Let me preface this by saying I know zippo about graphics cards or hardware in general. For my boyfriend's birthday I'd like to get him a graphics card for his computer. He has a Pentium III with a PCI slot. I found a card that sounds good: PNY Verto GeForce2-MX400 PCI 64MB SDRAM. However in the system requirements it says "Pentium II, AMD K6-2 class processor or higher". Does this mean it will only work for an Athelon computer? I have no clue what this means. I want to surprise my boyfriend so I can't ask him too many questions. Can anyone help?
Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!
Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
-
Congratulations Chriss Miller on being selected by the Tek-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!
graphics card
- Thread starter KellyK
- Start date
thatrenowned
MIS
Nah...it says it requires at least a Pentium II or an AMD K6-2. You have a Pentium III so your computer meets the requirements. Shouldn't be any problems.
Rgds
Rgds
- Thread starter
- #3
![[blush]](/data/assets/smilies/blush.gif "[blush] [blush]")
thatrenowned
MIS
Just a quick note for in future:
Intel do Pentium I, II, III and VI, as well as Celeron.
AMD do K6 and Athlon (I think theres another they do, but I've never used AMDs stuff...).
Hope this is of some use...
Rgds
Intel do Pentium I, II, III and VI, as well as Celeron.
AMD do K6 and Athlon (I think theres another they do, but I've never used AMDs stuff...).
Hope this is of some use...
Rgds
Hi Kelly,
I think you will find that if he is running a Pentium III,he is also using an AGP slot for his video card.If this is the case that is what you will be shopping for,not PCI.
These days most AGP (accelerated graphics port) video
are described in terms of memory amount,memory type,1x/2x or 4x.
The amount of memory and type are important.I prefer a video card with 64mg of memory and ddr memory is better than sdram memory,its much faster.
The other main criteria is the chipset found on the card.The 2 big names being ATI Radeon and GeForce both of which offer chipsets with differing capabilities in terms of speed and also picture quality when gaming.
My preference is a 64Mg DDR memory video card capable of supporting directX 8.x
Jeez you know,a new video card for your birthday has got to be close to heaven,providing it is a step up.
Oh and if it is a Pentium III or an Athlon it has got enough juice for the card you get him.
I have an ATI Radeon 7500 as well as a GeForce 3 Ti200
and a GeForce 4 MX460.All 3 are equipped with 64 Mg DDR memory.My favorite out of the three is the GeForce 3 Ti200
although all three make a game very enjoyable.
Any further questions.
May or may not be relevant.
I think you will find that if he is running a Pentium III,he is also using an AGP slot for his video card.If this is the case that is what you will be shopping for,not PCI.
These days most AGP (accelerated graphics port) video
are described in terms of memory amount,memory type,1x/2x or 4x.
The amount of memory and type are important.I prefer a video card with 64mg of memory and ddr memory is better than sdram memory,its much faster.
The other main criteria is the chipset found on the card.The 2 big names being ATI Radeon and GeForce both of which offer chipsets with differing capabilities in terms of speed and also picture quality when gaming.
My preference is a 64Mg DDR memory video card capable of supporting directX 8.x
Jeez you know,a new video card for your birthday has got to be close to heaven,providing it is a step up.
Oh and if it is a Pentium III or an Athlon it has got enough juice for the card you get him.
I have an ATI Radeon 7500 as well as a GeForce 3 Ti200
and a GeForce 4 MX460.All 3 are equipped with 64 Mg DDR memory.My favorite out of the three is the GeForce 3 Ti200
although all three make a game very enjoyable.
Any further questions.
May or may not be relevant.
- Thread starter
- #6
Ballistic,
Thanks so much, that was very helpful. I'm actually not sure if he has a P2 or a P3 but I know for a fact it has a PCI slot because I was asking some preliminary questions and he mentioned that his computer is 2 years old and all the newer computers have an AGP port. I also knew that he wanted a card with at least 64MB of memory but didn't know that DDR is better than SDRAM (actually I didn't know there was such a thing as DDR--I have a lot to learn!) I wrote down the names of your cards so I'll definitely do some more shopping before I decide. Thanks for the help
And for the record, just having me as a girlfriend is as close to heaven as you'll ever be....![[gorgeous]](/data/assets/smilies/gorgeous.gif "[gorgeous] [gorgeous]")
hehehe
Thanks so much, that was very helpful. I'm actually not sure if he has a P2 or a P3 but I know for a fact it has a PCI slot because I was asking some preliminary questions and he mentioned that his computer is 2 years old and all the newer computers have an AGP port. I also knew that he wanted a card with at least 64MB of memory but didn't know that DDR is better than SDRAM (actually I didn't know there was such a thing as DDR--I have a lot to learn!) I wrote down the names of your cards so I'll definitely do some more shopping before I decide. Thanks for the help
And for the record, just having me as a girlfriend is as close to heaven as you'll ever be....
hehehe
Without seeming too suspicious snooping around on his pc, you could just go with an AGP card and keep the receipt just in case!
How much are you lookin' to spend?
At before shipping:
Aopen Geforce2 Ti 64MB DDR = $79
Gainward Geforce4 MX 64MB DDR = $85
Hercules Geforce3 Ti200 64MB DDR (TV Out) = $104
Of course if you buy it online, you'll want to make sure you know he has an AGP port so you don't have to deal with paying for shipping all over again. Just be sure not to go with a generic card.
![[cheers]](/data/assets/smilies/cheers.gif "[cheers] [cheers]")
~cdogg
How much are you lookin' to spend?
At before shipping:
Aopen Geforce2 Ti 64MB DDR = $79
Gainward Geforce4 MX 64MB DDR = $85
Hercules Geforce3 Ti200 64MB DDR (TV Out) = $104
Of course if you buy it online, you'll want to make sure you know he has an AGP port so you don't have to deal with paying for shipping all over again. Just be sure not to go with a generic card.
~cdogg
AGP is better but if you are sure his has only spare PCI slots and no AGP then the card you originally picked could well be the best you're gonna get.
This is because all new boards do indeed have an AGP slot specifically for the graphics card and PCI display cards are few and far between because very few are sold nowadays.
But this card is a good choice if it has to be PCI.
Martin Just trying to help, sometimes falling short, I am only human after all.
This is because all new boards do indeed have an AGP slot specifically for the graphics card and PCI display cards are few and far between because very few are sold nowadays.
But this card is a good choice if it has to be PCI.
Martin Just trying to help, sometimes falling short, I am only human after all.
If you can get a peek in his device manager to see what it says it has for display and also see if it has anything under system devices.ie:does it show a cpu to agp controller?
Maybe it will be easier to make a recommendation upon knowing what he is running right now.Paparazi's right,the main thing is to be certain in regards to the AGP/PCI issue.
I have seen some early Pentium II motherboards with no AGP
provision,these were usually accompanied by 233 or 266 chips.Most 350Mz Pentium II and up were with AGP.
This is just my experiences with such.If it has to be PCI
then you've done well finding what you did.
PS.
You wouldn't consider giving my girlfriend some gift idea tips would you?
Thumbs up!
Maybe it will be easier to make a recommendation upon knowing what he is running right now.Paparazi's right,the main thing is to be certain in regards to the AGP/PCI issue.
I have seen some early Pentium II motherboards with no AGP
provision,these were usually accompanied by 233 or 266 chips.Most 350Mz Pentium II and up were with AGP.
This is just my experiences with such.If it has to be PCI
then you've done well finding what you did.
PS.
You wouldn't consider giving my girlfriend some gift idea tips would you?
Thumbs up!
- Thread starter
- #11
Now I'm thinking about going with the ATI Radeon 7000 PCI 64MB DDR card. I've confirmed all he has is a spare PCI slot so as good as the AGP cards sound I can't go with them. It's between the Radeon 7000 and the nvidia GeForce2 MX400 I referenced in my first post. cdogg, I'm curious to know which are "generic" cards. I found a relatively cheap GeForce 2 card, it is an 'Xtasy' card, is that generic? His birthday is exactly a month from today, so I have some time, but I want to make sure I get him the best of the best.
Ballistic, don't feel bad, if I were a really REALLY good girlfriend I would be getting him the Playstation 2 he wants! I would try leaving Best Buy ads lying around your place, it might be a good hint for your g/f.
Ballistic, don't feel bad, if I were a really REALLY good girlfriend I would be getting him the Playstation 2 he wants! I would try leaving Best Buy ads lying around your place, it might be a good hint for your g/f.
Xtasy isn't bad, though I can't say I've heard much about them. One thing that I'm curious to know is whether you're sure he doesn't have an AGP slot. Being a Pentium III system, that's hard to imagine. PCI and AGP slots co-exist, so it doesn't mean you only have one or the other. Perhaps that has confused you?
~cdogg
~cdogg
- Thread starter
- #13
Cdogg, thanks for the reply. I was never certain it's a Pentium 3, in fact now i'm more convinced it's a P2. The only information I know for sure is that he does NOT have an AGP slot unless he is mistaken. (I know this due to his gripes that the computer is so old and that all the really great cards are for AGP, etc.) He's pretty good with computers so I really don't think he's wrong on this, so I'm just taking his word that he needs a PCI type card. Who knows though, the boy has been wrong before!
ok, if the lucky guy is anything like me, as much as he would appreciate the thought that goes into buying him some hardware, a gift certificate from a computer shop would probably be even better, then he can either get the card he wants, or upgrade his motherboard so that he can get the AGP card later.
- Thread starter
- #15
ahhhhh. Some guys get all the luck. If u ever dump him...
For the record there are lots of PIII boards out there without AGP. Ask anyone who ever bought a Tiny or a Time PC. mATX is the curse of upgraders all over (although some are more generous than others).
Gav
A problem with Windows??? Never...
For the record there are lots of PIII boards out there without AGP. Ask anyone who ever bought a Tiny or a Time PC. mATX is the curse of upgraders all over (although some are more generous than others).
Gav
A problem with Windows??? Never...
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Question
- Locked
- Question
- Locked
- Question
