# Graphics Controller outdated - any hope? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630 "2009-06-13T01:42:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630/41 "2009-06-17T23:56:26Z")
> [@HorseloverFat](#): > > If youre buying OEM packaged video card you dont need to worry about power supply wattage. Dell will put the appropriate ps in there. Id go with the 9800. Its a slight modification on the 8800 thats in my desktop and its a very nice piece of technology. Well, I don’t know that I’d trust Dell to do so, but I’ll use their “chat now” link and ask. NVidia recommends a 400 watt power supply and the default in the specs is 350 watts. Interestingly, of the 3 choices they offer for the machine, the 4670 is the “dell recommends” one, but will cause shipping to be delayed until some time in July., The Nvidia can be out the door next week. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630/42 "2009-06-18T00:08:36Z")
And nope - the Dell chat person says they don’t upgrade, but they’ve tested the machines with the cards and they should work with the power supply. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630/43 "2009-06-18T00:09:43Z")
Well, NVIDIA is pulling a CYA. They dont know what you having in your system so they aim a little higher than normal. The guy who has 5 drives, 10 fans, video capture card, 2 DVD burners, a bluray, water cooling pump, etc all running at the same time might tax that 350watt ps, but Dell knows they are selling you a machine with a case that cant handle more than 2 drives and has appropriate cooling. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630/44 "2009-06-18T00:14:48Z")
> [@HorseloverFat](#): > > Well, NVIDIA is pulling a CYA. They dont know what you having in your system so they aim a little higher than normal. The guy who has 5 drives, 10 fans, video capture card, 2 DVD burners, a bluray, water cooling pump, etc all running at the same time might tax that 350watt ps, but Dell knows they are selling you a machine with a case that cant handle more than 2 drives and has appropriate cooling. Crap. So you’re telling me I can’t run a fishtank motor, ceiling fan and vacuum cleaner off the USB ports while I’m playing Sims3 and burning DVDs at the same time? :smack: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630/45 "2009-06-18T03:50:30Z")
I dood it! A Dell Studio as above. Vista Home Premium, 6G memory, got the NVidia card (as the other upgrade would have delayed shipping by a week or more). This was the “deal of the day” which expires tomorrow morning. It includes a 20" widescreen HD monitor (which I expect will be as tall as our existing little workhorse, just wider). Just for s&g I priced the same computer going from their main menu, with the same options - and without the monitor. It came to 80 dollars more. Of interest - it comes with an integrated sound chip, but offered a SoundBlaster card as an up-sell for 25 bucks. I clicked that - and got a warning saying that wouldn’t work with Vista 64 bit. Bwuh? Oh, they allowed an OS upgrade to some other variant of Vista, which I’d deemed unnecessary. But… they left the unusable sound-card upgrade there. So they’d have charged me 25 bucks for a paperweight. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630/46 "2009-06-18T05:18:58Z")
Congrats! ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630/47 "2009-06-23T23:41:17Z")
One last (I think) question: The monitor that comes as part of the bundle is described as "20.0 Dell ST2010 HD Widescreen Monitor with VGA Cable ". Googling the monitor (which apparently is not yet sold in the US - the only link I could find is priced in Hong Kong dollars 😕) seems to suggest that it _can_ take HDMI input. Any benefit to getting an HDMI cable? I’m assuming that with the graphics card, it could output either format (HDMI vs VGA). Would we see a difference in the display? > **[Dell's ST2010 20-inch monitor to bring HDMI for about $120](https://www.engadget.com/2009-05-11-dells-st2010-20-inch-monitor-to-bring-hdmi-for-about-120.html)** > > Regardless of its efforts, when discussing desktops, laptops, and even rumored smartphones, there are few brands in the business capable of inspiring a deep, consumer yawn as quickly as Dell. That can't be said about Dell's display business however,... ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630/48 "2009-06-24T01:18:28Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > One last (I think) question: The monitor that comes as part of the bundle is described as "20.0 Dell ST2010 HD Widescreen Monitor with VGA Cable ". Googling the monitor (which apparently is not yet sold in the US - the only link I could find is priced in Hong Kong dollars 😕) seems to suggest that it _can_ take HDMI input. > > Any benefit to getting an HDMI cable? I’m assuming that with the graphics card, it could output either format (HDMI vs VGA). Would we see a difference in the display? > > [Dell's ST2010 20-inch monitor to bring HDMI for about $120](http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/11/dells-st2010-20-inch-monitor-to-bring-hdmi-for-about-120/) Yes, from what I can tell it has connectors for both VGA and HDMI, but only the VGA cable is included with the monitor to save cost. The HDMI port is probably added for connecting it directly to a media center or possibly a stand-alone Blu-ray player, but the VGA cable should be fine for desktop use. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphics-controller-outdated-any-hope/499630.md?page=2)