GFX Card Advice

jimi_t

Looking for a cheapish GFX card so I can run a few games on a P4 1.9Ghz DELL Precision 340 that I'm getting soon. It's got an AGP Geforce 2MX in at the moment but I've a funny feeling that it's woefully underpowered. What should I be looking out for on the second hand market. My budget is around e100.

(Also, how many PCI/AGP etc... slots does this comp have - I can't seem to find info online... )

jimi_t

Also, if I was looking to update the processor, what are my options?
Sorry for the complete noob questions but I'm really a Mac person

irlrobins

Tech specs here.

Has a AGP 4x slot.

jimi_t

Ok, thanks for those tech specs. So it has 3 PCI slots and a single AGP slot, that correct? Am I right in thinking that an AGP GFX Card is a better option than a PCI one?
I'm going to update every aspect of it (cheaply) in the next 3 weeks starting with a reasonable GFX and Audio card. The Audio Card will take up one PCI slot so that'll mean there'll be 2 spare - or does the Ethernet take up a PCI slot? If there's 2 spare then I'll get a 4 port USB2.0 card and a wireless PCI adapter of some description. Also I'll have to throw a 512mb stick in there to get any sort of speed - What sort of memory should I be looking into - can I mix and match different flavours or do they all have to be the same bus speed (?) or whatever the PCxxxx classification is

irlrobins

jimi_t wrote:

So it has 3 PCI slots and a single AGP slot, that correct? Am I right in thinking that an AGP GFX Card is a better option than a PCI one?

Assuming it is a mini tower config then its 4 PCI and 1 AGP. And AGP is better than a PCI card in general.

jimi_t wrote:

or does the Ethernet take up a PCI slot?

Comes with onboard ethernet, so no.

jimi_t wrote:

What sort of memory should I be looking into - can I mix and match different flavours or do they all have to be the same bus speed (?) or whatever the PCxxxx classification is

Here is the RAM you need.

jimi_t

over e500 for a gig?! Surely there's some sort of generic RAM I can get on komplett that would do the job?

irlrobins

It's Rambus memory, so will tend to be more expensive as it's not very common.

Komplett don't even stock it.

PogMoThoin

Cheaper buy a new rig than upgrade that i i'm afraid to say. check these threads: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/searchbt.php?search=rdram

Rambus ram is ridiculously expensive.

uberpixie

jimi_t wrote:

Looking for a cheapish GFX card so I can run a few games on a P4 1.9Ghz DELL Precision 340 that I'm getting soon. It's got an AGP Geforce 2MX in at the moment but I've a funny feeling that it's woefully underpowered. What should I be looking out for on the second hand market. My budget is around e100.

(Also, how many PCI/AGP etc... slots does this comp have - I can't seem to find info online... )

tbh a 2nd hand ATi 9800 pro wiuld be a nice card to pick up.

1st hand have a look at a radeon 9550 or a 9600 (50-60 quid new) or at most a Nvidia 6600(100 quid).

Really a system as old as that is fairly limited, it's not going to play new games well at all.

(twill do the old stuff well though.)

If all you want it for is playing a few old games: I advise getting the cheapest half dacent card you can get.

Don't bother spending a lot of money on this system: it's dead money.

Save it for the next rig :-)

jimi_t

Ah... RDRAM... We meet again.

That makes a lot of sense folks. I think I'll just get a bog standard AGP card for it so and use it as a basic internet/DVD/music/older games machine and buy a new mobo soon when I've the cash. I was hoping to use this as a low CPU DAW as well but the memory really is crucial.

The only thing is, if I replace the mobo, will I technically no longer own the OEM licence for Win2k slapped on the case? It's not a huge tragedy or anything, but I don't really like the idea of spending e150 on Win XP Home.

irlrobins

jimi_t wrote:

The only thing is, if I replace the mobo, will I technically no longer own the OEM licence for Win2k slapped on the case?

Yep, replacing motherboard means it's a new machine essentially so OEM is invalid.

zilog_jones

Technically, maybe, but in real life Win2k OEM licenses don't care what systems they're on - there's no online activation crap like with XP, and even then you can just ring up MS if you change any hardware and they'll happily give you a new key (happened a lot to me when reinstalling after changing the HDD).

Someone should put up a sticky about RDRAM, and how to AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE when getting used P4's.

irlrobins

zilog_jones wrote:

Someone should put up a sticky about RDRAM, and how to AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE when getting used P4's.

Nah, very few systems have it these days. So pointless.

K.O.Kiki

Sticky would have been great a few years back

uberpixie

jimi_t wrote:

Ah... RDRAM... We meet again.

That makes a lot of sense folks. I think I'll just get a bog standard AGP card for it so and use it as a basic internet/DVD/music/older games machine and buy a new mobo soon when I've the cash. I was hoping to use this as a low CPU DAW as well but the memory really is crucial.

The only thing is, if I replace the mobo, will I technically no longer own the OEM licence for Win2k slapped on the case? It's not a huge tragedy or anything, but I don't really like the idea of spending e150 on Win XP Home.

Remember to be careful with DELL cpus and cases: they often use non standard PSUs, case and motherboards.

So replacing the mobo might be a bit more problematic than you expect..

i.e. having to buy a new psu and case