Any Computer People on here...video card question

[twitchy]

My computer has a 1.8 GHZ processor and the motherboard has integrated video card built in. Its a Nvidia Gforce or some damn thing. As far as i can tell it uses system ram as video ram.


Doom 3 and Halflife 2 are coming out soon and I need to upgrade, I can still install a videocard even though I have one built in right? as well can i have the 2 work to helpeach other out? I remember back in the day you could somehow wire 2 videocards to each other for more power.

thanks twitchy

[optikal]

You've probably got a nForce chipset board. If it has an AGP slot, you should be able to put in your own card and disable the onboard video. If you don't have an AGP slot, you would have to use PCI and that would suck for 3D rendering. If that is the case, replace the motherboard. The only video cards that can do SLI (scan line interleave) are new PCI Express and some regular PCI cards (old 3Dfx cards). Unfortunately, I don't know of any motherboards you can buy with dual PCI Express slots yet (except for the new alienware box but you can't just buy its motherboard).

In summary, if you've got an AGP slot, get a ATI 9800 or something for HL2. I don't know if Valve fixed the nvidia problems or not but the ATI is still a good performer and should power both those games with no problems even on your relatively dated processor.

[sykikchimp]

what he said....

[Shin_Kudo]

It's running a 1.8ghz proc, nothing old enough to be missing AGP would be able to run a proc like that. It, however, is impossible to have the two video units running together. As for a new card, despite the HL2 problems, I'd recommend one of the Nvidia cards, either a 5800, or, if you're willing to shell out, a 6800, as, while the ATI cards are better in some applications, nForce mobos have been known to have issues with ATI cards.

[Hawd]

If you have an agp slot your cool. As long as you disable the onboard video.

[citizen]

eh good luck sucking it up on the fps front with a 1.8ghz. go buy a new cpu/mobo/video card/ram. i like ati so i would go get a 9800 or x800. atm im running a flashed 9800np works well enough and they can be had pretty cheap, just be sure to get the samsung and not infineon crap ram on it. oh and the part about wiring two vid cards together, stop being a idiote, moran...

[MakotoS13]

if you have an AMD board and you can upgrade you should get a barton 2500+ and overclock it to 3200+ speeds. i did that and i'm running 2.2ghz @ 404mhz fsb.

you can disable the onboard video in the bios but installing a vid card should do that automatically (or just give you two outputs).

get a card, run it, if ya need more power upgrade CPU.

how much RAM, what's its bus speed... etc etc... there are a lot of things to consider. also, there is a new kind of pci coming out soon that i'd wait for.

[cali240sxdrifter]

ha, so ur getting upgrade fever now that Doom3 has gone Gold huh? hehe, I would too but am pretty much set with my laptop, I should be running a high-medium detail on it with stable FPS.

Whats the spec on that motherboard? How much Ram you have? Well I heard if you want above decent frame rates, go for a GeforceFX board (prices have drop down a lot on them), If you have 512ram get a another stick (they also have drop down in prices). And for CPU, ehh you can always see how it is first with just a video card and memory upgrade. If you decide to want more power get a 2500+ and be careful of overclocking if you don't have the proper cooling and power upgrades (dang just like a car i guess). You can always overclock a bit up to up 5-10fps.

Here's some good sites for you to check out, espeicaly

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/
www.newegg.com
If you want a new PC altogether www.ibuypower.com
http://www.pricewatch.com/ (crap forgot about this one)
hope this helps.

[citizen]

all you amd and nvidia people suck. get a p4 and be over with, rock solid o/c

[cali240sxdrifter]

well, since he has a on board geforce video card its a nforce2 am thinking. And nforce boards only use AMD cpu's. So its not that intel sucks, its just that well thats all he can put on his current mobo. I have a 3.2 p4 on my laptop myself along with a 9600 Pro ATI. But for a shweet cpu, i'd get Athlon 64 FX-53, say what you will, but its very tasty, with a ATI card of course hehe.

[airsoft]

make sure ur new vid card supports DirectX 9 =]

-ati radeon 9800 pro ownz

[G_Fish240]

im getting a 9800 pro for doom 3, its at a good price right now

[thx247]

This is what I hear right now "Ohhh Doom 3! lets all make a big upgrade!"

This is what I'll hear in 7 months..."Hey my expensive AGP card doesn't work on all these new mother boards anymore, but I want to upgrade my computer"

Wait for PCI Express.

[MakotoS13]

all you amd and nvidia people suck. get a p4 and be over with, rock solid o/c

you're ignorant. everything on my comp is overclocked and once i unlock my cpu i'll be able to raise the multiplier and hit 3500+ speeds (bout 700mhz over stock with no excessive cooling). hell, my heatsink isn't even really that great.

Nvidia and AMD own

[95Blue240sx]

uh-oh the geek shoot out begins!

personally i am a P4 fan. i use to run a OC'd amd, but sold it and god a nice deal on a p4 =P

for all your needs goto www.hardocp.com and check out their forums too! www.hardforum.com

[twitchy]

thanks everyone

[G_Fish240]

This is what I hear right now "Ohhh Doom 3! lets all make a big upgrade!"

This is what I'll hear in 7 months..."Hey my expensive AGP card doesn't work on all these new mother boards anymore, but I want to upgrade my computer"

Wait for PCI Express.
haha I built my computer, my abit IS7-e was only 99 dollars last year and 9800 pro is like 197 , so when it comes time to upgrade I'll just build another box