PCI graphics

[Pantera]

hey all,

I have a Dell computer, totally standard (cant remember exactly which model) with P4 2.0GHZ, 256DDR266 RAM, 80GB 7,200 HDD....but the problem is with the Intel Extreme Intergrated 64mb Graphics. I dont know the exact m'board stats or number, but i do know it doesnt have an AGP slot.....arghhhhhh! So the only thing i can do to upgrade my graphics performance which i will need for playing BHD etc online, is to use the PCI slot. Obviously this instantly limits the amount of cards available.....i found an ok looking one on www.ebuyer.co.uk....heres the link for the card:

Could anyone tell me how much of an improvment over the current GFX setup this would have, if any? I really need some better graphics and this is the only way i can do it, apart from obviously getting a new motherboard etc, but i am on a reallllllly tight budget of max £60.

Thanks all,

Rich

[Cactus]

A P4 with no AGP?
mmmm.........
Doesn't sound right but I guess it's possible!

[noby]

if you want to know your mobo type, run AIDA

noby

[HippyWarlock]

Hmmm - Close call.....

As the onboard graphics are on the mobo and as they are AGP as opposed to PCI sharing a 33Mhz Bus....... I think I'd borrow the best PCI card I could and bench it.

You could easily find your OB GFX whups most PCI cards, and it'd be a pity to waste cash where ya don't have to.

These are its requirements:
Pentium® III/4/Celeron™, AMD®/Duron®
Available PCI slot
128MB of system memory
Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
minimum 250W system power supply
DVD playback requires DVD drive

This is the technical support summary (from the site):
Technical Support:
Drivers
Not currently available
User Guides
Not currently available
Utilities
Not currently available
Tech Notes
Not currently available

But They Do get an Award:
XFX wins 2 NVIDIA awards!
Award 1: Best GeForce 6 box design (phew, that'll do it fer me)
Award 2: Best Sales support (hmmm)

Hmmm? Bit odd, was looking for some hard facts on PCI V onboard and I think I came across your motherboard, you didn't buy that or the system from the XFX site too did you? Surf Free dude!


OK I've had a good look around and the most balanced opinion I found seemed to be this:
"I don't think you're going to find a PCI graphics card that will offer substantially better performance than the onboard video. I think the fastest ATI graphics card that uses PCI is the Radeon 9000, and in PCI mode it might be slightly faster for 3D than Intel Extreme 2, but I really couldn't say for sure. I haven't seen an Nvidia PCI card for a long time; I don't know if they still make them. You might search Newegg or ZipZoomFly to see what they have in PCI graphics cards.

I don't see why you're so worried about the onboard graphics. They're really not that bad. I used to use Intel Extreme on the D845GBVL -- I used that for almost a year, and it was compatible with various OSes, never had any driver problems, and I had no complaints about color depth, resolution or picture quality."

Personally I'd save my pennies - big things are happening in the PC world this year, expect to see Moore's Law falter.

[Pantera]

i dont think you understand guys, it is important because i will be/am playing alot of games with it, i've been only able to play Delta Force: Black Hawk Down with everything on low at 640x480........just......and when Joint Ops: Typhoon Rising comes out, it simply wont be able to cut it, i downloaded the demo and played it, and as this graphics controller has absolutely NO T+L, the jeeps and helicopters and so on were just black blobs, and i found myself driving around *on* a black spikey hedgehog. Hmmmm............

And when joint ops does come out eventually, i will want to be able to play it, i dont care if everything is on low at 640x480, as long as i can play it online i will be happy, but i dont think its worth it with only 256DDR RAM.......hmmm well thanks for your advice guys.

Rich

[HippyWarlock]

What DirectX version have you got loaded btw?

PCI + DirectX9 = true?

I'm hunting still, but don't expect miracles:
Since Radeon 9200 has no support for DirectX9 we haven't tested it in a major extent. For the fun we tried three games: Tomb Raider, Halo and the benchmarking program 3DMark03 to see how the 3D performance behaved when such advanced effects were used. The 5200 could not manage to output over 10 fps in any of the tests. In 3DMark's Mother Nature test we measured a performance of lower than 0.1 fps. In Halo and Tomb Raider it went a bit better, the fps stayed at about 5. In other words totally unplayable. DirectX9 is only a line of text on the paper when it comes to the FX 5200 and it is nothing that brings happiness in any practical use.

[HippyWarlock]

PCI Radeon 9200 V PCI Nvid 5200:
http://www.nordichardware.com/reviews/g ... x.php?ez=5

Loadsa reviews here but cannot filter PCI ones out, you'll have to trawl:
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/v ... /index.php

Have you considered buying an AGP capable mobo?