Computer Graphics Card Advice

[EveningEmma]

I'm hoping someone might be able to help us out. We recently got an oldish PC from my boyfriend's work and we're hoping to get some Steam games working on it. We're doing quite well, but the biggest stumbling block we've come accross is that these games are calling for a dedicated graphics card, as at the moment we only have an integrated graphics controller.

Unfortunately we don't really know about upgrading computer hardware and as there is such a wide range of graphics cards available, we are looking for some advice from someone in the know.

The most graphically intense games we're trying to get working are games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which asks for "ATI RADEON X1600/NVIDIA Geforce 7300 (128mb of virtual RAM or higher)", or Super Meat Boy which asks for "Pixel Shader 2.0/3.0 and Vertex Shader 2.0/3.0". We're looking to get something that will be able to handle these games, but won't be too expensive, we have a budget of about 40-50 euros (even if we can get it second hand at that price it will be fine).

The computer we have is the HP Compaq d530. It is running Windows XP SP3 32-bit (which can be upgraded to Windows 7 if necessary), with a Intel Pentium 4 processor and 2GB of RAM (which are looking to increase to 3 or 4GB).

Any help would be really appreciated!

[Servotron]

When I was deciding on the parts for my new pc, I used this helpful guide from reddit:

http://s1002.photobucket.com/albums/af1 ... =Guide.png

The prices are all in dollars, but it is a useful guide. I went for a Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 6850 in the end which would definitely play those games.

[kuja.girl]

If you have a PCI-E you should be able to buy a decent card.
If the machine doesn't have PCI-E you could be screwed. I don't know how common, or cheap, plain PCI cards are any more.

General advice:
You should max out the RAM to 4gigs - it's a cheap thing to do and will give you a performance boost. Also most modern games suggest at least 4 gigs.
I also advise that you buy an NVIDA card as your setup already has one which means you will have less chance of driver incompatibility.

[blackmageheart]

I have a ton of experience with Intel Pentium 4 systems and also with Compaq/HP's. I actually have a Compaq D510 (SFF) running as a secondary server

You should max out the RAM to 4gigs - it's a cheap thing to do and will give you a performance boost. Also most modern games suggest at least 4 gigs.

Although I generally agree that moar RAM = moar fun, most P4s are x86 processors so you will only ever be able to register about 3.2 - 3.5GB of RAM (even if you have 4 x 1GB sticks in the banks). If you're lucky enough to have one of the Extreme editions then it may be another story!
However, it wouldn't be super cheap to do it as DDR400 RAM (the only real upgrade for DDR) can be pretty expensive especially compared to newer stuff! Also, there may only be 2 RAM banks, so 2GB might be all that's available.

If the machine doesn't have PCI-E you could be screwed. I don't know how common, or cheap, plain PCI cards are any more.

In my experience, these Compaqs, if they have a slot for a discrete gfx card (which most don't), it will most likely be AGP 8X (would be surprised if it was only standard PCI). In which case I'd recommend getting your hands on a Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 or 3870 (the last and pretty much the best of AGP graphics cards before everyone went nuts for PCI-E >_>). They are good reliable cards and can handle quite a lot more than people expect.
The only stumbling block I see to that is if your D530 is the small form factor type and has an AGP slot, in which case you will probably need a low profile AGP card. For both types, Ebay's your best bet as it's hard to find AGP cards new now.

Hope that all makes sense, give me a PM if you want some more advice! (This stuff was my job before my little one came along!)

[kuja.girl]

BMH - sounds like she knows the age of the machine better and what it is equiped with so I'd go with her advice.

I jumped from PCI to PCI-E, I forgot about all about AGP ;) so good luck trying to find one.

[blackmageheart]

I jumped from PCI to PCI-E, I forgot about all about AGP

Man, I remember the good ol' days of PCI gfx! We used ISA cards back then too! /nostalgia

[EveningEmma]

Thanks for all the advice guys! We need to figure out exactly what hardware is in the machine. I'm the manual it says something about agp but it isn't very clear on all of it.

[Icelandic Hitman]

I jumped from PCI to PCI-E, I forgot about all about AGP

Man, I remember the good ol' days of PCI gfx! We used ISA cards back then too! /nostalgia

Good ole ISA where each board was about 2 feet long....

Anybody here remember ZORRO/II/III ?

Thanks for all the advice guys! We need to figure out exactly what hardware is in the machine. I'm the manual it says something about agp but it isn't very clear on all of it.

If in doubt take a photo of your mother board or the picture of the board in the user manual and let us have a look.

[EveningEmma]

Well, here's a photo of the expansion slots. The dark brown slot is AGP, right? Since there's AGP there, I'm guessing the rest of the slots are just basic PCI... any thoughts? We'd really prefer something to go in the PCI slots, so any ports could come out the back, but I think we're going to have to go with an AGP card.

[blackmageheart]

Yup, that's AGP alright. Pretty sure it'd be 8x, although you'd have to check. I wouldn't bother looking for PCI graphics, the one PCI card I know of that is actually decent is still expensive and is generally for use in workstations etc.
Is your D530 the type that lies down (like a base unit) or stands up (like a tower)?

Anybody here remember ZORRO/II/III ?

Oh, my gawd, yes. That is a name I never thought I would hear/see again! Almost makes me want to go dig out an Amiga /nostalgia