Video card for a Dell Optiplex (small case)...

Hello all,

I obtained a dell Optiplex GX270, if you look it up on Google images it
shows two, a regular tower case and a thinner one..I'm talking about the
thinner one.

It will take 2 full size PCI cards, but the AGP slot will only take (excuse
my ignorance if I'm wrong describing it) a "half size" card.

I like playing adventure games, not the fast shooting ones but the slow
beautiful graphic ones. My monitor is a SOYO 24" and I like the resolution
at 1600 x 1200 (if the game can handle it).

I downloaded "Dracula Origins) and the in board video chip can barely handle
it.

Can anyone recommend (to be bought on EBay or ?) a decent card (AGP or a
full size PCI) to let me bring the best of these games out?

My budget is about $80, unless there is a good reason to go higher.

Sorry to be vague, but if you need more information, please ask.

Thanks, Joe

"Joe Peach" <potatoesjoe@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:LJGdndB_b7rqIdDVnZ2dnUVZ_t3inZ2d@comcast.com. ..
> Hello all,
>
> I obtained a dell Optiplex GX270, if you look it up on Google images it
> shows two, a regular tower case and a thinner one..I'm talking about the
> thinner one.
>
> It will take 2 full size PCI cards, but the AGP slot will only take
> (excuse my ignorance if I'm wrong describing it) a "half size" card.
>
> I like playing adventure games, not the fast shooting ones but the slow
> beautiful graphic ones. My monitor is a SOYO 24" and I like the resolution
> at 1600 x 1200 (if the game can handle it).
>
> I downloaded "Dracula Origins) and the in board video chip can barely
> handle it.
>
> Can anyone recommend (to be bought on EBay or ?) a decent card (AGP or a
> full size PCI) to let me bring the best of these games out?
>
> My budget is about $80, unless there is a good reason to go higher.

You can use this low profile 256Mb GeForce 6200 AGP 8X card with a half
height adapter card. Both below....should be OK for your needs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150107
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...bBRACKET%2bKIT

Joe Peach wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I obtained a dell Optiplex GX270, if you look it up on Google images it
> shows two, a regular tower case and a thinner one..I'm talking about the
> thinner one.
>
> It will take 2 full size PCI cards, but the AGP slot will only take (excuse
> my ignorance if I'm wrong describing it) a "half size" card.
>
> I like playing adventure games, not the fast shooting ones but the slow
> beautiful graphic ones. My monitor is a SOYO 24" and I like the resolution
> at 1600 x 1200 (if the game can handle it).
>
> I downloaded "Dracula Origins) and the in board video chip can barely handle
> it.
>
> Can anyone recommend (to be bought on EBay or ?) a decent card (AGP or a
> full size PCI) to let me bring the best of these games out?
>
> My budget is about $80, unless there is a good reason to go higher.
>
> Sorry to be vague, but if you need more information, please ask.
>
> Thanks, Joe
>
>

My knee jerk reaction would be to go with a low-profile GeForce 6200 PCI
with 256M avoiding the shared memory issues your integrated graphics and
'turbo-cache'.

While I have no idea how robust the Intel on-board chip is, as anemic
the 6200 is at 1600x1200 the on-board chip has to be worse. At the very
least you will have 256M of local video memory and don't have to worry
about fit or heat. It's overpriced at $90US:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814139010

I'd be silly not to mention that ATI has DirectX8 and DirectX9 low
profile PCI cards, as much as $130 but better cards than the 6200 at
$90. However, they have 128M which just may under some circumstances not
be enough with 1600x1200 (maybe lots of FSAA and filtering and
buffering, who knows) and some of their other more robust low-profile
cards have large fans or double brackets.

Of course, if you truly can fit a full size AGP card, get a 7600GS for
$85 unless you prefer the edge an ATI Raedon HD2600PRO 512M for $80 has
over the 7600GS. Either way they will run DX9 games with high IQ, and
moderate to low FPS, which is what you are looking for.

Augustus wrote:
> "Joe Peach" <potatoesjoe@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:LJGdndB_b7rqIdDVnZ2dnUVZ_t3inZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I obtained a dell Optiplex GX270, if you look it up on Google images it
>> shows two, a regular tower case and a thinner one..I'm talking about the
>> thinner one.
>>
>> It will take 2 full size PCI cards, but the AGP slot will only take
>> (excuse my ignorance if I'm wrong describing it) a "half size" card.
>>
>> I like playing adventure games, not the fast shooting ones but the slow
>> beautiful graphic ones. My monitor is a SOYO 24" and I like the resolution
>> at 1600 x 1200 (if the game can handle it).
>>
>> I downloaded "Dracula Origins) and the in board video chip can barely
>> handle it.
>>
>> Can anyone recommend (to be bought on EBay or ?) a decent card (AGP or a
>> full size PCI) to let me bring the best of these games out?
>>
>> My budget is about $80, unless there is a good reason to go higher.
>
> You can use this low profile 256Mb GeForce 6200 AGP 8X card with a half
> height adapter card. Both below....should be OK for your needs.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150107
> and
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...bBRACKET%2bKIT
>
>

Here his mobo I think:

http://www.vicomelectronics.com/imag...ts/C2057-2.jpg

Your solution would work too, full height AGP might be a squeeze.

> My knee jerk reaction would be to go with a low-profile GeForce 6200 PCI
> with 256M avoiding the shared memory issues your integrated graphics and
> 'turbo-cache'.
>
> While I have no idea how robust the Intel on-board chip is, as anemic the
> 6200 is at 1600x1200 the on-board chip has to be worse. At the very least
> you will have 256M of local video memory and don't have to worry about fit
> or heat. It's overpriced at $90US:
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814139010
>
> I'd be silly not to mention that ATI has DirectX8 and DirectX9 low profile
> PCI cards, as much as $130 but better cards than the 6200 at $90. However,
> they have 128M which just may under some circumstances not be enough with
> 1600x1200 (maybe lots of FSAA and filtering and buffering, who knows) and
> some of their other more robust low-profile cards have large fans or
> double brackets.
>
> Of course, if you truly can fit a full size AGP card, get a 7600GS for $85
> unless you prefer the edge an ATI Raedon HD2600PRO 512M for $80 has over
> the 7600GS. Either way they will run DX9 games with high IQ, and moderate
> to low FPS, which is what you are looking for.

On these boxes, the PCI slots use a riser board that allows a full size PCI
card to fit sideways...we've got hundreds of these things at work ..he could
get a 128bit X1300 PCI card with 256Mb of DDR2 that would likely outperform
that 1/2 height 64bit 6200 AGP card, but that's $140. There's an X1550 256Mb
DDR2 card for $95 but it's 64 bit. There's a few 128bit 6200 PCI 256Mb
cards but they're just DDR, not DDR2 for around $80. So I don't know...like
you say, any would be an improvement.

In article <LJGdndB_b7rqIdDVnZ2dnUVZ_t3inZ2d@comcast.com>, "Joe Peach" <potatoesjoe@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>I obtained a dell Optiplex GX270, if you look it up on Google images it
>shows two, a regular tower case and a thinner one..I'm talking about the
>thinner one.
>
>It will take 2 full size PCI cards, but the AGP slot will only take (excuse
>my ignorance if I'm wrong describing it) a "half size" card.
>
>I like playing adventure games, not the fast shooting ones but the slow
>beautiful graphic ones. My monitor is a SOYO 24" and I like the resolution
>at 1600 x 1200 (if the game can handle it).
>
>I downloaded "Dracula Origins) and the in board video chip can barely handle
>it.
>
>Can anyone recommend (to be bought on EBay or ?) a decent card (AGP or a
>full size PCI) to let me bring the best of these games out?
>
>My budget is about $80, unless there is a good reason to go higher.
>
>Sorry to be vague, but if you need more information, please ask.
>
>Thanks, Joe
>
>
Go to ebay and search for

"Low Profile AGP"

On Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:52:03 GMT, glenzabr@dontspammebro.xmission.com
(GMAN) wrote:

> In article <LJGdndB_b7rqIdDVnZ2dnUVZ_t3inZ2d@comcast.com>, "Joe Peach" <potatoesjoe@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >Hello all,
> >
> >I obtained a dell Optiplex GX270, if you look it up on Google images it
> >shows two, a regular tower case and a thinner one..I'm talking about the
> >thinner one.
> >
> >It will take 2 full size PCI cards, but the AGP slot will only take (excuse
> >my ignorance if I'm wrong describing it) a "half size" card.
> >
> >I like playing adventure games, not the fast shooting ones but the slow
> >beautiful graphic ones. My monitor is a SOYO 24" and I like the resolution
> >at 1600 x 1200 (if the game can handle it).
> >
> >I downloaded "Dracula Origins) and the in board video chip can barely handle
> >it.
> >
> >Can anyone recommend (to be bought on EBay or ?) a decent card (AGP or a
> >full size PCI) to let me bring the best of these games out?
> >
> >My budget is about $80, unless there is a good reason to go higher.
> >
> >Sorry to be vague, but if you need more information, please ask.
> >
> >Thanks, Joe
> >
> >
> Go to ebay and search for
>
> "Low Profile AGP"

To be exact, according to the OptiPlex GX270 Spec Sheet
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...n/ug/specs.htm

Configuration form: Small desktop computer

"two half-length PCI cards (card size = 10.67 cm [4.2 inches] high by
17.65 cm [6.95 inches] long)"

"one low-profile AGP card (card size = 6.35 cm [2.5 inches] high by
16.76 cm [6.6 inches] long)"


--
======== Tecknomage ========
Computer Systems Specialist
San Diego, CA

Thanks to all the replies...

The help has guided me to EBay with the proper look-up.

Thanks again!




"Joe Peach" <potatoesjoe@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:LJGdndB_b7rqIdDVnZ2dnUVZ_t3inZ2d@comcast.com. ..
> Hello all,
>
> I obtained a dell Optiplex GX270, if you look it up on Google images it
> shows two, a regular tower case and a thinner one..I'm talking about the
> thinner one.
>
> It will take 2 full size PCI cards, but the AGP slot will only take
> (excuse my ignorance if I'm wrong describing it) a "half size" card.
>
> I like playing adventure games, not the fast shooting ones but the slow
> beautiful graphic ones. My monitor is a SOYO 24" and I like the resolution
> at 1600 x 1200 (if the game can handle it).
>
> I downloaded "Dracula Origins) and the in board video chip can barely
> handle it.
>
> Can anyone recommend (to be bought on EBay or ?) a decent card (AGP or a
> full size PCI) to let me bring the best of these games out?
>
> My budget is about $80, unless there is a good reason to go higher.
>
> Sorry to be vague, but if you need more information, please ask.
>
> Thanks, Joe
>

In article <qmbv44hrru71f989q8r0vtppmopjt76qm2@4ax.com>, tecknode@NOSPAM.com wrote:
>On Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:52:03 GMT, glenzabr@dontspammebro.xmission.com
>(GMAN) wrote:
>
>> In article <LJGdndB_b7rqIdDVnZ2dnUVZ_t3inZ2d@comcast.com>, "Joe Peach"
> <potatoesjoe@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >Hello all,
>> >
>> >I obtained a dell Optiplex GX270, if you look it up on Google images it
>> >shows two, a regular tower case and a thinner one..I'm talking about the
>> >thinner one.
>> >
>> >It will take 2 full size PCI cards, but the AGP slot will only take (excuse
>> >my ignorance if I'm wrong describing it) a "half size" card.
>> >
>> >I like playing adventure games, not the fast shooting ones but the slow
>> >beautiful graphic ones. My monitor is a SOYO 24" and I like the resolution
>> >at 1600 x 1200 (if the game can handle it).
>> >
>> >I downloaded "Dracula Origins) and the in board video chip can barely handle
>
>> >it.
>> >
>> >Can anyone recommend (to be bought on EBay or ?) a decent card (AGP or a
>> >full size PCI) to let me bring the best of these games out?
>> >
>> >My budget is about $80, unless there is a good reason to go higher.
>> >
>> >Sorry to be vague, but if you need more information, please ask.
>> >
>> >Thanks, Joe
>> >
>> >
>> Go to ebay and search for
>>
>> "Low Profile AGP"
>
>To be exact, according to the OptiPlex GX270 Spec Sheet
>http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...n/ug/specs.htm
>
>Configuration form: Small desktop computer
>
>"two half-length PCI cards (card size = 10.67 cm [4.2 inches] high by
>17.65 cm [6.95 inches] long)"
>
>"one low-profile AGP card (card size = 6.35 cm [2.5 inches] high by
>16.76 cm [6.6 inches] long)"
>
>

Like i said, "Low Profile AGP"