AGP

WhiteWashMan

now heres something very bizarre that i would like answered

i got a dell system bout 4 or 5 months ago.
it has a built in ati something or other 8mg graphics card. its agp.

now what the **** does that mean?
i mean, is this a good card to have? is it just a 2d card or what?
i have a v1 as well for 3d effects and stuff, but if i were to upgrade, whats the story with cards that are 2d/3d? are they any better or are you better off having 2 seperate cards, one for 2d and 1 for 3d?

another thing. since this card is agp and just happens to built onto the motherboard, is there anyway around it. i know if i go into my cmos i can turn it of, or bypass it or whatever, but is tehre anyway i can get t o my agp slot?
if i wanted to buy a voodoo3 for example. is there anyway i can stick into my machine? all i can see are bloody pci slots.

and at the end of all that, if i was to get a new card, based on all above info what would you recommend?
im not sure if the ati rage is 3d capable or not, but i guess it works fine as a2d card, so if i had to get a pci card, would the voodoo3 2000 be the one to go for?


on the other hand, how much for a new motherboard, as i can get another soundcard (the current one is also built onto the board) and all i have to do is get a 2d graphics card and the new 3d card then.
i have a p11 400 so it would have to be a slot board (doh!)

anyway, if anyone has any advice, id appreciate it.
cheers

shank

If it's an AGP card jus rip it out and bung in a v3 agp instead

---

shank@quake.ie
news.quake.ie

Helv

What type of Dell is it? If it is a Dimension(Tower) the graphics card should be in the AGP slot, but I think optiplexes and desktops have an integrated card. The AGP slot should be beside the pci ones, check the motherboards manual that comes with the machine, or its in one of the Dell manuals.
AGP stands for accelerated graphics port and its got a higher data transfer rate for polygons, texture mapping etc.. than your normal pci slot.
BTW i'd go for a Herc TNT2 ultra. Thats if you are willing to splash out.

Hecate

You can get V3 3000/2000's as pci cards. Dunno what the difference is.

kayos

Well this is a nasty thing to happen and something to always look out for when buying a PC. If the AGP card is intergrated there is no AGP slot so if you want to upgrade your video card you can only get a PCI card or go buy a new Mother Board I nearly had this problem with a gateway PC I bought around xmas. I had to specif and pay more for a mother board with a AGP slot and no intergrated video card. As for what card to go for I would get a TNT 2 Ultra but stay away from the maxi cards (you get them in game) since they have been recalled due to over heating I just got a creative TNT2 Ultra brill card but the drivers didn't work. So I had to use the standerd NVidia drives for it. Oh ya the games you get with it suck big time.

Kayos

WhiteWashMan

like i said, the agp is integrated into the motherboard. therefor there is no agp slot. hence i was wondering if ther was naything i could do to get around it. obviously not

i was thinkng of getting the voodoo3 3000 coz it has he tv adapter an all that so i could watch dvds. but it only comes in agp format. so a voodoo3 200o will have to do. besides i cant get me dvd player working anyway. christ i hate puters
and i do tech support for a living!
i resign!

gandalf

WWman the Dull that I have came with an 8MB ATI Graphics card. I had to change it because it didn't like my DVD setup. I put a Voodoo3 3000 in there instead and it purrs along

Oh Get a separate DVD decoder card. DVD Software decoding sux.

Thou no AGP slot sucks .

Gandalf.

[This message has been edited by gandalf (edited 04-08-99).]

Hobbes

It purr cause V3 has DVD assist hardware in it. Roars with loads of memory too.

WWMan? Your AGP slot is your vid card, throw out your vid card and slot in the V3. Or am I missing something obvious here?


[This message has been edited by Hobbes (edited 04-08-99).]

WhiteWashMan

the agp slot is the ati rage.
its integrated onto the motherboard so if i want to use the agp, i guess i have to stick with the old one

also, my dvd dont wrk anymore.
gandy, what were you saying about that?

gandalf

Hmmm what not even the software decoding/player WWman.

I'll talk to you at FTI if your going that is.

Gandalf.

Hobbes

Ok lets hypothetically pretend that I'm completly stupid.

I thought AGP was the connecter? Or do you mean that the vid card is locked into the motherboard? (in which case that does suck).

I mean I had only 1 AGP slot which had my Vid card in, I removed that and slotted in the V3 3000 AGP and haven't looked back since.

Simple diagrams will help.

gandalf

Hobbes not all AGP systems have an AGP slot. The Graphics Chipset is AGP but tis hotwired onto the Mobo. Suxs if ya want to upgrade the system down the line. Anothe rone to ask when yar buying that system.

Gandalf.

WhiteWashMan

ok.
for the ignorant (yes you simon )

sometimes the agp is built onto the motherboard rather like the bios. ie, there is no 'port'
same with the soundcard. which would normally be in a pci slot, but is just a series of chips soldered onto the board.

now, about the dvd.
problem is this. i cant reinstall it.
the cd rom is there. and works, but the software went haywire.
it keeps coming up when i try to install it with an eror message. it happens at 95% installed and says something about shared components in the region settings. something about english localisatoin. any ideas?

when i put a dvd in the drive, it actually recognises the cd. i put enemy of the state last night and it came up with d:eots so i reckon it reads it, but it coz i dont have the actually cinemania software for dvd, it wont work

also, whats the difference between dvd hardware and software stuff? my drive is an actually dvd drive by toshiba. obviously you need the software like drivers and stuff, but how come i need this cinemania stuff when its an actual dvd drive? surely thats enough. like having a voodoo and the drivers alows you to play niec looking games.

still confused
eamo

kayos

Right the difference between Hardware and SoftWare DVD is as follows IMO.
You are think or software as the drivers this is true but when it comes to playing a dvd video think of how the video is rendered... like playing a game in software or D3D or OpenGL... If you play it using software the PC its self does all the work throught the Processer but D3D requires a video card that supports D3D.
The same goes for DVD. Some video cards don't support software play back of video cards and need a special decoder card to render the DVD video (this normally gives the best quality). Hope this helps...

KaYoS

WhiteWashMan

hmmm, i know the ati rage pro whatever etc etc et c is dvd compatiple.
you cant actually get dvd from dell if you dont get this graphics card.

but that does help me undersatnd the difference. cheers

wont blody fix me purt thou

Helv

phone up dell, wait for 5 hours on the line. They'll tell you to shut down the computer and reboot and everything will be hunky dorey.

Hobbes

WWman, your install problem. Is the Installer InstallShield?

Try setting your regional settings and location to US or what ever country it came from and try installing again. Some older versions of Installshield would not let you install if it didn't support that region (eg. Quake2 installer).

Get me the exact error and I might be a bit more helpful.

WhiteWashMan

ok, ta hobbes
i will post that when i get home.
it is install shield yokey as well.
what do you mean thou by regional setings?
as in region settings in windows?

if i change those, wont other apps be buggered then (like q2)
i presume the dvd itself is set to europe region coz i still have the cinemedia icon in control panel. when i click this i get a front end that has a regions setting in it which is set at europe, whetever, whatever.
i cant change it thou coz theresno software installed (coz i cant install it!)

it also has a setting for cpu usage that lets me use my ati card instead of the cpu.
just thought id mention it

but i will post the error when i get home

Hobbes

If you go into your control panel you will see a globe icon that says regional settings.

Now if you click that your machine will be set English (International) or English (Irish) or English (US) or English (Austrailian in your case ). Normally setting it between one of these fixes the problem. It won't effect anything except how date/time/currencies are displayed and you can set it back when you have finished installing.

The other region setting your talking about is for the DVD. Your DVD player will only play Region 2(?) DVD's. Which means US DVD's will not play on it. You will need a region breaker for that, which is freely available on the net.

WhiteWashMan

i am not a criminal!

ta.
i will try that first and post results

if it doesnt work.. it certain death for you

but..
if it does...
well, there some tinfoil and toilet roles on there way for your amusment

WhiteWashMan

i love you!

tinfoil and cookies on their way.

btw, can i change my system back to english (uk) region settings now?

Hobbes

Yea you can. It shouldn't effect anything unless you want to install again.

Gyck

Sell your Dell.

Build a new PC.

Get the stuff you want (not what they put in).

No problem.