PCI slot only

[Guest]

Hi all I have just had the unfortunete experience of finding out I don't have an AGP card slot and only have a PCI slot. I just want a 3d accelorator with at least 32 meg ram. I mostly want it to play role playing/first person/multi player type games. I don't really need it to run Quake etc. because I have a console for those types of games.

Is there any good options out there for someone with just a PCI slot? Thanks

 

[Crashman]

Sorry, but you can't do much better than a TNT2 PCI for framerates in PCI, and even that stinks. I even tried the Radeon PCI, only to be dissapointed with framerates similar to Intel's integrated i810 graphics. You'll have to replace your motherboard for decent gaming.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[phsstpok]

Interesting, a Radeon PCI was doing better at 800x600x32 on my friend's system than the crappy built-in I810 graphics were doing at 640x480x16. Granted 40fps, medium detail level, is still pretty pityful but it's better than the I810 slide show. 1024x768x32 was completely unusuable for 3D.

I've never seen a TNT2 PCI in action.

<b>We are all beta testers!</b>

 

[Guest]

I have a 3dfx voodoo 5 pci card I'm going to sell. Although 3dfx just went under, there are a lot of good 3rd party drivers. Email me at jaredwg@yahoo.com if you're interested.

 

[Guest]

I have a 3dfx voodoo 5 pci card I'm going to sell. Although 3dfx just went under, there are a lot of good 3rd party drivers. Email me at jaredwg@yahoo.com if you're interested.

 

[Crashman]

I was SHOCKED to see that I had to run games at 640x480 on the Radeon PCI in order to get reasonable framerates at high detail. It really wasn't much faster than my TNT PCI.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[phsstpok]

I was shocked to learn that there are variations of the i810 graphics. My friend's computer only allows 4MB of shared memory for video, rather useless. My niece's PC has the i810e variant, with 11MB of shared memory. It can at least play 640x480 with medium LOD. Fortunately, she prefers games like Civilization II & III, Zeus, etc.

Upgrading to an AGP motherboard is probably the best solution for most people. My friend has a dell, micro ATX, his best option is a new system. Or stay at 640x480 with the Radeon PCI. I keep telling him he can upgrade in stages. Keep the P3-800, 100mhz (too bad it wasn't a 700), memory, and peripherals. Replace the case and power supply.
Add a cheap AGP card. Later, get a high-end graphics card. If necessary get a tualatin, (if they come down in price), and faster memory.

Alternatively, my friend would be a good candidate for an Athlon XP and an nForce board for a starter system. (Waiting for the nForce to establish a good track record).

<b>We are all beta testers!</b>

 

[Crashman]

I've seen various sytems offer up to 16MB shared memory, and heard someone say they had on that shared up to 32MB.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Mordy]

Voodoo 3,4,5, (maybe voodoo2 too) better than tnt-pci

 

[LoveGuRu]

i have the 815E-pro with onboard VGA, think it shares 32 or 64 MBs. it gets upto 1600x1200 but never had the chance to test it as i have Ge3 card on it.

btw does any one know if i can use the onboard VGA as a second monitor outpot?
use 2 monitors?
never got around to test this, althogh im going to buy a Proview 19" flat LCD, and keep my old 17" trini on other output..

<font color=green>
*******
*K.I.S.S*
*(k)eep (I)t (S)imple (S)tupid*
*******
</font color=green>

 

[Crashman]

You can't use an AGP card and the onboard i740 AGP graphics at the same time, due to the spec of AGP (it's a port, not a bus). When you plug a card into the AGP slot, the onboard video is automatically disabled (bypassed completely, it no longer shows up in BIOS).

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Crashman]

Sure the Voodoo cards were great in Glide, but most games are using D3D now.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Guest]

Hmmm....

Geforce 2's come in pci flavors. Try it. You can get one for around 30-40$

<font color=blue>I for one run Quake 3 on a P133(No MMX)</font color=blue>I have no affiliatioin w/ Intel

 

[Crashman]

What's the point, a TNT2 already pushes PCI to it's bandwidth limmit.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[LoveGuRu]

actually it still shows up in the bios, and if during mechine up time i plug the monitor to the O/B port it installs it there on the spot(like plug&play), didnt get arount to see what happens when both ports are ocupied.

<font color=green>
*******
*K.I.S.S*
*(k)eep (I)t (S)imple (S)tupid*
*******
</font color=green>

 

[Crashman]

On my CUSL2, the built in AGP graphics settings DISAPPEAR when I add an AGP card, which makes sense because AGP cannot support two devices simultaniously.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?