Computer Specs

[Lord Dakier]

I got a major gaming issue at the momment people and this P-O-S laptop is struggling to play Rome on the worst graphics with only small unit sizes. *Darn city battles*

So can Anyone suggest a good Graphics card for my old bucket of a computer which I plan to revive in the next few weeks.

Intel Celeron
256mb Ram
Pro Savage DDR2 or 3

anything else that you need to know just ask.

[irishron]

Being a laptop, odds are the only upgrade is a new computer.

[Lord Dakier]

No Im reviving my old computer. I decided to get a laptop ages ago and now find it insufficient... giving the laptop to my parents cuase there comp sucks.

So Computer not laptop

[Brusilov]

Does the motherboard handle AGP or PCI-Express. My guess is that it can handle AGP which means you can only use a AGP card. Given the specs of your PC even a fairly cheap card will improve things.

Can you run DxDiag and attach the results to a reply? Start>Run>then enter Dxdiag.

If you post which country you live in someone may be able to let you know where to pick up cheap graphics cards.

[Lord Dakier]

Hmm thats a problem lol. I need to reinstall and reformat my systems on the comp.

Hmm not sure about the motherboard I think it can handle AGP.

Actually if the Nvidea Geforce X2500 somethin like that anyway... uses AGP then Yeah it does cause I tried my cousins G card and it done wonders on my system.

[Brusilov]

Hmm thats a problem lol. I need to reinstall and reformat my systems on the comp.

Hmm not sure about the motherboard I think it can handle AGP.

Actually if the Nvidea Geforce X2500 somethin like that anyway... uses AGP then Yeah it does cause I tried my cousins G card and it done wonders on my system.

What is the card your cousin has? If you can find that make (ATI orr NVIDIA for instance) and model (Geforce X2500 or ATI X800XT).

Again if you post your country someone may be able to suggest a cheap place to get a card (depending upon your budget).

[Lord Dakier]

its the Nvidea X2500 im sure it is. Im In the UK aswell. I saw a cheap one on EBAY. I just want to know how far I can go with Nvidea cards.

[Brusilov]

its the Nvidea X2500 im sure it is. Im In the UK aswell. I saw a cheap one on EBAY. I just want to know how far I can go with Nvidea cards.

if I put x2500 into google it thinks it's either a Lexmark Printer or an ATI mobility (laptop) card....

[Lord Dakier]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/nVIDIA-GeForce...d=p3286.c0.m14

I think it was this one.

[Brusilov]

Thats quite cheap. You know that even on Amazon.co.uk you can pick it up for £25.18 (plus postage). I guess you would pay postage on ebay as well - the one you show is from Hing Kong.

[Lord Dakier]

I know it was just an example one. can you suggest a better one so I can beat my cocky cousin lol

[Brusilov]

I know it was just an example one. can you suggest a better one so I can beat my cocky cousin lol

You need to give an idea of your budget!

Also the card you acquire be limited by your CPU. Buying a top of the range AGP card may mean that your set up is limited by your CPU and memory rather than the card.

I've not been in the AGP market for over a year and a half when I moved from a machine with an ATI X800XT (AGP) card to a NVIDIA 8800GTX (PCI-E) card.

[Lord Dakier]

CPU... Hmm I have no idea lol. My budget is preferably below £150... as I get E.M.A which is £30 per week but I cant do much as in work wise cause off college

[Brusilov]

Well, memory is fairly cheap now-a-days so you can always get a bit more - do you really only have 256Mb of RAM? There was that much memory on the graphics card you showed!

I am quite sure that you can get decent 'bang for your buck' with a graphics card and some more memory. You could always buy a graphics card and later on some more memory. I just don't know enough to suggest what.

You do need to make sure that the card is compatible with your motherboard. Make sure what card your cousin has.

[Lord Dakier]

Is there a way of finding out ALL compatible cards on your motherboard. Only one snag I dont know what the motherboard is. All I know is that the computer is a custom built intel celeron and has 256 Ram, and a Pro*Not So*savage DDR 2-3 graphics card... Basically Red Alert 2 is the furthest Im getting on here lol.

[Brusilov]

Is there a way of finding out ALL compatible cards on your motherboard. Only one snag I dont know what the motherboard is. All I know is that the computer is a custom built intel celeron and has 256 Ram, and a Pro*Not So*savage DDR 2-3 graphics card... Basically Red Alert 2 is the furthest Im getting on here lol.

I don't know if something like Dxdiag will show you that. Start>Run>Dxdiag (in the dialog box that appears).

[Zuwxiv]

You can pick up some RAM for less than $30, but make sure it's compatible with your system.

I'm not sure, but the extra RAM might give you a larger performance boost than the better video card.

Some manufacturers are offering pretty good computers for around $500 (probably a little higher in the UK). If you wanted to save up for a few months, you could get a much better computer for not that much more than your budget for upgrading. But of course, that depends on your preference and budget.

[Lord Dakier]

I got my baby back alive with windows pro... yay

ram: 224mb
Processor: Intel Celeron - CPU 2.40GHz
Page File: 86mb used, 460mb available
Graphics Card: S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR

well I think first I should up the ram some more, throw another 256 stick inside it. Then get the Nvidea Geforce FX5500 Graphics Card. Then up the ram some more to bring it up to a Gb atleast. then a new processor. What do you think?

[irishron]

I don't see it on their website, but when the Celeron was first released, weren't they released without onchip math coprocessors?

[Lord Dakier]

I have no idea.

Do you need certain ram sticks for certain computers or do they fit in any?

And is there a limit to what I can have becuase of my processor and motherboard?