Dell Demension 8300 & BFG 7600 GS

[mavic517]

Purchased 8300 Feb 2004. Intel Pentium 4 processor at 3.0GHz with HT Tech-
nology. Came with Radeon 9800 pro (125mb). The video card is bad, almost positve. The left had side of the monitor has large vertical lines that change
colors, to the point that I can't see things on this side. The right side of the
monitor also has problems with fronts, etc... Note: the monitor works just fine
when i "plug" in to another computer. I took the 9800 pro card out and then
reinstalled it, same crazy screen.
Questions:
1) What type of AGP connector/slot does the Dell 8300 have?
a) agp 3.0, agp 2.0 or a univeral apg?

2) I'm looking at a BFG Tech BFGR76512GSOC 7600 GS 512MB 128-bit
GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X card to replace the old 9800 Pro.
a) will it work with the dell 8300?
b) does the dell 8300 have enough power for this card?
Thank you for your time. Please help.
Sincerely,
Mavic517

 

[red1776]

HI mavic,
welcome to Techspot
it appears that your dimension 8300 has an agp x8 interface see here :
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8300/sm/specs.htm

the documentation on your system says that the 8300 came with either a 250w or a 305w psu.
(you will have to check the psu tag to find out which yours is) the power requirements for the 7600 GS is as follows from the manufacturer:
A minimum 350W system power supply (with 12V current rating of 20A or more)

so it looks as if you would need a new power supply for your 7600 GS upgrade.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The 7600GS will work with the 305W PSU with no issues (22A on the +12V rail). I wouldn't run it on the 250W one however. I'd recommend something like the Corsair 400CX in that case.

 

[mavic517]

Thanks to the both of you. Where is the psu "tag" located?
Also, I'm not into gaming, I just want to be able to see on my
monitor. Right now I'm working on a HP Pavilion 8290 a friend
loaned to me. Its terrible, its sooooo slow (I have dial-up), I have
to wait about 10 minutes to start working online.
Question: If you were to puchase a agp card to this computer,
which cards would you be looking at.

Thanks again,
mavic517

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

I'd recommend this card for you. It's cheap and will do the job nicely.

 

[mavic517]

Thanks Rage !!

Thanks for the info, and thanks, you just saved me some money.
I get the card you recommended.
Sincerely,
Mavic517