PCI video card

[elliot5637]

Hi,
im looking to buy a pci card (no pci-e or agp slots) and was wondering which is the best card out of these three:

ATI RADEON 9000 128MB or 256mb DDR 128-bit

NVIDIA GEFORCE FX5500 256MB DDR 128-bit

NVIDEA Geforce FX5200 128MB DDR 128-bit

Thanks

[eric93se]

You can also compare their GPU clock speeds and the ram speed as well. But from that list, I would say the FX5500.

Welcome to ClubCDfreaks

[Kerry56]

You’ll want a card with 128 bit memory interface and 128 or 256mb memory, but it appears you are already aware of that. And just picking from your list, I’d agree with Eric on the 5500.

[B]This list at Newegg[/B] shows what they have available with those specifications on a PCI card. The Visiontek Radeon X1300’s seem the most capable, but are way overpriced for pci cards.

[jflan]

Here’s one if you’re in the states :
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp;jsessionid=D2G0ZWBRN5U2XKC4D3OFAHA?skuId=8762225&productCategoryId=abcat0507002&type=product&tab=2&id=1203815034315#productdetail
Is this really PCI ? (Europe) :
http://www.dollarshops.eu/product_info.php/cPath/176/products_id/1117

These two are the fastest PCI (non-express) cards that I know of.
Be sure that your power supply is up to the task.

I digress…from the list, FX5500

[elliot5637]

Thanks for the help. How much difference am i likely to see if i currently only use an onboard graphics card? And it looks as if my computer only has a 230W power supply. The FX 5500 recommends 250W. Would this difference matter? thanks

[mciahel]

Hi,[quote=elliot5637;2079970]How much difference am i likely to see if i currently only use an onboard graphics card?[/quote]could you please post some specs of your system? I suspect your system is very old since there is no AGP or PCIe port that can be used for a VGA card. This would also mean, there is not much improvement apart from freeing some RAM that is used by the shared VGA memory.
In that case, I personally wouldn’t spend any money on that system and consider buying something new in the next few months.

Next question would be, what benefit would you expect from installing a PCI VGA card?

Michael

[elliot5637]

Hi Michael,

Im using a pentium 4 3Ghz with 1GB of RAM. Dunno what other specs you might need…

[mciahel]

Hi,[quote=elliot5637;2080459]
Im using a pentium 4 3Ghz with 1GB of RAM.[/quote]That is at least not so old. Normally, there should be a PCIe or AGP port present then. Please re-check your motherboard manual.

Dunno what other specs you might need…
Now, only information about the motherboard is required. A system running a PIV CPU should have a PCIe or AGP port, even with integrated graphics.

Michael

[elliot5637]

I have looked. There is only a PCI-E x1 port!!! lol. And no AGP either which sucks…

[mciahel]

[quote=elliot5637;2080580]I have looked. There is only a PCI-E x1 port!!! lol. And no AGP either which sucks…[/quote]What board is that?
I would consider replacing the board then. And the PSU, which is not powerful enough to feed a halfway decent VGA card.

Michael

[jwill427]

a 6200 would be the best bang for your buck PCI card, it can play bf2/2142 and most games from 2-3 years ago with no problem, but unfortunately you will need a pci-e or agp card with more muscle to play most recent games

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130289

[coolcolors]

OP so will you tell us your system motherboard and specs?? Otherwise we are giving advice without even knowing what kinda system you have whether you built it yourself or bought as one unit from electronics store???

[elliot5637]

[QUOTE=coolcolors;2080697]OP so will you tell us your system motherboard and specs?? [/QUOTE]

Its a Dell dimension 3100. Brought straight from dell about a couple of years ago. 3Ghz pentium 4 with 1GB of RAM and a integrated intel video card.

[Kerry56]

There are a couple of pci-e x1 video cards at Newegg. One of them even has reviews of putting it in a Dell 3100.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161197

Read all the reviews, as they give instructions on how to install it in a Dell.

Just another option, but its still a fairly weak video card with only 64 bit interface.

[mciahel]

[quote=elliot5637;2080912]Its a Dell dimension 3100.[/quote]Unbelievable, but true
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim3100/en/sm/techov0.htm#wp1058089

This is a plain work computer.

If you want some gaming performance, just forget it. Apart from the missing slot and the non-availability of powerful VGA cards for PCI or PCIe 1x, the PSU is not sufficient to feed a decent VGA card. The bad thing is, Dell might have used a non-standard PSU that couldn’t be replaced by some other aftermarket PSU.

The only advantage of a PCI or PCIe 1x VGA card would be DVI for digital monitors and freeing up some RAM (which should increase the overall performance slightly).

Michael

[elliot5637]

I am looking at getting a PCI Geforce 6200 video card now. Pretty sure the power requirement of it is 250W. Would the 20W difference between my PSU and the vid card reccomendation make it a bad idea to install this card? Also i am only looking to be able to play games like Counter Stike Souce and Dawn Of War.

[jflan]

[QUOTE=elliot5637;2081458]I am looking at getting a PCI Geforce 6200 video card now. Pretty sure the power requirement of it is 250W. Would the 20W difference between my PSU and the vid card reccomendation make it a bad idea to install this card? Also i am only looking to be able to play games like Counter Stike Souce and Dawn Of War.[/QUOTE]
On the power requirement, if it were mine, I would go for it.
But in theory you could damage your rig if the PS failed, so be advised.

When shopping for 6200 avoid “TC” (Turbo Cache) and LE versions.
I would try to find a “standard” version with 256MB although it could be argued that the card cannot fully utilize that much memory.

On the games, just Google <Geforce 6200 for (game’s title)>
I did that and found that your two games are reportedly OK with 6200.

On the drivers, this is an older design, so the newest driver is likely not the best.
I have a 6200 (PNY 128MB) on one of my boxes and it is very stable with 84.21 drivers.
This card is still in demand because it is one of the least expensive cards that will run Vista with full Aero.

[elliot5637]

Ive given up on trying to install one now. My comp has a 2.3 bus type insted of 2.1 and by reading around it looks like the dell 3100 innit a good comp 2 install video card in. Thanks for all the help anyways.

Elliot