City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Looking For Graphics Card Recommendation

Bellator

By Bellator,
Posted on: 2009-01-23 05:04 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs

 

Posted

OS: Windows XP SP3
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 - 3.2 GHz
Memory: 1GB
Hard Drive: 250 GB
Current Graphics: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family

Virtue: The-Invictus (Blue)
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Nucleoa - Level 50 Rad/Son Defender

 

Posted

the graphic card you can get depends on motherboard ports (AGP, PCI, etc.) and also your power supply. Might want to post that COHhelper thing for others to look at as I'm not super technically inclined enough to tell you compatibility issues but I know the others will need that info.

 

Posted

Tell us which motherboard and power supply you currently have.
Can't really recommend you anything until then.

 

Posted

From what i found when i googled you chipset it seems there is a good chance that it will not support AGP or PCI-e and would limit you to only PCI gfx card solutions but as others have stated we need to know your motherboard to know for sure what to recommend.

 

Posted

For a graphics card I would recommend one attached to a new computer.

Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
For a graphics card I would recommend one attached to a new computer.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
For a graphics card I would recommend one attached to a new computer.

[/ QUOTE ]This

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Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
For a graphics card I would recommend one attached to a new computer.

[/ QUOTE ]This

[/ QUOTE ]

Judging by the specs posted, it sounds like the OP just needs more RAM and a video card. No need for a whole new computer.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
OS: Windows XP SP3
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 - 3.2 GHz
Memory: 1GB
Hard Drive: 250 GB
Current Graphics: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family

[/ QUOTE ]

Is the processor hyperthreaded? If so, it should show up as two separate blocks in TaskManager under the Performance tab under CPU Usage History.

If it is, I'm betting that you don't have a PCI-Express slot, but rather an AGP slot. If that's true, it greatly narrows down your choices.

You state 1GB of RAM. Bump that to 2GB now while you're working on the video card thing.

If AGP is all you've got for video, you can snag a sapphire ati 3850 agp card for 125 bucks.

Be well, people of CoH.

 

Posted

The problem is that the 915GV and 910GL don't have either an AGP or PCIex16 graphics slot but may still have a PCIex1 slot. A 915G based motherboard may have a PCIex16 slot. These chipsets were targeted for business systems so video card expansion wasn't big on their feature list. Still, a CoHHelper report may help us give you a better idea of what you have exactly.

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Posted

Yikes.

Be well, people of CoH.

 

Posted

Better late than never...

And yes, I know I need to clear hard drive space.

---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.7---

DxDiag gathered at May 26, 2009 09:05 (-04:00)
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234)
System Manufacturer: Gateway
System Model: 702GE
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Central Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 998MB
.Net Memory Report: 239MB out of 997MB available
Page File: 1698MB (940MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD2500JD-22HBB0) 12200MB out of 238472MB (5%) free
D Drive: (ATAPI DVD C DH52C2P) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DirectX Diag version: 5.03.2600.5512 (32-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Video Device Name: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family
Manufacturer / Chip: Intel Corporation / Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset
Video Memory: 64.0 MB
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.4764
Driver Date: 1/13/2007 11:33:00 AM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Realtek HD Audio rear output
Driver File: RtkHDAud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5030
Driver Date: 8/26/2004 11:12:34 PM

Sound Device Description: StudioPro audio 1
Driver File: vrtaucbl.sys
Driver Version: 4.04.0007.1056
Driver Date: 4/22/2007 7:27:48 PM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: D915GSE
Motherboard Version: AAC77848-103
BIOS Manufacturer: Intel Corp.
BIOS Name: Default System BIOS
BIOS Version: GATEWA - 6f2
BIOS Release: 20041012000000.000000+000

Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1024x712
3D Resolution: 1024x712 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: No
Maximized: Yes
Screen Position: -8, 4
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: No

Physics Quality: None
Maximum Particles: 100
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No

Anti-aliasing: None
Anisotropic Filtering: None
Texture LOD Bias: Crisp
Water Effects: None
Bloom: 1.000 (turned off)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: No
Shader Detail: Lowest

World Texture Level: Low
Character Texture Level: Low
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 0.500
Entity Detail Level: 0.300
Shadows Enabled: No
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: No
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: Yes
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 0.140
Music Sound Volume: 0.122

Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.000
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 650662 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 18.20090422.5T
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found

Virtue: The-Invictus (Blue)
The Emissary of Justice - Level 50 Fire/Fire Blaster
The Emissary of Justice. - Level 50 WP/Fire Tanker
Mesmerius - Level 50 Psi/Mental Blaster
Nucleoa - Level 50 Rad/Son Defender

 

Posted

Oh-boy. First so you and others can follow along, Gateway Support 702GE

On the bright side, you have a PCIex16 slot for modern video cards and it isn't a slimline case.

On the dark side, you have only a 300 watt power supply coupled to a power hungry Pentium 4 with HT, so not a lot of spare power left.

Darker side, it appears the power supply isn't held in place by the standard ATX retention mechanisms making a PSU upgrade non-trivial. I have no idea how easy it would be to adapt a standard size (and many modern PSUs are actually longer than standard to support a single large fan on the "top/bottom" as oppose to the back) to this case. The two unique aspects for this power supply and case is the power supply "hangs" from the top of the case via a tab in slot and then held there by a lever pushing the PSU toward the back of the case where it's screwed into the rear of the case with only three screws. Can't be sure if even the screw holes are in the right place for this case.

This will limit you a great deal in what video cards you can add to your system. A non-factory OC 9500GT may still end up drawing more power than you have available (the 9500GT is equivalent in performance to the previous generation 8600GT). Considering you are currently running graphics with an Intel GMA900, pretty much anything would be faster even a 9400GT (it's a bit faster than the 8500GT) which is rated for a 300 watt PSU.

Also upping your system memory from 1 to 2 GB will help smoothing out performance by significantly reducing the use of the swap file while traveling through zones.

Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components

Tempus unum hominem manet