Cheapest Compatible Gfx Card

[Jeff Wheeler]

Alright… I really have no idea what I'm talking about here. I don't do hardware.

I've installed openSUSE, Vista, XP, and various other OSs on my old Dell Dimension 2400, but recently, there have been graphics cards problems. None of them let me exceed 16-bit colors at 800x600, or 8-bit colors at 1280x1024; the monitor supports 32-bit colors at 1280x1024 (60hz is what it suggests, but I've calibrated it nicely at 75hz), which I'm currently using from my Mac (dual-monitors).

So, I'm pretty sure the crappy Intel i810 (I think, based on the data I gathered from X11-generated configs) is broken.

I'm looking for a “not quite the bottom-line, but close” graphics card that I can stick in the back of the computer (aren't those called pci?). Sure, I want to be able to run XGL, but from my understanding, that works with pretty much the worst hardware ever (but that's why I'm not getting the absolute bottom-line).

Any recommendations? :D

[Icehawk]

there is pci,pci express and agp which one does your mobo have? also you need to know what your maxium bus speed is for your graphics card. like agp is maxium x8 and pci i think is x16 also how many watts is ur power supply you might need to upgrade depending on the watts. also is your case cool? another question to ask is what price range are you looking around 100-200? 200-600? like somthing please then ill help :))

[Theros]

there is pci,pci express and agp which one does your mobo have? also you need to know what your maxium bus speed is for your graphics card. like agp is maxium x8 and pci i think is x16 also how many watts is ur power supply you might need to upgrade depending on the watts. also is your case cool? another question to ask is what price range are you looking around 100-200? 200-600? like somthing please then ill help :))

Exactly! Also, if it's that old, it's probably a AGP... You can get them really really cheap... here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161150

[Icehawk]

also what are you looking to do on your computer? flash,3d rendering,retail games, photoshop?

[Jeff Wheeler]

As I said, almost but not quite bottom-line crap. I'll be running openSUSE, with some basic XGL. :)

Let me try and figure out the rest of the stuff.

[Theros]

Exactly! Also, if it's that old, it's probably a AGP... You can get them really really cheap... here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161150

That's not bottom of the line enough for you?

[Jeff Wheeler]

Well, I'll check it out. I have to make sure it's AGP, though, first.

Also, as I said, I don't want it to be the worst out there. It should be able to handle some light XGL stuff…

[Theros]

Well, I'll check it out. I have to make sure it's AGP, though, first.

Also, as I said, I don't want it to be the worst out there. It should be able to handle some light XGL stuff…

Um.. It is AGP... I did a search, I ain't a total moron! :m: Also, make sure to tell whether the AGP slot is x4, x8, or x16

[Jeff Wheeler]

Ah, I didn't realize that because you wrapped it in an “if” clause. :D

I'll check it out tomorrow. Gotta study now. :)

[Icehawk]

there is no such thing as 16x for agp :P only pci-e
and yeahh that is pretty bottom of the line lol 64mb and a 180 mhz core :O mine is 500 :O i hope you dont plan to play games :)

[Theros]

I think there is, but only looked at the catagories for like 2 seconds :P

[Icehawk]

nopee :P agp cant go higher then 8x because of the way the slot is designed :)
thats why they switched back to pci :)

[Theros]

Eh, whatever... AGP is becoming outdated anyhow

[Icehawk]

not for long :P i can see them doing what they did with pci lol
here is the history of gfx cards
they came out with pci then said its soo slow x1
then they came out with agp omg is soo amazing x8
then they went back and worked on pci and made it better -> pci-expressx16
now i think they are working on agp now lol agp-e or somthing inno what its called but they are working on it not sure if they will keep the agp name though

[squireglig]

If you do in fact have an AGP slot, don't worry about which AGP version it is. Most will clock down. So 8x cards will work on an AGP4x slot, and will most likely work on an AGP 2x slot (though I've never tried the latter).

[Jeff Wheeler]

It looks like this… I'm assuming this is AGP, correct?

http://static.flickr.com/75/228656997_78ed82f9d0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=228656997&size=m)

Click other file sizes to see it bigger…

[Theros]

Er, aren't those two PCI slots?

[Jeff Wheeler]

Yeah, from googling, it looks like it. Glad I checked… :-/

[Icehawk]

yeah they are all pci um see where that empty slot is thats where your agp card would go

[Jeff Wheeler]

Wait, if they're pci, why would I get an agp card?

[Theros]

oh noes... PCI is for the sound cards, and LAN cards, and etc... Video card aren't meant for those slots... And WTF is that green box?

[JoshuaJonah]

Its a fan shroud

[Theros]

Huh, never saw one of those before

[JoshuaJonah]

Rght underneath it is a heatsink, and under that is a processor that Nokrev should be ashamed of:D

[Theros]

AHAH, I see why he's hiding it now!

[Jeff Wheeler]

I have no idea what the heck it is… it could render 3d stuff, and has 768mb of ram, and can run Linux. That's all that little machine (“that can”) is good for… :thumb:

Now what kind of thingy do I need to get for it? I'm lost… :lol:

[Theros]

Well, if you aren't going to do anything too intense with it, just buy a cheap AGP card like I mentioned earlier

[Jeff Wheeler]

Just making sure… that works with the thing pictured. :lol: