Video card

[opentocomments]

I want to get a new video card (gaming mostly for warcraft3)
and i am willing to spend about $80-$100
What would you recomend and do i need to pay more for something decient i just need it so i can play Blizzard games Diablo wont work and War3 wont work and i love those games.

Edit: i only ask because my parent wont let me play video games on their computer and i got my own used so its a Dell Dimesion XPS T550 if that helps

[LutherMac]

You've actually got a few choices that you could look into... You can get GeForce4 MX for under $100... or if you want to push it, you might be able to find a GeForceFX card for $100 - $120, though that might be just a bit much for the system that you've got. Not sure offhand what ATI Radeons are going for, but that could be another route to go. Also, check to see if you've got an AGP slot. If your AGP video is on the motherboard, you've got to go with PCI. There's a pretty good selection out there in the pricerange you are looking for though... just take a look...

[The_Dude]

yup, i found a fx 5200 card for 99 bucks @ fry's electronics (www.outpost.com on the net)

i should've bought it!!

and give us more stats about your pc, like what version of agp does it support if any at all.

[opentocomments]

well i am looking at a ATI Radeon 7500 64mb AGP for around $60

And The dude what kind of stats and i dont know about agp but i am hoping so.

[gamer715]

FIND OUT if you have AGP

if you don't, it's probably not worth upgrading, since pci video is expensive and inferior quality. I'm guessing you do, however, so a good choice would be to look at these few cards from www.newegg.com :

For value:
RADEON 9000 Atlantis 128MB
NVIDIA Gainward FX5200, 8X AGP, 128MB(64bit) DDR

For a bit more performance (still under $100 though, gotta love newegg):
ATI RADEON 9200 128MB DDR
PNY Verto GEFORCE FX 128MB DDR AGP 8X 5200 DUAL VGA TV-OUT (get this if you want or ever will want to run dual monitors, makes it so much simpler)

[The_Dude]

like agp 2x or 4x or 8x, whichever one your board supports.

[gamer715]

Originally posted by The_Dude
like agp 2x or 4x or 8x, whichever one your board supports.

crap i'm stupid. good call Dude, don't buy any card that's AGP 8x or 4x until you see if your mobo can support it...

[gamer715]

ok. went back to newegg. 3 of the cards i showed above are AGP 8x, which I'm 99% sure you won't have. Only the Radeon 9000 is 2x/4x compatible. So look into that...

[The_Dude]

i know how you can overlook things like that.

pc's today come w/ those things, so it's very easy to assume that for older pc's

[opentocomments]

Well i am looking for the manual right now but if i dont find it guess ill just crack her open and see whats inside

Edit: i guess It has a t

[opentocomments]

Damn dells Technical support crew sucks ass

[The_Dude]

go online to their support site and put in the model # and see if it pulls up the specs

[The_Dude]

http://www.dell.com/us/en/gen/corpor...-17-rr-003.htm

check out that link

it talks about the xps t550, but it has 3 of them listed w/ 3 different stats.

anyway, you DO have an agp slot according to the page.

but i bet it's 2x or 4x if you're really lucky

and the proc is 550mhz p3

[opentocomments]

Dimension XPS T550
96 MB 100MHz SDRAM
9.1GB Ultra ATA hard drive
17" M780 (16.0 viewable) monitor
8 MB ATI Xpert 98D 3D AGP graphics card
40X4 Max Variable CD-ROM drive
Yamaha XG 64V Wavetable sound
3.5 Floppy Drive
harmon/kardon HK-195 speakers
Microsoft Office 20006 small business plus Encarta 99: McAfee Virus Scan 4.02
Microsoft Windows 98
3-year limited warranty3, 1 year next business day on-site service
$1, 949

Yea thats me but dont worry i didnt pay $2,000 for this peice. It was about $100 bucks at a garage sale so i think i got the good end of the deal.

[The_Dude]

i did a search on your video card

8 MB ATI Xpert 98D 3D AGP graphics card

looks like you better go w/ a 2x card.

http://www.ati.com/products/pc/xpert98/index.html - more info on your vid card here

[opentocomments]

this card says that its 3D and AGP now is there a way i can check and make sure that its and could it be that it just isnt DirectX compatable?

Edit: man your fast and good thanks soo much for the help you have been a life saver

[The_Dude]

try start->run

type in 'dxdiag'

should give you info you need

[opentocomments]

well all the 3D directX options are disabled so i am think need a new card and the one i have picked thus far would be the
ATI RADEON 9000 Atlantis 128mb DVI TV 2x, 4x AGP $77

[The_Dude]

seems a pretty good deal to me.

should really increase your gaming performance.