New accelerator card / "on-board" accelerator

[Foil]

Does anyone have any experience installing a graphics card on a motherboard which already has an "on-board" accelerator?

I'm currently on my brother's old 433MHz Gateway (I don't have the model or specs handy, but I can get them later), which has an old ATI on-board chip. It uses system memory, and the acceleration is really poor. I have very little extra cash, but I figure I could maybe get some extra memory and a good used graphics card. The thing is, I just don't know how that would work on a motherboard with the "on-board" chip already there. Can I disable the "on-board" chip, and would that function be in the BIOS settings somewhere?

And if this is feasible, any suggestions on a good, cheap, graphics card would be very appreciated.

Thanks!

[Mobius]

Tell you what: you invent a good, cheap graphics card, and we'll all buy it! You'll make billions.

OK, here goes. Your 433MHz system is nothing but a boat anchor. It is senseless to throw good money after bad here.

A new video card won't provide you with ANY benefit at all, because your CPU is simply too slow to allow even a crappy video card to work.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but you'd best be aware that spending a single cent on that box is a cent too much.

Save your pennies, and buy a second hand box with something like a P4 2.4GHz with 1 GB of RAM and Windows XP Pro.

Honestly, don't spend any money on it!

Your question answered: When installing a GFx card, you hit DEL key when booting, get into the BIOS, and switch the video to AGP. Oh, but wait, that box might not even HAVE an AGP slot... doh.

P.S. I like your Princess bride avatar. I have that DVD.

[Vindicator]

If all you want to do is play D3 or classic UT a bit faster, then a TNT2 card or maybe a Geforce2 MX would do you fine. Anything more than that would be wasted since youre so limited by the CPU.

As a general rule, AGP cards are cheaper than PCI so if your board supports AGP look for those.

You might be able to just install the new card and have the BIOS play nice with it without having to change anything.

[MD-2389]

Anything more than a Geforce 1 would be overkill for that computer. Matter of fact, if that computer even has an AGP slot, it'll most likely be AGP 1.0 (which maxes out at 2x) so unless you hit up a computer show you're out of luck as far as getting an AGP based video card. I honestly wouldn't put a whole lot of money into getting a video card for the system. If it costs more than $25 to get a card for that system, its too much.

That being said, you can easily turn off the onboard video. Usually its either just turning it off in the BIOS or setting a jumper on the motherboard itself. I suggest you find the manual, or look it up on Gateway's website to make sure they don't have some special procedure for turning it off.

[REDDER]

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?in ... 09&cat=VCD

Searched Computergeeks and found this.

Funny how everyone calls any PC that is over two years old a "boat anchor" especially for Descent.

Funny... everytime I upgrade the game plays the same for me... I still get my rear end kicked and enjoy every minute of it.

So whats wrong with adding a video card to an old machine that would benefit from anything that is better than the on board chip?

[MD-2389]

That machine is considered a "boat anchor" because hardly anything modern will run on it.

[Jeff250]

I've often pondering creating my own community inside of a dome, where the inhabitants are none the wiser. I'll delay them 5 years in technology news, so I will be able to sell them 5 year old technology as new and make a million.

[REDDER]

First... let me say this before everyone jumps in and starts attacking me for my last post.

I was not trying to be a "smart mouth" about the subject. I hope this does not launch a bunch of hostile replies.

All I was saying is that old PC's are not necessarily useless. When you say, "hardly anything modern will run on it" I say, "that doesn't matter in this post.

Sure... You cannot effectively run XP... so what... His PC is probably running Win98 and that is fine...

You cannot play most any new game that has come out in the last 3 or 4 years... so what... I think he knows this already. Perhaps he posted his question to the DBB because he simply wants a card that can better handle playable framerates verses the onboard he has now.

Finally... I still use my P3-450 often. It still handles Photoshop 5.5, and all office 2000 programs just as efficiently as any new PC in my office. It even handles the internet on my cable connection without any delays.

That is where my original statement comes from. Basic day to day word processing, 2D imaging, etc. does not require the latest and greatest.

[Foil]

Thanks for the info, guys!

Just to clarify: I'm pretty much stuck with this machine, as I only have about US$35 to spare right now. It does have an AGP slot, and I'm running Win98 on it. I'm well aware that I won't be able to run any recent software; I just want to be able to play D3 and some other old games with better framerates (I currently get like 5-10fps on "lower" settings at times, which makes it hard to enjoy).

After doing a bit of looking around (thanks for the link, Redder!), I'm thinking I might try that TNT2 or maybe a GeForce2 MX400 64MB. Any suggestions?

[Krom]

The MX card is probably a solid bit faster then the TNT2, just make sure it can work in a AGP 1.0 port. You won't be video limited on pretty much anything that card can run with that 433 CPU.

[Top Gun]

God, that GeForce 2 is faster than the one my family's PC has (the 32-meg version). Heck, it's just as good as my Radeon X300. And these things are bargain bin items? I'm in serious trouble.

[BAAL]

Well here's another thought....although drivers are hard to come by.....you cna prob get a Voodoo3 from ebay that will run d3 fine on htat system. as long as you stick to win98 reliable drivers are still available for it.

[Krom]

Windows 98? Voodoo 3? That went out of style 4 years ago.

[MD-2389]

The only two AGP 1.0 cards I can find on newegg are 8MB cards, and honestly aren't worthy of mention. Out of the choices you're limited to, I'd either go for the GF2 mx card (as much as I hate recommending an MX line, and I'm not even sure thats an AGP 1.0 card to begin with.) or look for an original Geforce model (which would yield better performance than the mx, even though its an older card) at a computer show.

[Foil]

Okay, after doing a little research to find something as compatible as I could with my motherboard, I ended up getting this 64MB Radeon 7000 (although I got a better price than what is now listed).

Your help was greatly appreciated, as everything worked without a hitch once I changed the BIOS setting. Although it's nowhere near what a current system can do, the change in performance is huge. I can now actually play D3 at resolutions higher than 640x480 without worrying about my framerate dropping to sub-20. With the newer drivers, I don't have buggy graphics anymore, either. I love it!

Anyway, I'm now starting to have some in-game (D3) issues with firing weapons. Fusion and MD shots fire before I release the trigger (I have an MS Precision-Pro), and sometimes they don't fire at all (I have to hit the trigger again). I've heard that it's a framerate issue, so I set the "framecap -x" in the command line; it helped somewhat, but now I'm starting to have problems with other primary weapons (lasers, plasma, etc.) which just fire intermittently when I'm holding down the trigger.

Any suggestions?

[Tyranny]

Almost sounds like a faulty trigger. D3 has had some known issues with fusion and MD but not from any of the other weapons. Someone else will come along and set you straight though

[WarAdvocat]

MS Pre-Pro and Pre-2s have horrible button issues. Get a different stick and try it. The smart bet is that it's not a framerate issue on that computer. Back when I was using those sticks I ended up replacing them about 25% of the time due to button issues, 75% of the time due to ...ahem...hat switch issues.

As for the 400 MHZ computer, my 400 MHZ computer ran up to a voodoo3 with no problem. The AGP geforce cards gave it fits however, as did TNT2 and up. If I was going to re-outfit that machine for some retro-style gaming I'd probably try a PCI solution.

I've had lots of luck finding older/obscure hardware on Ebay at great prices...Apparently you've got yourself set up at the moment, so good luck to you!

[Foil]

Thanks, guys!

You were absolutely correct; it did turn out to be a physical button issue. I have no idea why I couldn't figure it out... it was obvious once I ran the diagnostic.

Fortunately, in my case, it was a pretty easy fix... just opened up the stick, sprayed some WD-40 in the trigger switch housing, and voila!

Oh, and WarAd, the video card I ended up getting is a PCI; I did a little research, and figured it would be the most compatible for that machine. (That 433MHz is all I have right now, so I wanted something that would run well.)