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low profile aiw card - do they exist??

439 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by spillz564, Mar 3, 2005

spillz564

Discussion Starter · Mar 3, 2005

A search in this forum for low profile cards only turned up 4 threads. None of which discussed this issue.

I'm putting together a meager HTPC for a second living room (SDTV) and recently purchased a Dell GX150 computer (PIII 933MHz) that requires a low profile video card.

I bought an ATI AIW Radeon recently on Ebay only to find out that I need a low profile card.

According to Dell's techinical specs this gx150 will support a 4x AGP low profile card.

I'd like the card to have S-Video out so that I can run it to an old 36" Sony XBR SDTV. I'm not sure if it's possible to get a low profile card with S-Video out as well as an analog TV tuner on it.

I don't want to purchase another graphics card only to find out that it won't fit...again.

Can any of you computer gurus point me in the right direction of a low profile video card with any of the following:

1. S-Video (TV-out) is a must. Running to an SDTV

2. Would like an analog tuner onboard (maybe this isn't possible)

I will be using this HTPC mainly for playing MP3s via WMP but would also like to use it for PVR of analog TV as well so I don't need high end graphics processing.

Will any of these work (looks like no analog TV tuners included):

NVideo Geoforce MX4000 (~$30)

Powercolor ATI Radeon 9250 (~50)

ATI Radeon 7500 (~$15)

I'd like to stay under $50 if possible since this is a budget HTPC for a 2nd room.

Thanks in advance...

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gmanvbva

· #2 · Mar 3, 2005

I bought that Powercooler ATI 9250 that comes with reg. profile and low profile back plane to put in my dell SFF case.

It doesnt fit.

The low profile does but the card length is to long by about a 1/4" so when I go to close the case the end of the card hits the slim line CD-ROM. Not sure if your case is the same as my Optiplex GX 260 SFF but I would make sure the lengh is good also.

Make sure you check the length as well.

I hate to say it but your best bet may to buy a card from dell or find a match of what they are offering.

I am using the 9250 and just not closing the case all the way, not a great solution but where I have it you dont really notice it is slightly open.

BTW I havent seen a AIW Low profile card at all. But they do make a low profile Haupauge card which would be ideal over a AIW/ATI wonder

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spillz564

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 3, 2005

Thanks for the reply. C'mon I know there's more Optiplex owners out there, speak up!

I found out that at least the exterior dimensions between the Optiplex small form factor (SFF) and the small desktop (SD) are different. What this means for the "guts" of the machine I don't know.

There is a lot of talk about what video card fits these machines on the Dell forums but unfortunately there are no difinitive answers.

SFF (HxWxD) = 3.57 x 12.54 x 13.93"

SD (HxWxD) = 4.2 x 15.3 x 17"

So there seems to be about an additional 0.6" of height on the SD. I'm wondering if this is enough to fit the 7200 card. The SD appears a lot longer than the SFF but I'm not sure if that translates to more room for the video card.

I picked up an MX4000 card at Wal Mart this morning on the way to work. I am going to try this card to see if it fits and report back. Hopefully this thread will catch some other Optiplex owner's eyes and they can chime in on what video cards fit, etc too.

By the way, as far as I can tell, there are no low profile AIW cards made. I guess it's just too hard to fit the tuner in such a small space with everything else.

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spillz564

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 3, 2005

Here's a couple links that may help some other Optiplex owners:

Technical Specs GX150: (includes sizes)
http://www2.rhi.hi.is/thjonusta/sala/gx150/specs.htm

Users Guide GX150:
http://docs.us.dell.com/support/edoc...n/ug/index.htm

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