Is GeForce MX 440 64 meg card good for CM?

[Colonel J Lee]

That's my question. My Inno 3D GeForce FX 5600 PCI card has not worked in my Dell Dim 2400. I am sorely disappointed. Hauptmann Lisse and I are still trying, but it may have to go back. HOw's the GeForce MX 440 card for CM; good picture/graphics? Dell Forum posts are not too encouraging as far as the 5600 card goes......

[Schrullenhaft]

I suspect it should be a bit of an improvement over the built-in Intel 845GV video. In fact, once you're using a videocard other than the built-in one your system should see a small performance boost. Image quality-wise I think it should be slightly better (more graphical horsepower and support for more features). You'll definitely get fog effects that the Intel chipsets don't support in CM.

According to this CNet customer review ("Dimension 2400 a good buy for the rushed, cash strapped, or beginner") they're using a PNY GeForce FX5200 PCI 128Mb (without problem I assume). That card goes for US$95 at Newegg (PNY is a bit of a pricier videocard brand). You can get a PNY GeForce 4 MX4000 64Mb PCI for US$62.

Some caveats about these choices. The GeForce FX5200 has a minor problem with white in CM's 2D screens (and maybe the text color, I can't remember); it is a light blue instead of white. The GeForce 4 series doesn't have any unique problems to my knowledge. The GeForce 4 MX however is limited to supporting DirectX 8.x, while the GeForce FX5200 supports DirectX 9 (barely). For CM purposes the DirectX support doesn't make a difference to the current games, though it may make a difference in the future, where the FX5200 may support a few more OpenGL calls the 4 MX doesn't.

In some video benchmarks the GeForce FX5200 does a bit better than the GeForce 4 MX 440, but those are often games with some additional lighting effects that the FX series may do a bit better. The particular benchmarks were conducted with AGP versions of these cards though and PCI will probably be a bit slower (slower bus than AGP).

As for the difference between 64Mb and 128Mb... 128Mb would probably be marginally better. If the videocard doesn't have to go back to get different/more textures to load up into memory as often, then that may be an important benefit for the PCI version. Though to be honest I'm not sure how much of a performance difference there may be between 64Mb and 128Mb configurations. One thing to watch out for is that sometimes the 128Mb configuration has slower memory than the 64Mb version.

[Colonel J Lee]

Thanks for the very thorough reply, Herr Schrullenhaft. I think the problem with the Dim 2400 and the Ge Force 5600 is that the Dim 2400 Dell machine only puts out 250 watts! The card requires more, I've been told. How can you get the wattage required to run a card? In other words, how do I know the Ge Force MX 440 is not going to give me the same problem on the Dell Dim 2400?

I'm wondering if it's worth it at all to upgrade the card? The onboard graphics of the Dim 2400 are terrible though.

[Schrullenhaft]

Yes, the power supply wattage can be common culprit with some compatibility issues. Finding the wattage requirements may be a bit of a task with most manufacturers. Many may not mention that spec and Nvidia doesn't seem to have anything generically listed for their chipsets.

The PNY GeForce FX 5200 PCI only requires a minimum of 250 Watts according to this spec sheet, so it may work. The same wattage minimum is mentioned for the PNY GeForce 4 MX 4000 PCI too. However the same spec is also given for the discontinued PNY GeForce FX 5600 AGP and I wouldn't suspect that the PCI version would really require more wattage.

There can be other issues than just the power supply itself. The motherboard may not be able to handle the electrical current draw (on either the AGP or PCI buses) due to the design or quality of components on the motherboard. Another issue may just be BIOS or other hardware compatibility issues.

When it comes to Dell's support, if they don't sell it (the upgrade part), then they may know little about compatible upgrade options for the Dimension 2400. My guess is that either a GeForce FX 5200 PCI or a GeForce 4 MX 440/4000 should work with your computer. Buy from a good dealer (online or local) and possibly let them know in advance that you may want to exchange the card if it proves incompatible should help ease some of the hassle (though some may charge a 'restocking fee' if you don't exchange for something that they carry or just to make an exchange).

I'd say that it is worth upgrading the video on your computer. The 2D performance probably won't be too much better (but it may). The 3D performance should be noticeably (but not incredibly) better. Image quality should be a bit better to about the same (hard to say since this could be affected by the quality of components that the videocard manufacturer uses).

[Hpt. Lisse]

Here is a great article on on-board video. In short, they all rot, with the possible exception of the NForce2 mobos, which is basically a MX440 built in.

Changing out the power supply IS something that's fairly easy to do; however, we would have to be convinced that this is truly the problem before proceeding.

Hey, what's the wattage on the power supply of the other box?

Hpt. Lisse

[Schwarze]

I have recently just upgraded to a Geforce FX5700Ultra, but my last card was a MX440 of which the model you're asking. I had decent framerates with the 440 in 1024 resolution, 32 bit color. I say if you're in a budget, that would be a good card to play CM with. (though my new 5700ultra is tottaly awesome ;P)

[Colonel J Lee]

How do I determine the other box's power? The only thing I saw in the Sisoftware Analysis regarding power was 1.79 volts (the "other box" being the older computer, not the Dell).

[Schwarze]

how old is your other computer and what brand? Most computers around a year old are 400W to 450W

[Schrullenhaft]

You need to open up the computer and look for a (large) label on the power supply itself. The label will most likely list the various voltages put out by the power supply and the amount of amperage at each voltage. Somewhere on there it should hopefully tell you the wattage or it could possibly be calculated from all the amperage and voltage specs. Sometimes it might even be part of the 'model number' (i.e. - AN250EPC may be a 250W power supply).

Most 'branded' computers will have a power supply with 200 - 350W. 400W and above is a bit rare for most consumer level computers unless it was built for 'serious gaming' or to act as a 'server'.

[junk2drive]

there is a sale at new egg

and they redid their website, better

[Colonel J Lee]

To answer your question, Schutzstaffel, it's a Micron PC, year 20001, 1 Ghz, 512 RAM, 40 GB HD.

Thanks for the info, men. I will look into the box for alphabetic and numeric indicators of the wattage.

[Hpt. Lisse]

These guys are hands-down the best - interesting to see they have a seperate category called "Dell" power supplies! Like a good monitor, this would be a great investment for the long run.

[AbramsOnPoint]

The reason they have separate power supplies for Dell's is because Dell uses a non-standard power connection. Using a non-Dell power supply with a Dell mobo, or vice versa, will fry at least one of the components. Here is a web site that will explain what Dell has done. http://www.upgradingandrepairingpcs.com/articles/upgrade3_01_01.asp