Dimension 4700- what's the best compatible graphics card under $100?

This is what I got for mine: http://3btech.net/xfxge8651pci.html

You don't have to get that exact one... but if you have a PCI card in you won't be able to physically cram an 8600GTS in... and I think that's the highest level of card the system will take.  I believe everything post 8600GTS requires PCI 2.0, which we don't have... although there may be a mid-line hiding in there somewhere.  Of course... that's as far as NVIDIA goes.  And yes, you are using integrated.  I've an EVGA Nvidia 6600GTE I can sell you real cheap though.  Paid $200+ when it was new.  Good card... lags on some of the effects when playing F.E.A.R. though.

Stats back at ya:

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition, 32-bit Service Pack 1, Build 6001

Dimension 4700

Brand = Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz, Family = 15, Model = 3, Stepping = 4

4 GB ram

PS:  The 8600GT plays F.E.A.R.'s effects quite beautifully... even when using full widescreen (1680x1050) which is "not optimized" for the game.  Haven't tried out all the Half Life games I've collected, but I imagine similar results.

Hi mattcb, How about an 9500GT 512MB for $64.99 HERE, or an 9500GT with 1GB for $69.99 HERE. Though you manual HERE says you have an 305w PSU, manufactors do overstate the power for their cards, and Dell do understate the power for their PSU's.

AOE III is very graphics and processor intensive. I can run it fine on my OPtiplex 745 (core 2 duo E6600, VISTA with 4gb ram and ATI 3650. I get 30 - 24 fps @ 1280x1024.

I am upgrading my old Dell 2400 with a 4700 motherboard from www.serversupply.com for $62.00. I will let you know how AOE III runs on it this upcoming weekend.

I would highly suggest these upgrades and will post more info when i receive my 4700 mobo.

4GB memory - you should have 4 slots and if you only have 2 filled then you just need another 2gb. If all are filled then buy 4 new sticks for $50

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134031

ATI's new cards are as powerful as a 9600GSO and require no external power. They are very efficient and run cool and reasonably quiet.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2118-2.html

"The Radeon HD 4670 slaps previous-generation, high-end performance squarely in the jaw of mid-range pricing. With 320 shader processors, this card means business and will offer awesome 1600x1200 gaming. Compared to the 9600 GSO, its main advantage is a low-power requirement—the 4670 doesn’t need an external power cable, which for some upgraders is a really important feature."

1st recommendation

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121274  $80   4670 GDDR3

2nd

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161262 $50    4650 GDDR2

After upgrading your memory and to these cards your only bottleneck will be your processor which would require a new motherboard / computer.

Good luck! Let us know what you purchased.

I have recently upgraded my Dimension 4700 to play games as well.  I put in 2 one gig sticks of ram, a Geforce 8400gs, and two fans.  My 305 watt power supply handles everything just fine, but the fans are critical.  I know you could put in a slightly more powerful card, but this card got very hot the first time I pushed it.  After gaming for about an hour, I closed the game and checked the temperature of the card and it was at 85 celsius.  Afterwards, I put in a 120mm fan blowing right at the card, and I popped off the lower optical drive case filler and put a 80mm fan there blowing outward.  Now I can game for hours and the temperature stays around 55 celsius.  The card plays Half Life 2, Civilization 4, Mass Effect and other games just fine. 

My advice would be to go with whatever card you want, but be prepared to jurry rig some fans into the case if you want the card to last a few years.

Hi,if you have answer for that, i'd like to know too. thanks.

I've been reading this thread and similar ones - and have noticed they're a few months old.  I was wondering if the advice would remain the same - or if there's a newer card someone would recommend.

The one's I've seen most recommended (Dell Dimension 4700) are the Radeon 4670 (Sapphire, MSI or HIS) or the Geforece 8400 GS (ASUS or MSI), both of which are reasonably similarly priced.  I'm upping the RAMM to 4GB as well, as I'd like to get a few more years of of this machine (while the kids use the newer ones - of course).

Thanks to anyone with some advice.

The 512MB 4670 has the 512MB 8400GS beat by a mile. You can compare the cards here: http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=529&card2=579 

I just bought one (Sapphire) for my Dell 4700 to replace a 256MB Geforce 8600GT which suffered 4 capacitor explosions. So far so good.

Also do not get anything larger than 512MB cards for a 32bit processor. 32 bit processors can only access 4GB worth of I/O addresses. I/O addresses are used for RAM, video RAM, modems, sound cards, ethernet, communication ports, internet cams etc. The maximum amount of RAM that a 32 bit processor can use is typically about 3.25 GB. It can be much less than that if you have lots of peripherals. If you got for instance a 1GB video card then your available RAM starts at 3GB minus the other peripherals. You might have 4GB of RAM installed but end up with 2.4 GB being usable.

In my case, I just checked, I lost 0.25GB of usable RAM by increase the video RAM from 256MB to 512MB. It now says I have 3.0 instead of 3.25 GB. So you can save some money by having a matched set of 1GB RAM and a matched set of 512MB RAM for a total of 3 GB.