[delta_7890]

Okay.  This is a classic story of ignorance.  I went out and bought an ATI 8500 LE graphics card.  Lovely right?  Well I thought so too until I pulled my computer open and realized "Hey, I don't have any AGP slots.  The card won't fit.".  Well, after about a half an hour of cursing, I shoved the damn thing back in its box.  Now, I need help.  I want to trade this poor bastard in for a PCI card of near equal performance and in the $150 price range.  Problem is, I don't know jack about these cards and don't know which ones are PCIs.  If you guys could name a few for me, I'd very much appreciate it.

[an0n]

Most cards will just say either AGP or PCI on the box. Go look for the same one but with PCI on the box.


Just in case:
PCI's are the ones that your internal modem is plugged into. Lots of (probably horizontal) slots that are usually a kinda creamy white.

[delta_7890]

Originally posted by an0n
Most cards will just say either AGP or PCI on the box. Go look for the same one but with PCI on the box.


Just in case:
PCI's are the ones that your internal modem is plugged into. Lots of (probably horizontal) slots that are usually a kinda creamy white.

Yup!  That's the one.  Goodies, I'll see if I can't make an exchange.  I still have the receipt and stuff, though if I'm not allowed to...Best Buy is gonna go up in flames.

[Kazashi]

I'm not sure how the law works over wherever you are (nor over here for that matter) but I think that you're within your rights to trade in an item if it doesn't suit its "advertised" purpose. So if you told the store you needed a PCI card and they gave you an AGP one then you could get it exchanged. If the store's staff are friendly and helpful you'll have no problem explaining that you can't fit an AGP card in your PC (if they're not friendly they'll either ignore you or try to make you upgrade ).

Nowadays there aren't many video cards that are built in PCI format. You can get PCI GF2 MX's, and there are a few PCI GF4 MX's available, but it might be difficult to source one.  Non-nVidia options include the Radeon 7000 PCI though it's not going to be up to par with the 8500LE, or most AGP cards for that matter. I have little or no idea about price, though PCI cards are usually a little more expensive than their AGP coutnerparts. However, I think that you should still be able to find a decent performing card in the price range you're after.

[Redfang]

The PCI cards available aren't that fast, so upgrading your motherboard wouldn't be too bad idea.
 
But PCI cards can be OK, too.

[delta_7890]

Well...bad news.  Either I'm gona have to dish out money for a new motherboard or I'll have to settle with a 64MB card.  tell me though, is a 64 mb card gonna be able to handle games like FS2002 and JKII?

[CP5670]

Oh, definitely. 128MB is just starting to come out now, and very few current games really take advantage of the additional memory. Which one are you deciding on?

[Top Gun]

Why not just spend an extra $100 and buy a motherboard with an AGP slot. PCI graphics cards aren't anywhere near as good as AGP ones.

[delta_7890]

Originally posted by Top Gun
Why not just spend an extra $100 and buy a motherboard with an AGP slot. PCI graphics cards aren't anywhere near as good as AGP ones.

because I have no job and can't afford a new motherboard *and* a 128 card.  I think the 64 will do.  The one I have in the computer is a...now don't laugh...a 16MB.  --;;

[delta_7890]

Oooh!  Another question, should I buy more RAM?  I have 128MB now, and I know ram is inexpensive.  Should I buy a few extra sticks?

[Stealth]

should you buy more RAM?  Well... if you've got 128 MB right now, it depends what OS you're running, computer specs, etc.

Answer these questions (if you know)  :


--------------------------------------------
Processor speed and type:
Motherboard type (very helpful):
Operating System:
--------------------------------------------



that picture (tutorial) i made for you should tell you what a PCI port looks like... don't worry about the 64 BIT ports... your computer probably doesn't have those if it's old ... you'll see the 32 BIT PCI ports... the smaller white ones.

Yeah, your computer probably has the long (white or black, probably black) ISA ports... if you've got a really old computer (pre-1999) you may even have an ISA modem or sound card!

or even video card (eek)

your motherboard probably looks something like this is a classic 1998-2000 looking motherboard lol


you'll spot the black ISA ports on the far left (2 of them) then the white 32 bit (old) PCI ports and then the AGP port (small brown) then the processor, RAM, etc.

any more problems, let me know

[an0n]

Soon as I 'alter' some webpage software for my dad I'll be getting like $200 for just changin http://whatever to http://whateverthebuyerwants, and I'm gonna use the cash to buy a collosal machine with about 90 hard-drives and RAID'd, 4 Gb RAM, the biggest, most expensive GC I can find (probably that nVidia one that's like £500) and hooking it up to a plasma screen TV or a projector. It will be a rig the likes of which the world has never seen. And I'm gonna be using a loophole in the NTL broadband contract to get a 1Mbit/s connection.

[Stealth]

$200.00 won't get you far if you want to buy that whole system you were talking about, hahaha lol

in fact, you'll have trouble finding a good hard drive for that amount, let alone a $5000.00 plasma display screen

good luck with that though, if you need any help or something let me know!

~Stealth

[Stealth]

an0n,
you say you're wanting a 1 Mbit/sec connection... what's your server running on right now... also, where do you live?  in the USA?  or the UK

mine is running on a fiber-optic, but it's not as good as it could be... still damn fast though

[Kazashi]

There is one option, with is so riduculous it may just work. You could try finding an obscure, hard to obtain piece of hardware known as an AGP-PCI converter. That's right - an adapter to run AGP cards from a PCI slot. Seriously. The performance will probably end up being slower than a standard PCI card, plus you have to find the damn thing in the first place, but it would give you the option to upgrade your motherboard later on and still have a capable video card at your disposal.

For those people who can read Japanese, I present you with a link:

http://akiba.ascii24.com/akiba/news/2002/06/01/636205-000.html


On other topics, you can't have too much RAM, unless you run Win9x. And knowing what system you currently have would be good. And the Tyan Tiger MP and Abit IT7 can stay, but someone should really burn that AOpen board

[Stealth]

but a converter would seriously hinder the speed of the card... so why not just get a TNT2 or something else that's PCI

[delta_7890]

Okay...first of, my mum's already out getting an ATI 7000.  Secondly, I have two DIMM slots left, so I'll probably boost the ram to 256 if I can.  I'm running Win XP Home Edition, so I KNOW the ram's gonna help.  Thirdly, I'm not gonna shell out money for a converter, as I think my card plus the extra ram will do me good.  Thanks for all the help guys!

[delta_7890]

Okay, well, my mom came back, didn't have the ATI 7000.  However, they did nab me a GeForce 4 MX.  Nice little card it is.  Have yet to try the games out though...