New Graphix Card, but no AGP slot?

[YoungNastyMan]

Okay, I just ran a google seach and learned that it's impossible to install an AGP slot on a Motherboard.

However, I think my Motherboard may be a little different. It has a space for an AGP slot - just no slot. There's little copper connector points where the slot should be, so it looks like I could put one there (see picture below).

http://www.davidcrockettscoins.com/picViewer/mother.jpg

My Question:
1) Is it possible to put an AGP slot on this motherboard?
2) If not, how hard is it to install a completely new motherboard?

Thanks

[Icehawk]

is your computer a dell? cuz so many dells come without one its freeking weird. yes you can put one on that mobo if your a super accurate sauder machine :P
um very easy to install a new mobo all i need is a screw driver :)

[YoungNastyMan]

Nope. It's not a Dell, mine was made by a privately owned company called DataDoctors (http://www.datadoctors.com/). Hmmm, so I would have to be a super-saudering machine eh? Man, that doesn't sound too easy.

[Theros]

heh, soldering IMO is for the hardcore... Better find some pratice pieces of metal. And BTW, most modern graphic cards are PCI, not AGP...

[YoungNastyMan]

PCI eh? Uhh, okay. I'm a total newb when it comes to installing cards and stuff like that (obviously). From what you can see in the pic above, do I already have PCI slots?

[Theros]

No...

[Icehawk]

yes lol u have pci slots but not pci express ;) pci express is what you want or agp :)

[NANO3]

you have PCI slots. Buy a cheapo PCI card. It won't allow you to play top notch games but it will get the job done. You will have to spare one of those cards you already have though. Possibly the DialUp modem?

[Icehawk]

the problem there is barley anybody makes pci graphics cards these days they are all pci-e :) also omg ur gonna be able to run counterstrike 1.6 on lowdetail and get maybe 30 fps lol :) i suggest get a new mobo

[JoshuaJonah]

Definately new mobo, hands down.

[signifer123]

heh, soldering IMO is for the hardcore... Better find some pratice pieces of metal. And BTW, most modern graphic cards are PCI, not AGP...

Yeah, but the AGP ones at 8x don't fall far from the PCIe at 16x.


I looked for a PCI to AGP converter, but unfortuantly couldn't find anything.

My current AGP 4x is slow...so you not even having one made me feel a bit better about myself.

And I looked for a usb graphics accelerator, couldn't find anything that would logically work on dell, or windows.

personnally i don't recommend the fx5200, it can't even run 3dmark, but it got 7,000 on aquamark, which is worse then the integrated on my other machine....My freind has the fx5500 he can at least run F.E.A.R. :|


Did you know there are PCIe network adapters?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2276645&CatId=2380

[Icehawk]

man how old ru guys computers? mine is like 3 years old and it has a geforce 64mb built in ... :/

[Mr Paul Jones]

No...

Why did you tell him he needs PCI then when he asked if he has it tell him he doesnt? When clearly he does and its PCI-E that he needs

Its not very nice to confuse peope especially when they dont know exactly what they are doing anyway :sigh:

[squireglig]

You have PCI slots, so your best (cheapest) solution would be to buy a PCI graphics card.

Let's make the distinction clear.

PCI-Express (PCI-e) and PCI-bus (PCI) are different.

So, I would reccommend a nvidia GeForce fx 5500 PCI card. It can run HL2, and some other games, at decent quality. If you're into some newer games, you will need to think about the situation more (new motherboard, transfering all the components over if that's possible, etc). They aren't too pricey and can be found fairly easily (i believe PNY makes one).

However, I imagine there would be some performance difference between an AGP version and a PCI version of the same card (PCI being slower). I am not sure about this tho.

You don't have a PCI-express slot, so don't get one of those cards. Do you know the make / model of the motherboard? I don't think soldering a slot on would work, as the firmware on the motherboard would have to support it. It wont work if it's just physically there.

[Theros]

Sorry that's what I meant... I thought we all knew we were talking about PCI-E... lol... sorry, all motherboard have the standard PCI slots for Sound card, and other stuff. But anyhow, I second the motherboard upgrade.

[foodpk]

squireglig, being an avid Megaman (especially Megaman 2) fan, I can't stress enough how much I like your avatar/title, hah!

[YoungNastyMan]

Thanks everyone for your input. The graphix card I'm using now is a NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000 (it's not a dial-up modem like Nano4 thought, lol).

Basically, all I need is a good video card to output either S-Video or DVI so I can use my flat panel tv as a monitor. I'm not planning on using it for gaming (I got an XBox 360 for that).

I will search Ebay, but would you guys happen to know of any good PCI-bus video cards that I could use in this situation?

[Anogar]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130255

$50 and you're set. :thumb:

[squireglig]

I will search Ebay, but would you guys happen to know of any good PCI-bus video cards that I could use in this situation?

something like this might work if u want to use a DVI for your flat panel and a d-sub cable for your regular monitor..

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2148789&CatId=319

I've heard some flat panels don't "play" nice with video output from a computer and sometimes end up looking like crap. I haven't done it myself, but you may want to look into that too. just a heads up.


squireglig, being an avid Megaman (especially Megaman 2) fan, I can't stress enough how much I like your avatar/title, hah!

thanks! i love megaman 2 too. even tho it's the easiest of them all, i like it the best.