[PCat video card debacle!] Help improving graphics for new PC - updated.

[Piratecat]

Did you use Excel to draw your diagram?

I upgraded to Microsoft Visio! Let's hear it for high-tech jobs with actual software tools. Mind you, I think it would have been faster for me to draw it with the drawing tools in Excel...

I just called the company I bought it from (Newegg), and they say there's no restocking fee as long as I buy something else. No problem there - now I just have to find a comparable card that will fit.

 

[Simplicity]

Oh, god. That is annoying! (Great picture though...)
Bad motherboard design + bulky video cards = the suck.

Well, on the plus side, you can get one heck of an ethernet card to go
down in the LOWER slots (Go Dell!). Slap some heat sinks on those puppies and uh...
Yeah okay that won't do much.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I've seen 7800GT cards with the same tiny heat sink that a 7600 has.

What kind did you get?

 

[Mycanid]

What a pain in the neck! Yeesh.... Love your drawing by the way.

Yes, Dell's cases for that particular model pc ARE rather ... err ... snug, eh? (We have one in the office here too.)

Will newegg allow you to get a new card and then refund the difference if you get a "weaker" card? If so and you can't find a comparable video card that you originally purchased "power-wise" then that might be a way to go. If no, maybe you can get a weaker card and something else from newegg (maybe they are offering that external hard drive you always needed for backup purposes or whatnot) to "cover the cost".

Still - it's a bummer. I wish you success!

 

[trancejeremy]

Hmmmmm. My motherboard seems to be the complete opposite of that.

That is, all my slots and power supply stuff would be on the left hand of PC's schematic. So the fan on my video card just extended into to the PCI slot next door (which I wasn't using).

I wonder if cards come in left handed/right handed versions?

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Hmmmmm. My motherboard seems to be the complete opposite of that.

That is, all my slots and power supply stuff would be on the left hand of PC's schematic. So the fan on my video card just extended into to the PCI slot next door (which I wasn't using).

I wonder if cards come in left handed/right handed versions?

Not that I've ever seen. And you are right, the scheme seems to be flpped opposite of how most motherboards are arranged. Must be a propriatary Dell model.

 

[Piratecat]

In the words of the immortal Oscar Wilde, noted wit and international bon vivant, "Proprietary Dell model = teh suck."

 

[Mycanid]

Hey there folks - this Dell model IS in fact a proprietary Dell build, and while a good system spcs wise if you want to upgrade in is a pain in the [[AHEM!]] ... if you know what I mean. Poor PC is not alone in his woes.

Oh and by the way PC - one website I came across said that the power supply(!?!) in the case was also proprietary ... so be very careful about upgrading THAT should you ever decide too!

 

[KenM]

Sounds like we have another pleased Dell customer. Proprity sucks. I had a problem with propriety when I wanted to upgrade my video card to my old HP computer. The power supply wa s propriety, and so was the place on the motherboard where the power supply plugged into. I tryed to get a new case and a whole new power supply and just switch the motherboard over, but I had to basically get a whole new system just to switch the video card over.

 

[Simplicity]

Oscar is such a plagarist, he had to go to the future to steal my quotes...