The Clockwork Mansion

For Christmas I got "Call of Duty 4" and "Left 4 Dead", the only problem is my PC can't play them due to my Graphic card not working with them (aka its too old I guess).

I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion as what would be a good upgrade from my
Nvidia GeForce FX 5200.

Depends.

Do you have AGP or PCI-X or what?


... not that I'd know the answer anyway, my last desktop is still running merrily, and that's an AMD Athlon 1400+...

I believe most card families are still available in AGP and PCIe format.  I'm currently running with a 7600 which is hardly state-of-the-art, but works well enough for Oblivion, which the 6200 chip on the motherboard did not (imagine walking through a shower room or something filled with steam.  This is what Oblivion is like with the details sliders at minimum.  If a horse appeared you got a slideshow.)

If there is a reasonably-priced upgrade from that (the 7600) I might be interested, just for the sake of futureproofing.

It depends on your processor. I run Left 4 Dead on a 8600GT, but with a pretty good processor, 2.66 core 2 duo.

Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on January 03, 2009, 04:31:47 PM
Depends.

Do you have AGP or PCI-X or what?

It's PCI.

Quote
... not that I'd know the answer anyway, my last desktop is still running merrily, and that's an AMD Athlon 1400+...

Apart from not playing the two games mine runs fine too.

Quote from: Dannysaysnoo on January 03, 2009, 05:21:08 PM
It depends on your processor. I run Left 4 Dead on a 8600GT, but with a pretty good processor, 2.66 core 2 duo.

I have a Pentium 4 and 1GB of RAM.

Quote from: Shadrok on January 03, 2009, 07:48:15 PM

Quote from: Dannysaysnoo on January 03, 2009, 05:21:08 PM
It depends on your processor. I run Left 4 Dead on a 8600GT, but with a pretty good processor, 2.66 core 2 duo.

I have a Pentium 4 and 1GB of RAM.

What's it's clock?

Quote from: Dannysaysnoo on January 03, 2009, 07:51:10 PM
What's it's clock?

I don't know?

Quote from: Shadrok on January 03, 2009, 08:02:29 PM

Quote from: Dannysaysnoo on January 03, 2009, 07:51:10 PM
What's it's clock?

I don't know?

Go to ''My computer' and look at the properties then. :B

Quote from: Tapewolf on January 03, 2009, 04:35:52 PM
I believe most card families are still available in AGP and PCIe format.  I'm currently running with a 7600 which is hardly state-of-the-art, but works well enough for Oblivion, which the 6200 chip on the motherboard did not (imagine walking through a shower room or something filled with steam.  This is what Oblivion is like with the details sliders at minimum.  If a horse appeared you got a slideshow.)

If there is a reasonably-priced upgrade from that (the 7600) I might be interested, just for the sake of futureproofing.

The Geforce 7 series was the last AGP compatible card by Nvidia. Most didn't bother, but I know that XFX and Gainward both released the 7950GT using AGP, probably making it the most powerful Nvidia AGP card, if you can find one.

According to this (http://compreviews.about.com/od/video/tp/AGPVideo.htm), the best AGP card would be the Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 512MB AGP (http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=227).

Quote from: Aiyno on January 03, 2009, 09:23:27 PM

Quote from: Shadrok on January 03, 2009, 08:02:29 PM

Quote from: Dannysaysnoo on January 03, 2009, 07:51:10 PM
What's it's clock?

I don't know?

Go to ''My computer' and look at the properties then. :B

*adjusts glasses and looks*  :B

It says

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz 2.39 GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM

Do you know the model number of your computer?
Yours may still have a PCI-X slot, if so there are many a cheap upgrade available, agp equivalents are 40% higher or better.

Your CPU should be able to push those games ok, maybe not perfect but alright.

If you only have PCI slots, then I'm sorry, there really isn't much more we can do for you.
You'll have to put the old girl out to pasture.

BTW llearch, I have an 1800+ just chillin' if your interested, though shipping would be a downer.

I appreciate the offer, Gamma, but my desktop is in a box, and has been since February. 2008, just in case anyone reads this a bit later.

I'm trying to build physical space in the house to get it out and turn it on, in which case I'll be able to run it, but until I have the space, there's no real need to upgrade it. And if I do get to upgrade it, chances are the easiest thing to do will be to go and buy a dell with some serious hardware in it - no half measures, sort of thing.

And that'll cost probably much the same as doing a peicemeal, semi-half-arsed upgrade, and give me something significantly better. So yeah, not a big deal...

Quote from: Gamma on January 04, 2009, 02:26:47 AM
If you only have PCI slots, then I'm sorry, there really isn't much more we can do for you.
You'll have to put the old girl out to pasture.

If memory serves, AGP came onto the scene during the Pentium II era.  He almost certainly has an AGP or PCI-e slot on the board.  If it's some weird custom board which doesn't, (Dell, Packard Bell, HP etc) then yes - it's new motherboard time.

I've seen a number of boards with no AGP slot - usually the ones that have on-board AGP - which makes upgrades a pain.

On the other hand, I've also seen boards with on-board AGP, and an AGP slot... so it really is down to "what have you got?" :-/

Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on January 04, 2009, 10:35:54 AM
I've seen a number of boards with no AGP slot - usually the ones that have on-board AGP - which makes upgrades a pain.

Well, if that is the case, I'm sure he can pick up a more recent Pentium 4 mainboard with PCI-e for a song.

Quote from: Tapewolf on January 04, 2009, 10:25:58 AM

Quote from: Gamma on January 04, 2009, 02:26:47 AM
If you only have PCI slots, then I'm sorry, there really isn't much more we can do for you.
You'll have to put the old girl out to pasture.

If memory serves, AGP came onto the scene during the Pentium II era.  He almost certainly has an AGP or PCI-e slot on the board.  If it's some weird custom board which doesn't, (Dell, Packard Bell, HP etc) then yes - it's new motherboard time.

If he has a Dell or an HP or [insert crappy brand here] he's also looking at a new case. Brand name computers tend to make it difficult to upgrade the mainboard by making sure that only their board fits it, and other boards don't. They probably have a good reason for doing this, but I don't really care to speculate.

Quote from: Tapewolf on January 04, 2009, 10:25:58 AM

Quote from: Gamma on January 04, 2009, 02:26:47 AM
If you only have PCI slots, then I'm sorry, there really isn't much more we can do for you.
You'll have to put the old girl out to pasture.

If memory serves, AGP came onto the scene during the Pentium II era.  He almost certainly has an AGP or PCI-e slot on the board.  If it's some weird custom board which doesn't, (Dell, Packard Bell, HP etc) then yes - it's new motherboard time.

What I have is a Dell Dimension 4600, and I believe it's just PCI not PCI-e. I bought the computer back in 2003.

In that case it should be either this:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600/sm/techov.htm#1084976

or this:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600i/sm/techov.htm#1084976

...either way, there should be an 8x AGP slot.

Quote from: Shadrok on January 04, 2009, 04:29:35 PM

Quote from: Tapewolf on January 04, 2009, 10:25:58 AM

Quote from: Gamma on January 04, 2009, 02:26:47 AM
If you only have PCI slots, then I'm sorry, there really isn't much more we can do for you.
You'll have to put the old girl out to pasture.

If memory serves, AGP came onto the scene during the Pentium II era.  He almost certainly has an AGP or PCI-e slot on the board.  If it's some weird custom board which doesn't, (Dell, Packard Bell, HP etc) then yes - it's new motherboard time.

What I have is a Dell Dimension 4600, and I believe it's just PCI not PCI-e. I bought the computer back in 2003.

Oh dear. I'm afraid that that thing was never really made for games or upgrading. COD4 and Left 4 Dead will never run well on it, if at all.
It's even listed as No. 10 of the top 10 worst computers of all time here (http://www.pcworld.com/article/129857-2/the_10_worst_pcs_of_all_time.html).
If you have the money, find your nearest computer geek friend, find out what can be salvaged from your current office paper weight (things like memory, processor disk drives, HDD, NOT the power supply, etc.), and get an upgrade for everything else (case, mainboard, graphics, more memory, bigger HDD, etc.).

Quote from: Vidar on January 04, 2009, 04:43:09 PM
Oh dear. I'm afraid that that thing was never really made for games or upgrading. COD4 and Left 4 Dead will never run well on it, if at all.
It's even listed as No. 10 of the top 10 worst computers of all time here (http://www.pcworld.com/article/129857-2/the_10_worst_pcs_of_all_time.html).

Their sole justification for that seems to be that the PSUs failed.  Shadrok's has been running for about 5 years so it's probably passed that particular danger point.

Quote from: Vidar on January 04, 2009, 04:43:09 PM

Quote from: Shadrok on January 04, 2009, 04:29:35 PM
What I have is a Dell Dimension 4600, and I believe it's just PCI not PCI-e. I bought the computer back in 2003.

Oh dear. I'm afraid that that thing was never really made for games or upgrading. COD4 and Left 4 Dead will never run well on it, if at all.
It's even listed as No. 10 of the top 10 worst computers of all time here (http://www.pcworld.com/article/129857-2/the_10_worst_pcs_of_all_time.html).
If you have the money, find your nearest computer geek friend, find out what can be salvaged from your current office paper weight (things like memory, processor disk drives, HDD, NOT the power supply, etc.), and get an upgrade for everything else (case, mainboard, graphics, more memory, bigger HDD, etc.).

:sigh That's what I was afraid of. Well at least I can still use it for the basics (art, work, and old games)

Quote from: Tapewolf on January 04, 2009, 04:58:51 PM

Quote from: Vidar on January 04, 2009, 04:43:09 PM
Oh dear. I'm afraid that that thing was never really made for games or upgrading. COD4 and Left 4 Dead will never run well on it, if at all.
It's even listed as No. 10 of the top 10 worst computers of all time here (http://www.pcworld.com/article/129857-2/the_10_worst_pcs_of_all_time.html).

Their sole justification for that seems to be that the PSUs failed.  Shadrok's has been running for about 5 years so it's probably passed that particular danger point.

Yeah it still has the original PSU from when I bought it, though I did buy it from a reseller so they could have tested it for flaws. The hard drive on the other hand did fail but has since been replaced.



I don't know if this will help any but I dusted my PC out last night and looked at the motherboard and this looks to be  what I have http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=MB4DEL2Y832
(and I mean the link not the dusting)

If you click on the image in that link, it's got a slightly larger image (very slightly) available. (http://www.ascendtech.us/mmASC/Images/2y832.jpg)

If you look at that, there's three cream slots on the left, then a green slot. That green slot is an AGP slot. So all you have to do is find an AGP card that fits that slot. That's assuming that the image looks like your motherboard.

You might want to check your machine, and make sure there's a full height slot available for that particular slot, since some designs put in a half-height area, just to make it problematical. I expect you're probably ok, but let's be careful, huh? ;-]


Once you've got that, just about any 1x, 4x, or 8x AGP card will work.

Quote from: Shadrok on January 06, 2009, 01:46:38 PM
I don't know if this will help any but I dusted my PC out last night and looked at the motherboard and this looks to be  what I have http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=MB4DEL2Y832
(and I mean the link not the dusting)

The green slot is the AGP slot.  Assuming that exists on yours too (as per the service documentation), you should be able to get an AGP card that will plug in there.  The GeForce 7600 (which I have in PCI-Express format) also comes as an AGP card.  There's also a 7800 but that seems to be considerably more expensive.

Apparently Left 4 Dead works reasonably well with a 7600.