[rudedog]

Depending on the AGP voltage. newer AGP cards will not fit into the old type slots.

[ZR|Gen_JP]

Ok, here I go:

It's AGP, I have an AGP slot. It fits in fine, BUT, the metal piece that has the plug to hte moniter, extends over my case, so, when I try to close it, I get a problem because it doesn't fit, I don't know if it's because I have a vertical tower or what, but, it's too big. I have a Dell Dimension 4300S, if that helps...it's a stupid vertical tower, I hate them.

[garasaki]

Originally Posted by nomar

Garasaki - I haven't seen you or the 9thGD boys around lately. Been playing?

I suspect you have me confused with someone else, but yes I have been playing lately. What servers do you usually play on??

DONT GET THE GF4 MX!! Its a terrible gaming card. That dude who recommended it has no idea what he's talking about (no offense intended, its just the truth). If you want a cheap card, get the Radeon 7000 or 7500. The Ti4200 cards are a a great value right now, and they outperform the Radeon 8500, but dont overlook the R8500 as you can get them for less then 90 bucks right now, which is a killer deal. However, they tend to cause headaches and not be quite as compatiable as the GF4 cards (although that happens to a vast MINORITY of people who buy them).

Also, on amounts of RAM necessary, on any system but XP, 256 megs should be the most you ever get. All windows operating systems (except xp) dont use more then that. XP on the other hand, can use an infinite amount of ram, and 256 is about the minimum you should have. 512 is a real good number because once you go past 512, you will hardly ever actually use the extra ram you have on. So i'd say don't buy more ram!

[=[DOA]=Meat Grinder]

I think my Gforce Ti 200 is only 64 mb of ram. Does 128 help???

[=[DOA]=VonMeyer]

I say a video card with more ram will help you. Not sure by how much but id go with a video card that has 128 mb ram.

[garasaki]

[quote="=[DOA]=Meat Grinder":446ff]I think my Gforce Ti 200 is only 64 mb of ram. Does 128 help???[/quote:446ff]

Well, that really depends on a lot of things. The short answer is no, not at this point.

The longer answer is that sometimes it actually hurts you. Most manufacturers ship their 128 cards with slower ram and gpu speeds then their 64 meg cards. This means that in games where more then 64 megs of video ram is not useful, the 64 meg cards will perform better then the 128 cards. Right now, there are very few games that can use more then 64 megs of video ram. Games that will come out in the next few years will benefit more from the additional ram. But, they way the graphics card market works, you shouldnt ever buy for future games, because there will be much more improved video cards out by then. So a good strategy is to buy the cheaper cards now, then buy some more cheaper cards later (cheaper then, but better then what is top of the line now...).

And the moral of the story is that you can't judge a graphics card's quality based on the amount of memory it has. There are a lot of other, much more important factors to look at. So don't buy a card JUST because it has 128 megs of ram. If it has 128 megs of ram, AND other good features, then buy it!

[nomar]

Yes I second that point that a GeF4 mx420 is not the card for anyone who games. And yes, the Radeon8500 is a great card and can be bought for under $90. I bought mine for $190 when it came out only 10 months ago!


Garasaki - there is a clan 9th GD and there's a guy there named Garasaki that used to play on Rude's AA.com server from that clan. I thought it was you. I'm pretty sure it was spelled that way.

Also ZRGEN JP - I found this about your dell 4300s at this location:
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/messages/me ... o&id=zxqpp

"Looks like a GeForce4 may not work in the 4300S. The 4300S uses some kind of slimline power supply form factor, so substituting a higher-rated standard ATX supply is not an option?

Any ideas for working around these potential problems? I'd be surprised if Dell shipped 180W power supplies for Pentium4 systems as claimed by Dell online documentation.

= Dell Tech Reply ===

Your system power specification shows that your system support
only 180 W and hence you can not upgrade your video card to NVidia
GEForce 4.

and this:

The card itself won't fit. It just fits in full size cases.

In fact, you will have a hard time finding any video card that is short enough to fit in that slot.

You will notice that Dell didn't give any video card upgrade options for it. Even though that is were they make their profit margin look good.

[garasaki]

Oh wow, there's another Garasaki out there...how disturbing...

I'm Garasaki[TRU] on mohaa...

Theres a specific form factor called micro atx which is probably what that dell uses. This is why you build your own computer (or have someone else build it for you) instead of buying from dell...

Not really too much you can do for upgrades if this is the case. You can buy a new case, power supply, and motherboard to accomidate a new vid card, but if you're gonna go thru all that you're probably better off to drop a few extra bucks and just get a whole new computer!

[ZR|Gen_JP]

So, what you're saying is...I'M SCREWED? Stuck with a crappy 16MB video card, with no upgrade options? That's bullshit. Excuse my language, but, FUCK DELL! My computer's a piece of shit...I can't do crap with it, only one CD-RW drive, and one HDD. Seriously, Dell can kiss my ass.

[nomar]

Well it's true that Dell does a lot of proprietary things so that you are forced to either upgrade with them or buy another computer for them.

But you're not totally screwed. If you wanted to upgrade, you should be able to get a new motherboard, video card and case.

If you're interested, post another topic and we'll help out. Looks like Garasaki knows what he's talking about as do I when it comes to building. Rude and Hollywood know too. There are a bunch of people here with good knowledge if you want to upgrade.

[ZR|Gen_JP]

Nomar, as much as I'd love to build my own computer, my mother, of course, thinks that I'm always wanting the newest and best stuff, well, it's true. But, my computer does suck pretty bad, she still insists that when we got it, I thought it was the best. Ok, when I heard it was a Dell, I didn't know crap, I didn't even know what RAM was, so, I was happy. When we got it, I took one look, figured it was junk. Ever since, I've hated it. I need to "specially order" one from Dell, BS. I guess I'll live with a crappy computer until I get a job, once I'm old enough, and pay for a new one, or just build one. But, thanks for your help. If I had enough money, believe me, I would trust you guys enough to help me out. Though, I don't really know you guys, I believe that you could help me. I only have $55 right now, but I need to return my Radeon 7000 and get my $60 back...so, $115 and in five or six weeks, once I get the rebate from my RAM back, and I send the other one, I'll have about $180-$200. So, maybe then, if I'm still interested, I might think about it. But, I still will have to wait until I'm legally old enough to get a job. (14) Next August, *cough forever cough* I'll be old enough to work at a local Win-Dixie, and make $5.20/hr...hey, beats $10/wk. Thanks for all your help guys.

[quote:94af5]So, what you're saying is...I'M SCREWED? Stuck with a crappy 16MB video card, with no upgrade options? That's bullshit. Excuse my language, but, FUCK DELL! My computer's a piece of shit...I can't do crap with it, only one CD-RW drive, and one HDD. Seriously, Dell can kiss my ass.[/quote:94af5]

I think everyone - who didn't learn about computers from someone else - went this route in the beginning. Letting a big company make their computer for them, and getting stuck with the fall out. Not your fault. Now you know. You know you can always SELL your current computer after getting a barebones one. You could spend less than 250 and get a very nice motherboard, cpu, and case.

I know here we have fries and they have sales on combos all the time. FRY's is perfect for the smart computer shopper.

And where - besides EBAY [thanks but no thanks] can u get a 8500 for less than 90? First vid card I got was a NVIDIA mx/mx 400 64meg. I'd love a 8500.

[garasaki]

http://www.newegg.com

Its a killer online computer retailer!!!

I too started out with a dell and knew nothing about computers. Thought the dell was awesome too. When it got outdated, I started researching computer upgrades and what not, and now, a year and a half or so later, I feel pretty confident in my knowledge about computers and what not. It's really not even all that hard, once you stop being itimidated about it.

[nomar]

Exactly. Newegg is the only place to shop for computer parts.

[garasaki]

Hey what about putting a PCI card in this thing? Dosent the GF4 MX come in a PCI version? I know it sucks, but it'd probably be an improvement!