Simviation Forums

Hi. I would like to know if I can get some opinions on a video card. I have a Dell p4 2.8, 1g ram, but, unfortunately I have intel extreme 2 integrated graphics. Now the challenging part of this question: I only have a pci slot available for video card upgrade. I know I'm comprimised, but there must be a pci card that would be best suited for my system. I wonder if y'all may make some suggestions to help me out. I would appreciate any input you may have! Thanks

Unfortunately, it is hard to recommend a video card for you as Dell have heavily modified Phoenix Bios', which make it impossible to upgrade and overclock your system. It's best to buy a new PC, depending on your budget.

But, to recommend a good video card, the ATi Radeon X800 XT PCI-Express is very good. I highly recommend it!

Cheers,

Rob

Hey Rob, Not exactly what I wanted to hear, as I just bought the pc a month ago. Serves me right for "cheaping out"! The card you recommended is a pci express model, something I can only dream of for now. I think, though, even a decent pci  card would give me some improvement, at least be compatible with directx9.
My water textures now are ZERO. Everything looks like a frozen rink. I did try a nvidea 5200pci 256k. It sucked big time. I heard something about a 5700pci or 5900pci. Any feedback?

The only pci card i know of thats good is the 5200.

Here is a 5700 LE for pci:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-140-041&depa=1

Its LE so I wouldn't touch it and i suggest you do the same. Its better than a 5200, but not by much.

Are you sure you don

Thanks for the lead autopilot. I had a few minutes to investigate myself to-day, and came up with the same conclusion as you: the 5700le. If you were me, would you spend the bucks, or just bite the bullet and live with  integrated graphics?
Rivers...appreciate your follow up, I am 100% sure there are no agp slots in my gear. I have 3 pci slots, 1 filled with sound blaster, 1 has the modem, the 3rd is empty. The real issue it seems is whether it's worth filling with a pci card. Maybe I should live with it for now. I actually average 25fps on the fs9 with the display settings pushed pretty hard. It's just the jaggies and the brutal water texture are frustrating. The intel extreme(ly mediocre)integrated graphics doesn't support directx9.  :)
If anyone reading this has a 5200pci or 5700le pci, and aren't too embarassed to admit it, let me know how it performs.
Thanks everyone

I think PCI isn

Yup...If I go that's the way I'll go Rivers..5700le pci. Once again, thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for the lead autopilot. I had a few minutes to investigate myself to-day, and came up with the same conclusion as you: the 5700le. If you were me, would you spend the bucks, or just bite the bullet and live with  integrated graphics?
Rivers...appreciate your follow up, I am 100% sure there are no agp slots in my gear. I have 3 pci slots, 1 filled with sound blaster, 1 has the modem, the 3rd is empty. The real issue it seems is whether it's worth filling with a pci card. Maybe I should live with it for now. I actually average 25fps on the fs9 with the display settings pushed pretty hard. It's just the jaggies and the brutal water texture are frustrating. The intel extreme(ly mediocre)integrated graphics doesn't support directx9.  :)
If anyone reading this has a 5200pci or 5700le pci, and aren't too embarassed to admit it, let me know how it performs.
Thanks everyone

A 5200 or 5700 is immensely different from an integrated card. In other words, a 5200 pounds the crap out of an ANY integrated solution. The 5200 is also a dx9 card too.

If i were you, I'd get a 5200 and overclock it a bit.

Thanks for the encouragement auto_pilot. I've tried the 5200. For one reason or another it sucked the bag. I'm going to go for the 5700. Hopefully say bye bye to the jaggies. Actually have water that dosen't look like a sheet of blue plastic. I will overclock as per your suggestion. Later...

Thanks for the encouragement auto_pilot. I've tried the 5200. For one reason or another it sucked the bag. I'm going to go for the 5700. Hopefully say bye bye to the jaggies. Actually have water that dosen't look like a sheet of blue plastic. I will overclock as per your suggestion. Later...

BTW, the 5700 is an LE edition. I'm not sure, but from my experience with ATI SE cards, I don't think LE cards are overclockable. Ask around.

I generally don't deal with thede kind of cards, so I don't know too much about them. Sorry.

I finally got the Geforce 5200le 256mg pci. You're right autopilot, it pounds the crap out of integrated graphics. For any of you out there with only a pci video card option, I recommend the 5200. Not up to agp or pci express performance, but for $100.00 or so, it rips the ass outta integrated options!

I was actually looking at one a P4 3 gigahertz 1 gig ram 160 gig harddrive DVD writer for 500 bucks. But found out It did not have a AGP, It did have a PCI express but it was only 1x for networking card I guess. The 16x video card was about 3 inches longer.

Be careful. PCI Express is different to PCI.

PCI Express is a new graphics card interface and is meant to be better than AGP, though its not been taken to full advantage yet.  So a mobo with a PCI Express port is fine to get.  Many of the newer cards now will only start to be made as PCI Express compatible as this is the way the new motherboards will go.