New Cards with Old systems

[ggg]

I've got 2 computers both very old. Both Dell desktops with standard equipment
1) 850mHz PIII 640MB RAM (128 originally)
AGP 2x slot Windows 98 32MB NVDA card
2) 866mHz PIII 512MB RAM (256 orignially)
no AGP slot Windows ME Intel 82810 integrated graphics chip(really horrible something like 8MB?)

My main reason for upgrade is gaming especially for Everquest if any of you know it.(Uses DX9b, but its not terribly graphics essential for game play)

Newbie questions:
1)Will new video cards help in any way shape or form? If you put a AGP8x card in a 2x slot, I assume it runs at 2x?
2)Without a AGP slot on computer #2, is using a old PCI slot reasonable? Arent PCI slots slow?

Thanks

GG

 

[cleeve]

Higher AGP multiples and tons of memory do not affect video card performance nearly as much as which graphics processor the card is using.

PCI is a bit restrictive, but this is still basically true.

With the AGP machine the best card you can get would be a cheap Geforce4 Ti 4200; good performance, cheap.

The PCI machine... well, I'm not exactly sure what PCI cards are available. There are Radeon 9100 PCIs I think, that would be good. Also there's Geforce FX 5600 PCI cards, I think. Either would deliver way more performance than the machine is giving now.

Then again, if Everquest is the ONLY thing you'll ever run, a Geforce4 MX may serve just as well, in both machines.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9500 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(hardmodded 9500, o/c 322/322)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~2600+</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 2400+ w/143Mhz fsb)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,055</b></font color=red>