I need a new desktop graphics card

I have a nvidia fx5500 256mb pci, i really need a new grpahics card but i dont know wat to get that will be way much better than the 5500, and i only have pci slots not pci-e.

 

you have a AGP slot?

 

Only PCI?

I'm sorry to say, but your computer is already at it's performance peak!

 

your saying if i was to get a 6200 256mb pci, there would be no significant difference?

 

I can't imagine there would be any, let alone significant. You're running on a platform that is two generations old. You can only dig a whole so fast with a teaspoon. Sooner or later, you need a shovel. I wouldn't be surprised if most integrated GPUs outperform a PCI grafix card... Exactly what are the specs of your desktop?

You can buy a cheap desktop with a PCIe slot for $400 easy, and a grafix card that will smoke anything PCI for $100.

 

yea...i have had this desktop for liek 2 years..... :
amd anthlon +1800 1.5ghz
736mb ram
40gb hdd
nvidia fx5500 256mb pci
I really dont have any money at all seeing as i just bought this laptop listed below in my sig and im only in 9th grade and get a salary of $8 a week for doing chores, and i live way out in the country were there is no jobs or anything out here, dont have a car either.Im trying to convince my dad to get a new desktop but he says he dosent really need one, i was thinkign about destroyign the pc so that would make him get a new pc but i feel liek that wont work...i kinda like this pc anyways.

 

how in the WORLD did u scrounge up the money for that laptop if you're only making $8 a week?????

Truthfully, dont even worry about a new Tower PC if you have that laptop comming. nothing that you could get (with your "salary") is gonna get a better tower anytime soon.

 

You don't need to destroy the computer; try to keep things honest. Unfortunately, though, the FX5500 you have really is about as far as that computer's going to go in terms of PCI video performance.

However, swapping in a new motherboard for that computer should be pretty easy and very affordable, and by doing that you open yourself up to a lot of video options.

 

The money you could invest in the desktop is entirely better spent on anything else. Your laptop will rock. I wouldn't invest another cent in the desktop.

 

Seeing as its a PCI interface, I'd just stick with what you have as posted.

It's just not worth upgrading.

 

"i was thinkign about destroyign the pc so that would make him get a new pc"

Lmfao! Oh that is rich...

The sad thing is I thought about doing that too at one point

Well if you do want to go through with that idea (lol), I suggest you unplug the computer, then open it up when no one is home, then unplug the fan that goes to the CPU (it will be sitting on this weird silver thing). And then wait for someone in your family to turn it on.

After it is turned on, in just a few seconds to a minute or so, the processor will be toast. I think this is a good way to do it because no one will know. Also if they decide to take it in and repair it, and not get a new one, it wont cost too much... plus you will probobly end up with a CPU better then the one you had before lol.

Just make sure your parants can actually afford a new computer before you do it. It would suck if you ruin this one and have to wait a long time before you get another. Also to keep them from knowing you did anything, when you open your tower, they sometimes leave a "void" mark. If it does, make sure you scare that off. It would also be a good idea to plug the fan back in later.

 

PCI? If you have what you stated in your specs I'm sure you have an AGP slot, even my P3 had an agp slot, you are mistaken.

If you DO infact have an AGP slot like I KNOW you do, check out 2 new video cards from Nvidia, the 6800GS AGP, and the 7800GS AGP. Yes the 7800 is faster, but the 6800 performs well and is cheaper.

The last of the great AGP cards, thank you nvidia!@

I'm looking to get one of those 7800GSes pretty soon.

Your desktop system looks like it could be overclocked quite nicely, so go read some overclocking tutorials online and DO IT~!

Cheers,
Mike

 

ok i guess i could look into overclocking, but i really dont have any agp slot in there i looked, i have 3 pci 2.0 slots but no orange agp slot
And ty fredrick i may try to do that....

 

so ur pc is two years old and is a PCI? I have a 3 year old pc that is AGP :/

 

i was under the impression that AGP slots were brown (well, my old desktop is anyway). i was in the same boat as you (well not the same, I had a job), but eventually i got fed up with the home computer.....no i didnt break it..i saved everything i could until I bought my desktop in sig. (credit cards help, but in your case your S.O.L.)..you might want to try to make a deal..maybe..like....4 year advance on allowance if your in dire need, but seeing as you have that laptop coming..your not in dire need of it.

if you DONT have a AGP slot, then it wouldnt even be worth the trouble of upgrading the motherboard. most likely you will have to replace the proccessor, obviously get a new video card, most likely new ram (unless the ram is good enough). could cost quite a bit of $$, depending on what you go for..

the fan idea will work, but if your going to damage the computer, why not do it all at once, instead of just one piece.

*i do not endorse damaging anyones computer, and if you do so it is at your cost, and whatever else i missed, i am not responsible for it*

hope this helps..

pb,out.

 

AGP slots are brown.
PCI slots are white.
PCI-E slots are an assortment of colors, they look kinda like AGP, but are longer. These could be the orange ones you were talking about.

 

the agp slots ive seen are orangish-brown
my pci slots are black
never been close to a pci-e
btw can i upgrade my processor and keep my motherboard?

 

you can, BUT you must be sure it is the same pin (939,754, socket A..etc...).

on my DFI board, my pci-e slots are Yellow.

is there any possible way for you to post a picture of the motherboard slot you are talking about...or even better, the card you have?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&hs=ShO&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&q=nvidia+fx+5500+256mb&spell=1

this is telling me it is AGP...please confirm this is your card.

pb,out.

 

heres my exact desktop graphics card: http://3dfuzion.com/cards_5500_pci_256.asp
and im not sure about my motherboard how can i find out wat pin it is and stuff?

 

While I am certain that a PCI version of the 156MB FX5500 exists, I'm also nearly certain that all semi-modern (eg, Athlon-XP supporting) socket-A moterboards have AGP slots of at least 4x. I have a 4-year-old HP desktop with a 4x AGP slot. Please run a program like Everest, I'm almost certain you have an AGP slot.

However, it's really not relevant; that laptop you've got coming will smoke any graphics card you could get for a 4x AGP slot and an Athlon XP processor.

You have a Socket A (462-pin) motherboard. Trust me; it's the only socket the Athlon XP 1800+ will go into.

 

ty i think ill try everest and look into my pc to check again for an agp slot, but i havent looked in like 4 months and i think all the slots are the same color, so how can i tell the difference beetween an agp and pci, or can i just run everest and fidn out that way?

 

any other program liek everest thats free?

 

yes, download it here:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

if it is indeed a PCI card, it would not even be worth to stay on the same motherboard to upgrade it. the new laptop you are receiving, will be more then enough for most games out right now. I would hold off on upgrading anything for a long time...unless your father decides that he will.

my $.02

pb,out.

 

i downloaed a program called cpu-z it dosent show me having any pci-e or agp slots, and it says my motherboard has this date: 04/02/01, which is weird cuase we bought it in Feb. Of 2003
Btw were can i buy a new processor i'm probably not goin to but i would like to see the availible options for this machine.

 

Me thinks you got royaly screwed

 

Jeez man. Your mobo was manufactured in 2001 (probably from an even older design), which means the cpus than run in it are several generations (and probably sockets) old, and it has no AGP or PCIe slot. My guess is the RAM that powers that thing is something pretty terrible too (pc133?).

I cannot stress enough how much you shouldn't spend a penny on that computer. Absolutely no joke, I wouldn't spend the money on a can of air to clean the darn thing. People honestly throw out better computers than that one. My best suggestion for you is to spend a couple hundred on a barebones system, cannibalize the floppy, cd-drive, video card, fans, etc... from your current machine, and then save up for your pcie card. Or, you could spend an extra $100 and get an emachine or equivolent.


To answer your original question. Hard to tell what cpus you could upgrade to without know the mobo make and model, or the socket type of your cpu. I can promise you the money spent on a cpu upgrade would not be worth any possible performance upgrade.

The computer seems to have served your family well. Let it grow old(er) and die in peace.

 

There are many motherboards with integrated video and no AGP.

 

Yes...HP and Compaq are two of the main ones that don't have AGP's.

 

What the friggin'~!?!?!?!? If you seriously don't have an AGP slot you got screwed by whoever sold you that system.

Can you recall if your system has an integrated graphics solution that you upgraded to the fx card?

Forget looking for different colored slots, sometimes they come in the same color. AGP slots are distinct, in that it looks like a PCI slot, but with a little something extra at the end like the old slots that I forgot the name of.

The AGP slots with something extra at the end making them longer are the AGP Pro slots and AGP 3.0 is shorter, but it is usually the top most slot in your motherboard just below all the input/output connections on the back of your computer/motherboard and just below the CPU.

Also, the AGP slot is usually placed back or forward towards the front of your tower compared to the other slots, but may not be in your case.

Thing is that date is just the bios reporting its date, so you could just update the bios. Also, with CPU-Z check out what kind of motherboard you have so we can take a look see ourselves.

I'm perplexed as to how your Athlon system doesn't have AGP when my old freakin' 733mhz P3 had one where a Geforce ti4200 was running extremely overclocked and rock solid for, well, forever.

I'm shocked. Temporary solution could be to go out and find an old cheap motherboard for your system that has an AGP slot, for less than a hundred bucks, maybe even 50 bucks and then go get your new videocard.

Cheers,
Mike

 

I told you. Lots of mobos there that come with integrated video and no AGP slot. Even P4 mobos (not sure if any K8 mobos are like that). Nothing too strange about that, just extreme budget cuts.

 

btw my pc came with an integrated Sis AGP video chip
my motherboard is this:

 

Oh my goodness, I just checked out your mainboard and whoever decided on this model is a freakin' moron.

I'm sorry, but you ARE out of luck. You will see performance gains going to the 6200 PCI, but it's not worth it as the gains will be minute. Maybe check out some reviews of that card before you get one.

I think that videocard can be found for 50 bucks? Maybe? Just get it on ebay. Used cards are fine, as videocards are a lot tougher than people believe, they rarely fail unless someone does something stupid or just doesn't clean out his/her system and it dies because of dust.

Like I said before, your best bet is to get a cheap agp board and a new videocard. This is the best way to go for your current setup if you can't afford a new system setup.

Cheers,
Mike

 

No reason to invest in that system. Even if you pair it with an AGP mobo, you will only be able to go so high with the videocard before the CPU starts to bottleneck. I'd leave it at that.

 

Actually, if his CPU is one of those t-birds he could overclock it very nicely. Some of those babies got up to 2400mhz on air cooling.

I'm sure if it is indeed one of those classic t-birds he could get it up to and maybe a little beyond 2000mhz. Then he'd be almost on par with my barton 2500+ system overclocked to 2315mhz. Worthwhile temporary investment to play more recent games, with a nice videocard upgrade.

 

you know wat forget this thread i just played halo on my laptop without adding that extra 1gb stick and it plays halo on full everythign res, sounds textures etc and barely any lag, just imagine once i add that extra 1gb stick to it!
btw im still tryign to fidn out how to install that ram plz post here if you know: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=42174

 

All I can say is it kinda bugs me that this kid is making more money off of his allowance than I make at my crappy job while I try and put my wife and I through college!!

I need a new job

 

well accualy i got the money for the laptop from christmas from all my family($500 yea they love me ) then my dad gave me an extra$250 for "investing" (letting him borrow the $500) so he could buy and fix up some 3 wheelers which he did then once i got the $750 total, then my mom gave me and my sister $300 of her tax income totals to $1,050 then my dad paid the taxes ($80) and bought me a 1gb stick for my laptop ($80). so you see im not really making the money my family jsut gives me a whole lot on holidays and when they get their tax return and i know how to save up my money real good... and believe menow that i have just played halo pc on full specs for the first time where as my desktop lags like hell just playing on low with 800x600 res, i probably wont be doin any gaming on this desktop in a looooong while

 

I was just messing with you

But you DO make more than me. It hurts a bit!!

 

holy cow how can i make more thna you i have only $25 to my name and even less once i buy a crossover cable so i can transfer my games to my laptop from my pc...oh wait tomorows friday Yay another $8 bucks!

 

My suggestion is go to EB games and get one. They are cheap...about $10 for a 50-foot cable...I don't know if they have x-over cables though.

 

LOL you guys are hilarious.

Oh yeah I totally forgot about your sig and your laptop Halo200x.

WHY DIDN'T I SEE THAT BEFORE!?!?!?!?!?

Yeah~!!!!!!!! Your laptop is good enough for almost all the games you want to play so USE IT~!!!!!!!!

Rawrrrrrrrr~!!!!!!!

 

btw wat are some games you suggest i play now that i have this laptop?

 

Everything. Seriously. Any game you think up. Just google games and check out those gaming magazines.

Just pick one.

A really complex online game called EVE Online is supposed to be great, plus the grahpics are like WHOA.

Check it out,
Cheers,
Mike

 

Try CoD or CoD2 (as my name suggests they are my favorite games). The original and the expansion should deffinatly run perfectly at full settings (does on mine) but you would have to turn a few things down for 2.
Oh btw nice system. I was thinking of getting the same thing myself but somhow got a good deal out of AW, and I'm in 10th grade making the same as you from allowance (I had to empty most of my savings account that my parents have been slowly adding to since I was born, my family isn't as generous with gifts)

 

$8? Why don't they round it up to an even $10 so they can pay you with one bill instead of one 5 and three 1's?

Also, what's on the agenda for next xmas? How about an xbox360 or ps3?

 

Let's stay on topic please. Thanks.

 

Reason I read this thread was that I, too, could use a new desktop graphics card, but my aging ecs k7s5a mobo w/ 4x agp isn't worth it. I have an agp Matrox g450 and two things I like are Multi-Display Zoom (to view a portion of one display, full screen on another display) and DVDMax (to view hardware-accelerated video playback in a video window on one display and full-screen on the other display).

Thinking that my agp 4x is just too old to upgrade, I'm thinking about building a new computer and going with a powerful nvidia pci-e 16x, but do any have this "multi-display zoom" or "dual head zoom" capability that matrox has? If not, what kind of TV features (besides simple tv output support) does the best nvidia/ati offer?

 

I hate to do this to yah drw, but just google it or check out Nvidia's website.


Cheers,
Mike