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If i have 256mb RAM and the right slot, can i put in a Visiontek ATI Radeon HD 3650 1gb PCIe graphics card? Or do i need to add 1GB or RAM first? I wasnt sure since the system requirements for the card didnt say i needed a certain amount of RAM for it.
You need more system RAM anyway. I have no doubt your system runs poorly with just 256MB RAM, especially if a portion of that is used for onboard graphics. You should have at least 512MB...1GB would be even better.
That being said, why do you need/want a 1GB video card? The HD3650 isn't a high performance gaming card that can make full use of 1GB...it's just a marketing ploy to get you to pay more for a weak card.
The HD3650 is basically the replacement for the HD2600XT...performance is similar, though slightly lower, & it has support for DX10.1. HD3650 512MB cards sell for about $50-60. For best performance, get one that uses GDDR3 memory rather than GDDR2.
http://www.digital-daily.com/video/...
http://hothardware.com/articles/ATI...
"If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction
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"I was pretty sure i didnt need anything else, just wanted confirmation."
and your power supply is going to be ok??larry
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"I mainly want the card for games, my system runs fine"
Sorry, with 256MB RAM your system does NOT run fine. You may think it does, but if you were to upgrade to 1GB RAM, you would realize how poorly 256MB actually is. 256MB doesn't meet the minimum requirements for most games anyway. If you want to play games & play them well, upgrade both the RAM & the video card. And you do NOT need a card with 1GB memory...as I said, it's a marketing ploy. Just get a card that uses 512MB GDDR3.
And larry brings up an excellent point that I overlooked. Gaming video cards require a fair amount of power...your power supply *may* have to be upgraded to be able to accomodate the needs of a gaming card.
"If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction
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I just dug up your system specs & it appears this whole thread has been a waste of time. Your board doesn't have a PCI-e slot...it doesn't even have an AGP slot! It has standard PCI slots only. In other words, your rig will NEVER be a decent gamer unless you're content to play games that are several years old & are willing to play them on low settings?
Here's your system specs...see for yourself:
http://support.dell.com/support/edo...
My advice is to not invest any money in this system.
"If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction
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 Which one is faster
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Dvd-rom not playing self ...
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