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[Sleazy P Martini]

Ok when I bought my PC a while back I had no idea whatsoever about A+ and what to know when buying a PC. I did tell the guy that I did not want integrated video and he assured me that I had an AGP slot. Now that I've taken A+ I decided to check out my motherboard and guess what.....Integrated video. So anyways I've been looking at PCI cards so that I can play games. It doesn't have to be the best, it just has to work good. I think I found a card that will do the job, but I'd like to hear from any of you who know their card specs. Is this one any good? https://www.staples.ca/products/catal...skusetid=14311

[kupoartist]

ick... PCI cards...

Okies... the real problem is bandwidth with PCI cards. PCI doesn't allow as much data through to the mobo as quickly as AGP (or AGP 2x, 4x or whatever) so it effectly bottle-necks. Essentially that means that even if a decent PCI card exsisted (perhaps a GeForce4 PCI for the sake of arguement) It would be effectivly only as fast as say, a Geforce 2 GTS because the Data simply cant get through...

As for a decent PCI card... I think there was a GeForce 2 MX that was available in PCI stylee... but you'd be hard pressed to find one, and to be honest, I'd rather get a new motherboard that supports AGP...

Anyways.. Enough Tech. Well perhaps some more ^_^. Intergrated Graphics ain't necessairly a bad thing. If you've got an N-Force board, you can start feeling better for yourself... especially if its an MSI N-Force (In which case you can cut a hole in the case and put some perspex in the gap to show off your purty Red Chipset ^_^).

Also are you absolutly sure you don't have AGP? I seriously haven't heard of a PC that came without some form of AGP slot in the last 2 years or so.... I'm not sure how much futher I can comment because I'm not sure how clued up you are (and you must be fairly... A non-clued up person doesn't open up the back of their PC to have a snoop ^_^)

:IMPORTANT EDIT: Found this on www.dabs.com : GeForce 4 MX420 64MB PCI RP VO <- Its only £90 or so but its a UK site...

:IMPORTANT EDIT 2: The above card is manufactured by a company called PNY : https://www.pny.com/home/products/verto.cfm is the url for their Graphics card section ^_^ -- Just check that you dont have AGP... PCI Sucks real big.

:Edit 3 Totally un-important: I have a 32mb Hercules GeForce 2 MX by the way ^_^ - It copes with most things (average of 60fps at Quake III at 1024x768 32bit = Quite nice for a cheapy arsehole card) But I still wanna nick my friend's GeForce3 ti500

[Sleazy P Martini]

Yeah I'm sure I don't have an AGP slot. Trust me, if I did I wouldn't be looking at PCI. I just realised that my link won't work unless you type in a Canadian postal code. So here's the specs on the card I've been eyeing.

VISIONTEK - Xtasy GeForce MX420 64MB PCI Video Card

Features:

Powered by the nVidia GeForce4 MX 420 chip
256-bit 3D and 2D graphics accelerator
NVIDIA nView display technologies
64 MB SDRAM memory with Lightspeed Memory Architecture II
Integrated 350MHz DACs
Accuview Antialiasing
High Definition Video Processing Engine
MX memory Crossbar
Integrated TV encoder
Specifications:

Controller: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420
Bus Type PCI
Memory 64MB SDR
Core Clock 250MHz
Memory Clock 166MHz memory
RAMDAC 350MHz RAMDAC
API Support Direct-X, Open GL ICD for Windows
Connectors VGA, S-Video
1 Billion texel fill rate
31 Million vertices/sec setup
2.7GB/second memory bandwidth

[Spank-A-Thon]

Sleazy, do not buy a GeForce 4MX - instead go for a GeForce 3. The following article will explain why (source: www.gamesradar.com)

12/02/02]
Id programmer John Carmack clears up a few things regarding the relative merits of the new GeForce 4 Ti and GeForce 4 MX cards

Doom programmer John Carmack's latest .plan web diary update offers more revealing insights into the game's development, and helps clarify some of the current confusion regarding Nvidia's latest range of graphics cards.

The first new card is the high-end GeForce 4 Ti, which is the business as far as current graphics technology goes - 87 million polygons and 4.9 billion textured pixels per second, with 128MB of video memory, and the ability to drive up to 16 monitors. It costs about as much as an Xbox, mind, so it ought to be pretty hot.

However, the other card, the budget-priced GeForce 4 MX, is a different kettle of fish. Carmack explains that the MX is essentially a souped-up GeForce 2, which itself was just a GeForce 1 running at a higher speed. The MX card lacks many of the features of the GeForce 3 range, and is way down the evolutionary ladder compared to the mighty Ti. The only thing they have in common is the number 4. Got that?

"Do not buy a GeForce4-MX for Doom," is Carmack's verdict.

Hope this helps bud.

- S

[kupoartist]

yeah I read that... the problem is that there is no such thing as a PCI GeForce3... notice how PCI cards only cover the MX ranges, of which there was no representation in the GeForce3 series... = bad news.

Told you PCI was crap.... I'd be inclined to say this however : Get a new AGP equiped motherboard and a cheapy AGP GeForce 3. That shouldn't be all that expensive. Though quite how you haven't got AGP is waaaayyyy beyond me. Is the US the PC buying 3rd-world or somthing?


Edit : No scrap that. Quite simply, its worth noting that the kind of PC that comes without no AGP slot, is going to have a crappy processor, motherboard RAM and the rest. All these would slow down my old Voodoo Banshee ^_^ - what are the specs of your PC... also whats the make of your Mobo?

[Sleazy P Martini]

Yeah my PC is sort of crappy. We needed something so I could go to school, but still have some cool stuff. It's an Emachine (Don't even bother to tell me that it's crap, cause I've heard it all before) Remember that when I bought it I knew absolutely NOTHING about PC's. Anyways I don't know the manufacturer of the motherboard (it says AN810(E) in my book), but it has a pentium 3 1GHZ processor, 128MB of SDRAM (upgradeable to 256), 30 GB HD, and a 12x cd burner. It fits the bill perfectly for what we needed. I just wanted to play some games on it and I need a PCI card that will do the job. I also knew that the MX420 was comparable to the Geforce 2. As long as I can play Allied Assault half decently I'll be happy.

[KraftSLU]

Holy cow, are you sure you don't have an AGP slot? I have never seen a board that supports socket 370 and doesn't have one... usually, even with integrated video, they still have at least a 2x AGP slot for upgrades, all you have to do is disable your built in video card in the bios... if not, you can pick up a new socket 370 board on ebay for crazy cheap and move all your boards and such over to it.

[kupoartist]

Originally posted by Sleazy P Martini
but it has a pentium 3 1GHZ processor, 128MB of SDRAM (upgradeable to 256), 30 GB HD, and a 12x cd burner.

That really dosen't sound that bad... I myself only have a 900 Athlon (which are better than Pentiums by far, and is actually comparable exactly to your processor...)

It'd be an idea to be sure of what integrated video you have first however...