from sticking > > more memory into it. Can you be more specific as to the performance > > increase? What programs or activities benefited the most? On a > > percentage basis, how much better is your machine running with the > > expanded memory? > > > I ask because I have noticed a slow down of late. I typically have a > > Works database open, along with Firefox, Internet Explorer, perhaps a > > Word doc, and Outlook all running at the same time. While not > > lightning fast, it was never slow, until recently. When switching > > between apps, I sometimes hear the hard drive whirring and nothing > > happening for 8 to 10 seconds. > > > I've had my eye on a Studio XPS for awhile, but like you, I'd like to > > squeeze a bit more life out of the old machine. > > I'll just throw this out...I recently went to IGb on my 4550 and it > made big difference. DDR is something like 3X the cost of DDR2 and > that makes it tough to justilfy. Lucky, I found mine of Craiglist for > $20 (2X512). I paid more than what the guy was asking. Believe it or > not he sent it to me before I sent him the check! There's still some > trusting souls out there... I knew this conversation sounded familiar... http://groups.google.com/group/alt.sys.pc-clone.dell/browse_thread/thread/a1bc522aaede836e/232f3e61ad59034b
From: Ben Myers on 4 Jul 2010 22:55 On 7/4/2010 5:52 PM, powrwrap wrote: > On Jul 4, 9:37 am, "Pat Conover"<pub...(a)comcast.net> wrote: >> Hi All; >> >> Well, I know I shouldn't have, but I went ahead and upgraded my old trusty >> Dimension 4550 with a 2.4 GHz P4 processor and 533MHz bus from 768MB of RAM >> to 2GB of RAM. Dell said it would only take 1GB, and that upgrade was not >> worth the effort. But I was on the Crucial site the other day, and ran the >> memory advisor program that said it would take up to 2GB of memory. So $100 >> and two 1GB sticks of DDR PC3200 memory later, this old workhorse is running >> like a new machine! > > You have just described my 8 year old machine. I too, have a 4550 with > 768MB of RAM, and have long wondered if I would benefit from sticking > more memory into it. Can you be more specific as to the performance > increase? What programs or activities benefited the most? On a > percentage basis, how much better is your machine running with the > expanded memory? > > I ask because I have noticed a slow down of late. I typically have a > Works database open, along with Firefox, Internet Explorer, perhaps a > Word doc, and Outlook all running at the same time. While not > lightning fast, it was never slow, until recently. When switching > between apps, I sometimes hear the hard drive whirring and nothing > happening for 8 to 10 seconds. > > I've had my eye on a Studio XPS for awhile, but like you, I'd like to > squeeze a bit more life out of the old machine. > Memory upgrades remain the most cost-effective way to improve speed of a computer. How much faster? It depends on your work habits and the software you use. I have a client who routinely opens lots of windows on his laptop, one each for ACT, Outlook, IE (multiple tabs), and a few Word and Acrobat docs, plus spreadsheets. Before a memory upgrade, his system flogged the paging file to death. After the upgrade from a stinking paltry 1GB to 3GB (the practical max for Win32), he no longer spends his life waiting for responses while the hard drive is busily wearing itself out. His use is the far extreme. Pat's use of multiple apps is not far out on the edge, but he takes good advantage of several Windows programs running at once. Your mileage from a memory upgrade may vary, but you will not be disappointed. as others suggest, a cleanup with CCleaner and a defrag with Defraggler (better than Windows defrag) will help too... Ben Myers
From: Pat Conover on 5 Jul 2010 12:45 "Ben Myers" <ben_myers(a)charter.net> wrote in message news:i0rhia$61v$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > On 7/4/2010 5:52 PM, powrwrap wrote: >> On Jul 4, 9:37 am, "Pat Conover"<pub...(a)comcast.net> wrote: >>> Hi All; >>> >>> Well, I know I shouldn't have, but I went ahead and upgraded my old >>> trusty >>> Dimension 4550 with a 2.4 GHz P4 processor and 533MHz bus from 768MB of >>> RAM >>> to 2GB of RAM. Dell said it would only take 1GB, and that upgrade was >>> not >>> worth the effort. But I was on the Crucial site the other day, and ran >>> the >>> memory advisor program that said it would take up to 2GB of memory. So >>> $100 >>> and two 1GB sticks of DDR PC3200 memory later, this old workhorse is >>> running >>> like a new machine! >> >> You have just described my 8 year old machine. I too, have a 4550 with >> 768MB of RAM, and have long wondered if I would benefit from sticking >> more memory into it. Can you be more specific as to the performance >> increase? What programs or activities benefited the most? On a >> percentage basis, how much better is your machine running with the >> expanded memory? >> >> I ask because I have noticed a slow down of late. I typically have a >> Works database open, along with Firefox, Internet Explorer, perhaps a >> Word doc, and Outlook all running at the same time. While not >> lightning fast, it was never slow, until recently. When switching >> between apps, I sometimes hear the hard drive whirring and nothing >> happening for 8 to 10 seconds. >> >> I've had my eye on a Studio XPS for awhile, but like you, I'd like to >> squeeze a bit more life out of the old machine. >> > > Memory upgrades remain the most cost-effective way to improve speed of a > computer. How much faster? It depends on your work habits and the > software you use. I have a client who routinely opens lots of windows on > his laptop, one each for ACT, Outlook, IE (multiple tabs), and a few Word > and Acrobat docs, plus spreadsheets. Before a memory upgrade, his system > flogged the paging file to death. After the upgrade from a stinking > paltry 1GB to 3GB (the practical max for Win32), he no longer spends his > life waiting for responses while the hard drive is busily wearing itself > out. His use is the far extreme. Pat's use of multiple apps is not far > out on the edge, but he takes good advantage of several Windows programs > running at once. > > Your mileage from a memory upgrade may vary, but you will not be > disappointed. as others suggest, a cleanup with CCleaner and a defrag > with Defraggler (better than Windows defrag) will help too... Ben Myers Thanks for all the replies. Like powrwrap, I too was thinking a new Studio XP machine with Win7 Pro, etc. But, this memory upgrade made the old 4550 run twice as fast, with less page file swapping. My setup is two internal HD, with two external USB, Firwire HD, for backups, backups, and more backups. You get it by now. I used to back up the OS and App installs once a week full, and daily incrementals. But my installation is so Micro$ofted up, that I decided it made no sense anymore. A clean install of XP, or dare I say it now, Win7 Pro! I always used the second drive for the swap file, with a fixed 1.5-2GB, now upped to 3GB, with the 2GB of RAM, using the old 1.5X RAM formula. My typical usage with all running is Outlook, 5-6 IE 8 windows open, 2-3 Word files 1-100 pages each, 2-3 Excel files about 12-sheets each, and way too many PDF files. Boot to desktop, no open apps except systray stuff, used to use about 500-1000MB of swap file, with 256MB free physical memory RAM, and once up and running ran as high as 1.5GB swap file. Now 2GB RAM, boots to desktop with about 400MB of swap file, with all apps running uses about 715MB swap file, with 1.34GB free physical memory of RAM. Less lockups, random crashes, and reboots too. The speed difference is amazing, easily twice as fast, and like a new machine. It is also much faster than most of the computers I fix for friends and family. But, they have HP printers, and more systray stuff than you can shake a stick at, takes forever to get to a settled desktop. Another side benefit, I put off cleaning the old 4550 because I didn't feel like hassling with all the wires in the rear under my desk. But, once opened up, I cleaned, vacuumed, compressed aired everything, the fans had sounded louder than my HVAC vents in a Blizzard, but are now nice and quiet. Dell said the Dim 4550 would only take 1GB of RAM, and going from 768MB to 1GB seemed like a waste. But, Crucial said it would take 2GB, so you know who I believed. Bottom line, if your running XP or Win7 and can go for 2GB or more in your older machine, Just do it! Best $100 I ever spent on a computer. Unless, the MB dies, I will probably just keep running this old beast for now, since it is my main production machine and does everything I need it to. When business picks up, maybe I will buy a laptop, which I could use out on the road for the occasional business trip, and meetings. Now back to my original post, I see ATI and NVidia AGP video cards on Newegg, and both have 15 cards each. Naturally, not all support OpenGL 2.0, which I need to run the ArcGIS program I want. But, based on the reviews, the ATI cards have really crappy drivers, with major installation headaches. The NVidia cards seem to have great drivers, which I already use for my old card, but seem to burn out way too soon, as Ben pointed out. The ATI cards are made by Saphire, Jaton, XFX, HIS, VisionTek, ASUS, PowerColor and GIGABYTE. I have heard of Saphire, VisionTek, ASUS and GIGABYTE, but not the others. Any ATI brands to avoid? The NVidia cards are made by Sparkle, EVGA, PNY, Jaton, GIGABYTE, and EliteGroup . I have heard of EVGA, PNY, and GIGABYTE, but not the others. Any NVidia brands to avoid? Thanks for all the replies and your uusal help on this issue, Pat P.S. I even cleaned my keyboard, and the old Dimension 8200 this morning. ;-) (Just can't kill that Dim 8200, but RAMBUS is another big mess)
From: William R. Walsh on 6 Jul 2010 10:56 Hi! > Well, I know I shouldn't have Maybe. If it works and it's paid for...and you plan to keep it a while longer...why not? I still see and support a few Dimension Lxxx/2100 series machines, along with things like the Dimension XPS series from the late 90s/early 2000s. They do everything the owners need. > "24-bit capable graphics accelerator I'd expect you could get that one by turning up the color depth. I'm running a system right now with an nVidia GeForce2 board in it and 32- bit color depth is available (and in use) at resolutions up to at least 1280x1024. > So what AGP video card would you recommend based on the > above. You have an AGP 4X slot in that system, so you can use cards that are listed as being compatible with 4X/8X systems. (8X only cards may well not work.) Any card you can buy will be a massive improvement over what you already have. More expensive cards typically have better quality fans. Look for design no-nos like capacitors placed right in the path of the fan outlet. Maybe you can even find a passively cooled card, which would be even better from a reliability standpoint (no cheap fan to burn out) if the passive heatsinking is sufficient. I liked the nVidia GeForce 6150LE for this application--EVGA sold a version of it with passive cooling, and it had excellent performance while staying cool. You may also wish to find a card that does not require a plug-in power lead. Dell underrates their power supplies and built them well at the time your system was assembled. Still, putting a card in that asks for a 400 watt power supply is probably asking for it. William
From: Pat Conover on 6 Jul 2010 21:34
"William R. Walsh" <wm_walsh(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:d02759ff-e035-4bfa-a0e2-7e1382eb06d0(a)u7g2000yqm.googlegroups.com... > Hi! > >> Well, I know I shouldn't have > > Maybe. If it works and it's paid for...and you plan to keep it a while > longer...why not? I still see and support a few Dimension Lxxx/2100 > series machines, along with things like the Dimension XPS series from > the late 90s/early 2000s. They do everything the owners need. > >> "24-bit capable graphics accelerator > > I'd expect you could get that one by turning up the color depth. I'm > running a system right now with an nVidia GeForce2 board in it and 32- > bit color depth is available (and in use) at resolutions up to at > least 1280x1024. > >> So what AGP video card would you recommend based on the >> above. > > You have an AGP 4X slot in that system, so you can use cards that are > listed as being compatible with 4X/8X systems. (8X only cards may well > not work.) > > Any card you can buy will be a massive improvement over what you > already have. More expensive cards typically have better quality fans. > Look for design no-nos like capacitors placed right in the path of the > fan outlet. Maybe you can even find a passively cooled card, which > would be even better from a reliability standpoint (no cheap fan to > burn out) if the passive heatsinking is sufficient. > > I liked the nVidia GeForce 6150LE for this application--EVGA sold a > version of it with passive cooling, and it had excellent performance > while staying cool. > > You may also wish to find a card that does not require a plug-in power > lead. Dell underrates their power supplies and built them well at the > time your system was assembled. Still, putting a card in that asks for > a 400 watt power supply is probably asking for it. > > William Thanks William for all the information. Yesterday I ordered the ATI Radeon HD 4650 1 GB card from Gigabyte, with OpenGL 2.1 and DirectX 10.1 for about $72, only about $25 more than a 512MB card. Should be here tomorrow. The power connector and PS had me a bit worried, but one of the reviews was an upgrade to a Dim 4550, just like mine, which made me feel a bit better. The ATi drivers and CCC are another story, and I will post back with my results, or come begging for help! Thanks again, Pat |