graphics card upgrade

[cpwmatthews]

I have a slot 1 pentium3 cpu on an old Brilliant 1 MB. Currently I have an ATI rage graphics card, What is the best card I could use without changing to a DVI monitor oh and using Windows 98?

[Kedas]

You will probaly have an old AGP 4X graphics card slot.

I'm even not sure that there is an upgrade for you.

 

Why would you want to upgrade your graphics card, You do realise that a fast card will never reach its potential because your CPU an memory can't follow.

(I case you didn't understood it, I'm saying: buy a new PC)

 

 

Maybe you can get a Nvidia Geforce4 Ti (not MX) on the second hand market This is a DX8 card.

I don't think that any DX9 card will work (well) in your PC.

 

http://cgi.benl.ebay.be/Abit-Siluro-NVIDIA-GeForce-4-Ti4200-AGP-128MB-graphics_W0QQitemZ8817886930QQcategoryZ27387QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(You don't really lose a lot if it doens't work wel)

 

 

P.S. You probably mean 1Ghz cpu clock or 1GB memory instead of 1MB

[H2SO4]

basicaly if you put a better graphics card in their it would still suck balls. If you want good graphics, capable of modern games, your gonna need to build your own pc (recommended) or buy a new dell or something.

[JaKiri]

I'd recommend a Riva TNT2. Actually, I'd recommend starting again from scratch as you could get something at least three times as powerful for under £300.

 

without changing to a DVI monitor

 

You don't actually have to use a DVI-monitor with DVI-out. There are adapters.

[cpwmatthews]

Thankyou for the input, it looks like a new rig is the order of the day.

[GutZ]

Yeah don't buy a card your PC can't handle, I learnt the hard way and felt "mucho dissopointo".

[Kedas]

I'd recommend a Riva TNT2. Actually' date=' I'd recommend starting again from scratch as you could get something at least three times as powerful for under £300.

 

You don't actually have to use a DVI-monitor with DVI-out. There are adapters.[/quote']

 

a TNT2 that is one generation too far in the past, that is probably what is already in his/her PC.

 

And yes almost al cards still have an analog output for your monitor.

 

Note: Intel will soon come out with a good dual core processor so they started dumping their old P4 ones (although I don't advice buying such an oven)

planned release in July.

[JaKiri]

a TNT2 that is one generation too far in the past, that is probably what is already in his/her PC.

 

Perfectly correct. I'm forgetting the order in which things come. GeForce 2 then.

[marapets2]

Whats the most effective graphics card on the market at the moment?

[Sayonara]

Most effective for doing what?

[Severian]

While on the topic, let me take the opportunity to pick some brains.

 

I have a 3.2MHz Pentium 4, with 2GB of RAM and an ATI 9800XT. The weak link is now the graphic card, so I was thinking about a GeForce 7800GS. I have an AGP so I think this is basically the best I can get.

 

Anyway, I have seen this recommended on various review sites, and in their tech specs they often say that the recommended power required is 350W. My current power supply is 305W, so I am a bit below, but if I go to one of these websites where you can enter all your components in order to check if you have a big enough power supply, they claim that the 7800GS actually takes less power than my ATI.

 

I also notice that NVidea do not have a recommended power on their tech specs, and I have read elsewhere that these power recommendations generally are conservative. Non-brand power supplies often are rather unreliable in their power output so the recommendations are usually a bit higher to allow for this, and a Dell power supply should provide a bit more juice.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this? Do I need a new power supply too?

[Spyman]

they claim that the 7800GS actually takes less power than my ATI.

If your current power supply is enough now and the new card draws less then there is no need to boost the power.

 

I think it is generally recommended with a 350W power supply because when close to the limits the voltage can drop to low during current peaks, for instance when CD/DVD-player starts, and cause circuits to malfunction temporarily with corrupted data or system failure as result.

[5614]

I've got a similar problem to you, and to be honest I don't know.

 

It makes sense that the graphics card power estimates will be a bit higher than required. Remember that as well as the graphics card the rest of the computer needs power.

 

With a fast processor, a lot of RAM and a powerful graphics card working 305W would probably be ok. But if you have two hard drives, a CD/DVD drive and a sound card all going at the same time, it starts to put a strain on the power supply.

 

In your case, like my case, I think we'd be pushing the limits of the power supply unit (PSU). If this happens then the PSU will get a bit warmer than usual, although not a problem (unless you keep your computer on 24/7), but if the PSU cannot supply enough power to the computer then the performance of the computer will suffer.

 

I have no idea how noticable this would be.

 

Basically it's a bit of a gamble. You could buy it (graphics card) and be fine. Or you could buy it, seem fine, then melt the PSU. Or you could buy it and end up buying a new PSU.

 

My decision was that I wouldn't buy anything and I'd get a brand new laptop in the summer, ready for uni.

[Severian]

I can't afford a new PC at the moment, and the old one would be fine for a couple of years with a new graphics card, so I think I will risk it. The worst that can happen is that it doesn't boot and I will have to buy a new PSU, but even a 450W PSU isn't that expensive.