Stuck with PCI... any suggestions?

[Bandages]

i dont have an AGP slot , cause of this integrated video crap ;( , so i guess ill go with the next best thing, pci. well, i found something, but wasnt sure, because i want the best PCI card thats out there right now... could any of you give me links to some of the most top of the line PCI cards? it would be much appreciated.

 

[The Terminator]

well, Im not sure about this, but for the top-of-the-line cards, i dont believe they make them in pci. Now you can find the top of the line card FOR PCI, but its gonna suck hardcore. I suggest you go buy a new mobo , one with an agp slot and go from there.

 

[SidewinderX]

This should be in hardware...

anyway, the best you canr eally do witha PCI slot is perhaps a GeForce FX 5200 PCI version.

 

[thehunter1320]

sidewinder, i think u can move this to hardware
and i suggest doing what side said

 

[Chris D]

Sidewinder doesn't mod the OffTopic forum so I've moved it for him.

 

[Hudson]

GeForce MX 440s come in PCI, and they are a solid card for middle end games, but wont run things like UT2k3 and HL2 very well.

 

[SidewinderX]

Ack, the MX series of cards=STEAMing pile of crap. . The 5200 FX isn't much better, but it is better in the pci realm.

 

[Hudson]

the MX's are cheap, which is always a plus in my book. and my MX420 runs Call of Duty at over 80FPS constantly

 

[oD1Nz]

I'd agree with Sidewinder, go with the FX5200 PCI - its the best you can get for PCI.

The MX Series of cards is pretty horrible - when I had one (free, replacement while my Ti4200 was being fixed), I seem to remember it not being capable of anything over 2xAF.

 

[No Limit]

When did you buy your computer? I had no idea they still make new computers without AGP. My advice is that you should buy a new mobo with an AGP slot and then get a good card like a 9600 pro (low price) or a 9800 pro (top of line but higher price).
Good Luck,
Paul

 

[Washuu]

from what it seems, he probably doesnt have that much money to spend, the best bet id say is, get a good motherboard with built in video card, that has an AGP port for later....

asus, is always good ^.^
AMD - A7N8X-VM - built in gf4 video
P4 - P4P800-VM - integrated intel crap

- u really cant find a good p4 integrated video combo.... because there all intel chipsets....

- go for amd motherboard with nforce2 chipset w/ integrated video.. im pretty sure its very close to the cost of a fx 5200, the A7N8X-VM... probably in the long run, if u have a AMD processor alrdy, great, if not, there not too much.

 

[LoneDeranger]

No AGP slot .. you must have some cheap mobo, get a new one.

 

[crabcakes66]

as has been said....the 5200 is about the best you can do with PCI

 

[SidewinderX]

He might have gottena prebuilt Dell/compaq/HP computer, most of which use specialized motherboards that have odd fitings, so unless he got a new case as well, he coudn't jsut get a new mobo.

 

[Bandages]

hey, alright, well my computer is a dimension 2350 which was a present to me, so i really didnt have much choice, but yea, like said, i really cannot afford a new mobo. so i just thought id deal with PCI

on another note- how well does the 5200 run? not compared to the top of the line video cards, but i was just wondering before i make the purchase.

EDIT: sorry about posting it in the wrong section.

 

[SidewinderX]

it runs well on most current games. It's not so great for directx 9 games, but most FXs aren't.

 

[Bandages]

k, thanks a bunch. i wont have to like set all the resolutions and stuff to the complete lowest on all my games , will i? like HL2 or CoD?

 

[Shuzer]

Originally posted by Bandages
k, thanks a bunch. i wont have to like set all the resolutions and stuff to the complete lowest on all my games , will i? like HL2 or CoD?

CoD isn't DX9, is it? If you have any DX9 features enabled, you'll get shoddy performance.

Assuming CoD isn't DX9, it should run fine.. and once HL2 arrives, running the game in DX8 mode will be your only real option.

What're your computer's specs, out of curiosity? I'm sure we could give you a better guesstimate on how HL2 will run with your specs and an FX 5200

 

[Bandages]

ok, i have a

celeron 2.2 ghz
512 mb RAM
the PCI card that im going to purchase

uhh...im thinking that would be enough specs to see how it would run. any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Shuzer]

Originally posted by Bandages
ok, i have a

celeron 2.2 ghz
512 mb RAM
the PCI card that im going to purchase

uhh...im thinking that would be enough specs to see how it would run. any help would be greatly appreciated

I would think you'd get atleast 30FPS with max details running in DX8 mode, although it's just a guess, but it seems pretty reasonable seeing as your computer isn't that bad (Although it seems a PC that up-to-date would have an AGP slot, go figure)

 

[Asus]

Running a FX5200 PCI DX8 mode in HL2, you are going to have the details less than Max inorder to get better framerate. 30FPS would be pushing it but with lower detail you could get higher. Don't bother with DX9 at all.

 

[Shuzer]

Originally posted by Asus
Running a FX5200 PCI DX8 mode in HL2, you are going to have the details less than Max inorder to get better framerate. 30FPS would be pushing it but with lower detail you could get higher. Don't bother with DX9 at all.

Even if 30FPS with max details in DX8 mode would be pushing it, you definitely could get great framerates by messing around with the detail settings. Basically, with that card and your system, you'll be fine for HL2, and if you're absolutely stuck with PCI, you best just get that card.

Hope we helped, Bandages :cheers:

 

[Bandages]

thanks alot! i really really appreciate it.

so itll run fine, just not at the best resolution and whatnot, and not look the best. but thats ok with me, just as long as i can play games, and it not be at the lowest everything, and all the shadowing and whatnot turned off.

...and yea, a computer this up-to-date should definetely have an AGP slot. Dell sucks like that.

thanks again.