Video card help

[Crossbones 1]

It is definitly time to upgrade to a new card so I can extend the life of this old PC and enjoy BHaH even more. I have a 3.4 pentium 4 with xp. Is there a good one for under $100? When I search the internet there are so many that it makes my head spin.

 

Thanks for any help,

 

Crossbones

[Crossbones 1]

I have a ATI 128 and a PCI slot. Unfortunatly I cannot buy a new rig now and I would rather wait for Windows 7 anyway. I am only playing OFF now so all I need is something that does a good job with that.

NVidia 8800? 9400 GT? GTS? 512 or 1 gig? I have no idea what it all means so even an educated guess would really help me.

 

Thanks, Scott

[Tamper 9]

crossbones, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings...but you say you have a PCI slot...Are you sure it's not a PCIexpress (PCIe) slot?

 

If it is PCI, you're really in a bad way...the fastest Nvidia GPU for the PCI slot was, I think, a GeForce 6200 with 256M memory. It actually might run OFF, but man, I can't imagine how well...

 

If it's actually PCIe, then maybe you're in business. Most of the machines that supported P4's usually had (at least) an AGP slot, many were PCIe. I would think it very rare for a P4 board to only have PCI slots.

 

Do you know your motherboard's manufacturer and model number, by chance?

[JJacobs 0]

yes sir, u need to first figure out exactly what kind of slot you are working with AGP, PCI, PCIe...secondly do not consider an ATI board. Traditionally the ATI cards/drivers have not faired too well with OFF. Mileage may very but take a look at the FAQ under the graphics section. I have an ATI 4670 IceT 1 gig.

 

right so as Uncleal says, after the card consider the PSU, don't want a lame PSU with high demand on a new flashy card, could end up inducing system instability.

 

and as Tamper says, don't want to be the bearer of bad news either but buying a card, then a PSU, then considering RAM...see the downward slope?

 

 

Once you figure out what type of slot let us know.

 

JJ

[Fortiesboy 3]

[quote

 

and as Tamper says, don't want to be the bearer of bad news either but buying a card, then a PSU, then considering RAM...see the downward slope?

 

 

 

 

JJ

 

Yes, I'm afraid that your system is behind far enough that a new card won't give a big enough improvement.

You mention Windows 7. I would consider keeping your money and saving towards a new system.

The leaps have been so large that upgrading your present system, in gaming/flight sim terms, is, IMHO, throwing away money.

[Crossbones 1]

Where do you look to find out if you have PCI or PCIe?

 

Scott

 

(Yes I am really dumb with computer stuff)

Edited May 27, 2009 by Crossbones

[Cameljockey 3]

If you have an OEM computer such as a Dell, HP, etc, look on the nomenclature plate on the computer and look for the model and serial number. You should be able to go to the manufacturer's website and find out anything you want to know. If it's not an OEM computer, you can download and run PC Wizard 2008 and it will tell you everything.

 

CJ

Edited May 27, 2009 by Cameljockey

[Womenfly2 0]

Hey, speaking about Video cards, has anyone tried this from Nivida ..... 3D Vision with OFF ?

 

Just curious.

 

WF2

[Tamper 9]

Good find, uncleal...I really hadn't looked at PCI stuff for a long time, and wasn't aware they made anything better than a 6200 for PCI. 'Course, on that bus (slower than AGP, which is in turn slower than PCIe) I don't know how OFF would do.

 

As CJ pointed out, Dells and some other big names have a "Service Tag" on the back, 5 or 6 alpha-numeric code; enter it on Dell's website to get details.

 

For "clone" PC's, watch when it boots ( you can sometimes use the PAUSE key on keyboard) for the board name/manufacturer to flash on teh screen, just as it boots. (Sometimes the video card will also flash a banner as well, the video card's usually first).

 

If you don't mind opening the case, look on the board itself. (If it's been more than a year, the machine could probably stand a good cleaning, anyway, is my guess). The manufacturer and model are usually silkscreened in white text somewhere on the board. Sometimes it'll be between two of the explansion slots, so you may have to "dig in". Sometimes it's between where the power plug, CPU and RAM are, just depends.

 

Another good way is one of the utilities as mentioned above, also a utility called SiSoft Sandra will list the MB mfr/model.

 

HTH

Edited May 28, 2009 by Tamper

[Dutch_P47M 9]

P4 3.4Ghz looks to me this rig must have a AGP or maybe a PCIe slot.

But you can check this download the free version of http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html and do a screenshot and copy paste this on this board.

What are you going to do only OFF3 then a better Vcard extra RAM, some Overclocking is the best choice in here