Looking into Video Card

[Simsboarder]

Okay, so I figure its time to upgrade, I need a new video card, but I just checked my pc and it doesnt have an agp slot, so I need a new motherboard. Please give me some tips on a new motherboard and video card for me, thanks a million.

[FrogmanNH]

What CPU are you going to be using?

[gabrill]

I always go to anandtech.com to find the lastest roundup of the best hardware.

[Simsboarder]

Here are some specs of my pc as of now:
Microsoft ME
Pentium 3 1 GHz
128mb ram

Don't know much else about it

[Pizzagod]

I like the ASUS motherboards, but have been satisfied with many other vendors also. I'd just make sure it has the features you're looking for, and has a good warranty.

Also, as far as video goes, I'd recommend Nvidia's GeForce line of cards.

[FrogmanNH]

I see two problems with the specs of your pc.

First off, you are running quite possibly the worst operating system of all time. With my experiences, DOS freezes less often than Windows ME.

Secondly, I am assuming that your ram is SDRAM because of the Pentium 3 processer, and I know for a fact that that needs to be changed. You might want to just upgrade your processer while upgrading your motherboard and I would recommend AMD Athlon XP at least 1600+ if you are on a tight budget. You also want to purcase some fans because those things overheat like crazy.
I need to get to class now, so if you are finding my opinions helpful, just send me a message, and I'll get back to you.

[Simsboarder]

I realize that ME isnt the best operating system, but I would like to get a new motherboard and video card before I upgrade the operating system

[FrogmanNH]

What kind of budget are you willing to give this?

[madrusty289]

First of all, they do make PCI video cards, but they are significantly worse.

By wanting to get a new motherboard (which includes a necesary purchase of a processor and DDR RAM) and a graphics card, you pretty much talking about a new computer. I would recommend getting a low budget new computer with a fast processor but bad other stuff. Then upgrade the graphics card. It'll come out to the same price, and you'll have Windows XP.

[Simsboarder]

Can you give me a direction to look for a low budget computer

[stalker2150]

Emachines? Compaq?

I have an Emachines PC I got for $700 from Best Buy. 1.4Ghz Athlon / Win XP about a year and half ago. For the same amount of money you can get something way faster now I think. I upgraded my RAM from 128 to 512MB (PC133?) ~$60? I put in a Hercules Fortissimo III 8.1 speaker sound card ~$50-70 (I never really use that many speakers though hehehe) and more importantly.. I've got a GeForce 4 Ti 4200 128MB DDR video card ($180 when I bought it ~8 months ago)

I get good performance with UT2k3 30+ fps (1200x1024x32bit, full textures and char detail, med world detail, no char. shadows) , and decent frame rates with Unreal 2 (i would say ~20-40 @1024x768x32bit). These two games, and Morrowind (20-40+ fps) are what usually tax my system, and everything else pretty much runs decently fast or overkill.

I have no clue how to o/c my Athlon, so I know it can get much better performance if I do.

I've been out of the PC upgrade scene for some time now, so these are just some basic stats for you to go upon. You should be able to get a good 64-128MB DDR GeForce 4/5 videocard for $150 now. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Mechainc]

Just one quick note: DOS never freezes!!

Carry on....

[stalker2150]

Well, actually that depends on what you're running. I have run games that freeze up even before they start........But yeah DOS itself at the command prompt won't "freeze" like windows..... but then again Windows won't freeze by itself, unless you are trying to run something that CAUSES it to freeze.. it's kinda silly.

[FrogmanNH]

No matter how cheap they are, do NOT get an EMachines. Your best bet is to build a PC yourself. Find a case that comes with a 400 watt power supply and that supports whatever CPU you are going to use, find a motherboard you like since they can be picked up fairly cheap (just make sure it supports DDR RAM), and find a CPU that is supported by the motherboard. Your best bet is to buy them online. I recommend checking www.newegg.com. This is what I would suggest:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-135-126&depa=1 ($40)- This is the motherboard that I use, and it has never given me any problems.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-182-511&catalog=7&depa=1 ($29+$10) - This was the cheapest case that I could find that came with a power supply that would handle the motherboard well.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-317&catalog=343&depa=1 ($52) - This is the minimum that I will recommend right now, but I will never recommend a Pentium 4.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-311&catalog=48&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1 ($88) - Again, this is the minimum that I will recommend, and I will not recommend anything other than ATI.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-200-045&catalog=147&depa=1 ($34) - Without DDR RAM, you will only be able to clock your PC at 1Ghz.

The rest of the parts you need you should be able to get out of your current computer, so if you went with this, it would cost $253. Just be sure to buy lots of fans, I don't know how much they will cost. I have never had any problems dealing with newegg in the past.

[stalker2150]

Hey now, my emachines runs fine. And ATI sucks. :p Ok so maybe they USED to suck. I have this piece of garbage ATI Xpert 128 Pro 16MB pci video card that's next to useless (slow and cruddy). The worst $125 I spent (4 years ago).

[sipa]

You guys, settle down. He's not looking to go all out and pimp out his machine... sheesh.

I say just pick up a 256mb PCI (which can be found here (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1064607240873&skuId=6041295&type=product))
It's only $150 and has a lot of the features of the more exspensive AGP cards. I know, it's not as good but it doesn't cost that much and it's easy to install. It will ease almost anything your running on there, (video wise I mean). Next you'll want to look into getting some more ram. If you bump the RAM up to 256 or anything above that there should be a noticble improvement in loading times on most tasks offline. After that the only major thing that will be holding you back would be the processor which would most likely require a new MB to upgrade.

Dunno if I really helped that much, but whatever. :confused:

[FrogmanNH]

stalker2150 said:
Hey now, my emachines runs fine. And ATI sucks. :p Ok so maybe they USED to suck. I have this piece of garbage ATI Xpert 128 Pro 16MB pci video card that's next to useless (slow and cruddy). The worst $125 I spent (4 years ago).

That's the video card that I was using a few years ago. It doesn't even compare to any AGP cards that I have used, but I could run most of my games great, and once I messed with my DVD ROM for about 6 months, DVDs played flawless as well. It sucked, but that was just because it was PCI.