Dell Dimension 3000... am I screwed?

[heelup]

Alright, so last fall I badly needed a new computer (namely for WoW) and just went by budget at the time. I bought a Dimension 3000 (I'm retarded, I know) and now I want to play CS:S with my friend and everything, but there's no way this heap will run it correctly. I was looking for cards I could use to run it but when I used ATI.com's advisor search, it came up with these:
http://buy.ati.com/productinfo/ua/final.asp
And I heard about someone with a Dimension 2400 using this which ran Source fine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814145087

But the thing is, I haven't heard about compatibility with a 3000 on the latter card, and I have no idea whether the former cards are going to be good enough. Are any of those cards viable options? Do I have alternatives? God damn you, Dell. Thanks in advance for replies.

[stroyal]

These 2 threads should help, if you only have PCI you are limited in what you can do.

http://www.techimo.com/forum/t159791.html

http://www.techimo.com/forum/t97366.html

http://www.techimo.com/forum/t66333.html

[heelup]

Thanks for the reply. I read through those and although helpful, I was wondering more specifically about my computer make and model, and how well cards will run Counter-Strike: Source. Anyone have some knowledge specifically with a Dimension 3000 and viable graphics card options?

EDIT: I was looking through ATI-made cards off of their site, and this is compatible with my machine... can it run CS:S without regularly occuring lag, etc.?
http://ati.pricegrabber.com/search_g...tnum=100436012

[stroyal]

If you don't get a reply, bump your post tomorrow, there are many here that can answer that question. It's a summer weekend, not many people are online.

Welcome to TechIMO!

[heelup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stroyal

If you don't get a reply, bump your post tomorrow, there are many here that can answer that question. It's a summer weekend, not many people are online.

Welcome to TechIMO!

Lol, thanks.

[osprey4]

So you went with a budget machine, and you're screaming at Dell?

Ok, a GF 5200 is a complete waste of time. A Geforce 6200 or Radeon 9200 is probably a good balance of performance versus price. Don't waste your money on a gimmicky 256MB cad, a 128MB card will do nicely.

[heelup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by osprey4

So you went with a budget machine, and you're screaming at Dell?

Ok, a GF 5200 is a complete waste of time. A Geforce 6200 or Radeon 9200 is probably a good balance of performance versus price. Don't waste your money on a gimmicky 256MB cad, a 128MB card will do nicely.

I've heard CS:S is pretty taxing unless you have a really high-end card, is this true or just Alienware owner rhetoric?

[SpaceSquad]

my AGP FX5200 128mb was able to handle CS:S on medium-low settings at 1074x768 res with a decent framerate. A PCI 6200, 5700LE, or 9200(not SE) should handle the same/a bit worse.

[carl33p]

An ATI 9250 or a FX5200 with 256mb ARE NOT high end cards. Those two cards with 128mb with run the same.

A PCI 6200 is what you want. This place use to have some it looks like...You could keep checking back or email and ask if they are going to restock:http://www.spacecentersystems.com/pr...ducts_id=75907

Otherwise the ATI 9250 will be fine. Read what reviewers said: 1guy states he has a dimension 3000 and gets 50FPS in HL2.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131411
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103167
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRa...82E16814102533
Dont buy the first link, i just want you to read the reviews....its overpriced.

[heelup]

Thanks a bunch everyone, very helpful replies.