Computers & Electronics

Old Dell PC with an old ATI/AMD Radeon 3450 low-profile card - can it be replaced?

  • Last Updated:
  • Nov 19th, 2017 6:43 pm
Newbie
Mar 9, 2010
60 posts
8 upvotes
Hamilton

Old Dell PC with an old ATI/AMD Radeon 3450 low-profile card - can it be replaced?

I've got an old freebie low-profile desktop Dell optiplex (edit: sorry, not Inspiron) 760 for my son, and it's nice that it came with a video board - even an antiquated cheap one like a Radeon HD 3450. As is typical for these machines, it's running on an anemic little 255 Watt non-standard PSU so I can't really upgrade that.

I've seen online that others have upgraded this machine to a 6450, which is still an old out-of-date value-board, but benchmarks say that it would be a massive improvement. When I talked to a guy at Canada Computers, they disagreed - said that any upgrades on this machine would be a waste of time and I wouldn't see real improvement. Thoughts? Anybody else have any luck upgrading these non-upgradeable Dells?

It mostly plays old games - I'm not looking to run the latest and greatest on this thing. I'm just looking to get better performance on slightly-newer-old-games.
Last edited by Pxtl on Nov 18th, 2017 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
7 replies
Deal Addict
Apr 30, 2011
3633 posts
444 upvotes
RICHMOND HILL
I can't find any info on an Inspiron 760 - do you mean an Optiplex 760?

I don't know about if Dell's system BIOS refuses to recognize non-standard hardware, but if it doesn't I'd upgrade straight to a R7 250 if going the AMD route (you do not want to be running drivers for legacy devices like the HD 6XXX series), and GT710/730 if going with nVidia. I see that your system only accepts low-profile PCIe cards, so you're going to be limited in what you can get for your system.

You might also want to check if your system's motherboard supports a quad-core processor. They aren't too expensive, and swapping CPUs should be easy. Might as well clean the case innards while you're at it too.
Last edited by loserga on Nov 19th, 2017 12:02 am, edited 4 times in total.
Deal Addict
Aug 31, 2005
1495 posts
1037 upvotes
Richmond
They are not wrong. Your CPU is at best, an Intel Core 2 Duo E8000 series CPU. Which are at best 2 core. Almost 10 years old, and heavily inefficient.

It will still give your computer a small improvement. That is true. But I am not sure you will see much of an improvement given most of the performance will be heavily CPU bound.

Even if you do see improvement. It is generally considered not worth the investment into such an old device. Of course. If you are CERTAIN they are only going to be playing old game with NO HOPE of improving the performance whatsoever, sure, but I think even a better freebie on craiglist or for small amount of money to get at least a first generation core i5 / i7 will be a much better use of your money.
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2004
38395 posts
12020 upvotes
East Gwillimbury
I agree with Canada Computers, don’t sink any money into it. There is a reason why it was a free computer. There is no salvage value.
Newbie
Mar 9, 2010
60 posts
8 upvotes
Hamilton
Hah, my main desktop still runs an e8400 CPU - I bought it for good single-threaded performance because software was still generally very bad at mulithreading when I bought it.

But yes, I take your meaning - plonking a even a cheap little $50 video board into it seems like a waste when I can get an i5 from Dell refurbished sales for like $150 or so (and less when they have a sale).
Deal Fanatic
Dec 12, 2009
6146 posts
3618 upvotes
Toronto
If it is any help, I've probably got the video card that came in the Optiplex 990 you can have. If you want to dig up the specs, I'll rummage through my inactive surplus.

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