Tell me about...

[a1]

The ATI Radeon Xpress 200 Series chip set. Or so I think it's a chip set. :-?  How can i get the most out of it and what can i do to it?

Thanks

[Mees]

I can tell you the best think about it: it's sh*t.


I'd save up a little and get a budget graphics card, 'cos everything is better than this

[richardd43]

I have the ATI 200 in my laptop and all it is good for is surfing the net and reading e-mail. I have Office 2007 loaded on it and it works OK but I have yet to find any game that will run on it.

[Harold]

I have yet to find any game that will run on it.

Pong? or maybe Pac Man

[a1]

Just what I had expected. I need to get a better one. Oh and I think Pac Man is still fun.

[Harold]

Oh and I think Pac Man is still fun.

No worries mate ... I still play a game of Tetris on my GSM nearly everyday  ;D

And adding to your graphics card query: Remember to check whether your computer has a AGP or a PCIe slot.
But judging from your system specs I would not be surprised it does not have a slot for a graphics card at all ...

Just a hint

[a1]

I bought the computer in 2006. :-? Media Center so I think it should have one. If it doesn't where can I get that slot?

[JBaymore]

If it doesn't where can I get that slot?

Unfortunately, you can't.

best,

..................john

PS:  Actually, you can..... on a new computer.  :(

[a1]

If it doesn't where can I get that slot?

Unfortunately, you can't.

best,

..................john

PS:

[congo]

Yes, you can upgrade the mainboard to get the slot, no big deal really, but what he means is that it's hardly ever worth doing, you may as well upgrade the PC.

[ATI_7500]

Bottom line: Never buy preassembled PCs from a big store.

The computerdude from around the corner knows his way around hardware way better than Dell.

[john_uk]

Bottom line: Never buy preassembled PCs from a big store.

The computerdude from around the corner knows his way around hardware way better than Dell.

the 6 month old baby next door knows more about computers than dell!

[Harold]

Hi A1,

Don't worry if you have a Dell, HP or any other pre-assembled PC. I have a Dell

It's a 2004 Dell Dimension 8300 (see my sig) and it will outperform more than a few forum members' PC. However it came pre-assembled with a Radeon 9800 Pro back then as PCIe wasn't avaiable. I upgraded the graphics card last September to a Gainward Bliss 7800 GS+ 512 and the hard diskdrive with a 150 GB Western Digital Raptor (the 10.000 RPM one).

To my knowledge the Gainward Bliss was the fastest AGP card available in September and I believe it still is today. The Raptor is still the fastest hard drive available now although they also have an 'X' version. I haven't figured out any difference between the two, besides the original Raptor being designated as an 'Enterprise Drive' and the 'X' version as a 'Desktop Drive'.

Last March I upgraded my rig with 2 x 1 GB sticks, which are paired, meaning exactly the same sticks, with the same amount of RAM running at the same speed. Paired sticks are 'better' than unmatched ones as unmatched sticks can vary in speed. The fastest stick will run at the speed of the lesser one if you don't have them matched. I didn't have matched sticks before that so my memory was not running to it's potential ...

But let's focus on your issue instead of me bragging about my specs. The point I'm making is that you still can upgrade a pre-assembled PC. Overclocking is just a little harder (if not impossible) with such a machine.

What you should do to check if you PC has an AGP or PCIe slot is open up the case. The slots should be located right below you processor. See if you have a free slot directly below your CPU. You can see the difference in slots here. If you don't have either one you're basically stuck with your on-board card. The only way to solve this is replacing the motherboard, but that's very tricky with an OEM (pre-assembled PC). An AGP or PCIe slot is part of the motherboard and you can't replace an AGP card with a PCIe card like you can replace a sound- or a network card.

The difference between AGP and PCIe is that the latter has twice the bandwith of the first meaning that PCIe transfers date twice as fast as AGP, but still AGP is very fast. If you'd like to read a little more about AGP and PCIe check out Wikipedia here and here.


Hope this helps.


(if anyone likes to correct me on the statements above please do so )

[congo]

The only way to solve this is replacing the motherboard, but that's very tricky with an OEM (pre-assembled PC).

The replacement of a DEll mainboard with a custom board is only tricky because of Dell's non standard cases and inadequate PSU's. Of course the OS should be re-installed.

By replacing the Dell mainboard, you instantly de-Dell the PC  :D