Kitz Forum
Computers & Hardware => PC Hardware => Topic started by: feliscatusx2 on August 26, 2006, 07:46:21 PM
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Gigabyte GA5AX Mb with an AGP1 slot, remember them? I have just ordered a nice 17" TFT to replace a freeby IBM G76 17"CRT. The graphics card is an OEM ATI Rage128 with 16Mb of RAM.
It would be nice to upgrade this card to something with a little more memory and grunt, but the slot is AGP1 5Volt. Anybody aware of where I can get something suitable?
I did try a Radeon 9200 some time ago, the card worked but the drivers would never load properly.
I know I probably don't need a better card, I just said it would be nice. That would just leave the Motherboard, processor case & PSU as the originals.
No 1 daughter, she with the b****y laptop, just bought me the Complete PC Upgrade & Maintenance Guide, 11th edition, brand new with 2 CDs, for 99p. A bargain, especially as it is contemporary with my PC and is big and heavy enough to worry the cats when they misbehave.
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Bit out of touch with hardware these days.
The last few PCs Ive had have been shop boughts.. simply because i couldnt get the parts for the price and spec of the package.
Must admit though they never feel like mine as much as those that you put together yourself.
Would think your best bet is somewhere like a computer fair as you may be able to pick up a 2nd hand card with a bit more memory.
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Its hard to know what cards will work as manufacturers dont seem to clearly state what voltages their cards will run at.
The alignment of the notches are the card bus give you some idea as some cards will not fit certain voltage slots.
You found the Radeon 9200 would work, but with poor drivers. ATI drivers were never ATI's strongest point but that would be a great card for older PC, especially if you get a DVI output one (your monitor might not be DVI?).
I have an old P2 PC with a RageXL AGP card. When in a low profile case I found I could use a Radeon 7500 quite happily in the old Intel motherboards (fits both old and new) so it must operate at multiple voltages. The drivers also worked fine on any OS i used, but I always downloaded from the ATI website and never use the ones supplied on manufacturers CD-ROM, they are often outdated and sometimes have funny or confusing installers etc.
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Do you have to use an AGP card? There are plenty of good PCI graphics cards around, if you've got a spare slot.
Eric
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I know NVidia better than ATI, so I'll give you some advice or links etc.
AGP 1.0 slots, yes I remember those! FYI I've had a Geforce FX 5200 working fine in one of them. They are reasonably cheap to obtain now if you want to buy new (somewhere around the ?25 mark, I think). I also think that any of the FX 5xxx range will work ok, too, but don't quote me on that.
In my opinion, you won't extend the performance of the PC by installing a card much faster than a Geforce 4, because the AGP slot will become a bottleneck, and presumably your processor isn't particularly fast by today's standards, negating any benefit from a super-duper graphics card?
So, your best bet would be to get a 2nd hand AGP card off Ebay such as a Geforce 4 MX card or something. Whilst the Radeon 9200 would be marginally quicker, I'm not sure why the drivers didn't install, I take it you did try the official drivers from ATI?
Drivers for Radeon 9200 on this page (http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=22264)
Specific driver-only package for the Radeon 9200 is here (https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206/0/www2.ati.com/drivers/6-5_xp-2k_dd_32464.exe) (Direct link - 12MB)
As for NVidia cards - there's a Geforce 2 MX with 32MB of RAM here (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ASUS-V7100-NVIDIA-GeForce-2-MX-200-AGP-4X-32MB_W0QQitemZ200020524275QQihZ010QQcategoryZ96874QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) on Ebay - ?7.99 + ?2.49 postage - it will be a lot better than what you've got in there.
Looking around again, even better would be this one (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NVIDIA-GeForce4-MX-440-64MDDR-ASUS-UK-used_W0QQitemZ320020721671QQihZ011QQcategoryZ67863QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) which is a Geforce 4 MX 440 card, will work fine (i've had one of these working fine in an old AGP slot, and they do make windows feel a lot more snappy, and they do play some games)
If you want to keep an eye on this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GEFORCE-GF-FX-5200-128Mb-DDR-TV-OUT-AGP-GRAPHICS-CARD_W0QQitemZ260025350112QQihZ016QQcategoryZ27387QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem), it's an FX5200 card with 128MB of memory, currently at ?0.99 with 10 hours to go. Marginally faster than the MX440, but not by much.
Any of those ones should work in your motherboard :)
The only other alternative, as roseway said, is to get a PCI card, but I don't think you need to do that.
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Well, if you go for the PCI option, here's one you might consider (or maybe not :) ):
http://tinyurl.com/s8zc9
Eric
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ROFL :lol:
/me orders one straight away :P
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Oh you are a wag* Eric
* I mean that in the proper old fashioned sense, of course, not this WAG carp you get all over the gutter press. Rant over!
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The ATI 9200 drivers were both those supplied on the CD and the latest downloaded from ATI's site. I had exactly the same problem with drivers for a Network card and USB2 card (both PCI).
I eventually found the trick was to tell the BIOS that I did not have a Plug & Play OS, never had a problem since. Unfortunately by then the ATI 9200 had found its way into a Dell located about 50 miles away. I did try the nVidia card that I swapped out of the Dell but it was a Dell specific model and would only work on a Dell motherboard. Remind me never to buy a Dell.
Amazon have an 64mb ATI 7000 (the 9200 is a rebadged 7000) for a silly amount of money, it might be worth a shot on the basis that if it don't work then it will work if and when I upgrade/replace the PC. I don't need 3D performance as I am not into gaming, apart from Pretty Good Solitaire which would probably run on a Sinclair Spectrum.
I'm still not absolutely sure about the AGP slot, the manual says it is AGP1, but Sandra and Fresh Diagnose claims it is AGP2.
I think, buy it, plug it in and wait for the bang.
Thanks for all the answers.
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ps.
I note the comments re Geforce cards and will have a look at these. however having spent nearly 40 years working for a major bank, for some of that time working specifically with security for plastic cards I am deeply suspicious of eBay and all its works. I did start to sign up for a PayPay account until I got to the page that asks for bank account details.
Fat chance. How many times has paypal been hacked?
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So, the new screen has arrived javascript:void(0);Grin
It's a Sony 17", very nice.
Why do they make these things so bright? javascript:void(0);Cool
The previous CRT was the same, I have to turn the brightness down to zero. Is it because they are designed for use in a brightly lit office enviroment? Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, just asking.
The 16mb Rage128 works nicely with it.
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Just turned the backlighting down to zero as well.
I need to get new specs, I feel a pair of tints coming on.
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heh I take it youre happy with your new toy then :)
TFTs can sometimes be bright specially if youve been used to CRTs, but you will adjust (or adjust it to suit you).
I find that TFTs are much easier on the eyes than CRTs
8) 8) 8)
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I never realised till now just how bad the CRT was. I did have a beautiful ADI 17 Trintron but the transformer failed, and so borrowed an IBM G76 from Son in Law. We do not ask where he got it from. It's now going back to him to replace a 15" AOC over which even the IBM must be an improvement.
I will admit I was a little nervy about running a 17" at 1280 by 1024 as I am very long sighted, and not as young as I used to be, but all is good.
The first person to call me a Silver Surfer will get a smack alongside the ear, I'm not that old yet. The local Barber keeps asking me whether I qualify for an OAP's discount, cheek!
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17" at 1280 by 1024
yeah its surprising isnt it?
Now I find it much harder to read lower res screens, I think you just get used to what you see most.
After mostly using 1280 x800 these days I find it weird going to a square shaped monitor :/
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ps whats a silver surfer? ;)
:hides:
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emotionless.co.uk%2Femotes%2Factivity%2Fpeepsofa.gif&hash=8d38b6bd05326886fe8d2b7b3444908d320cff37)
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You should see the colour of my hair. 8)
Eric
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Silver Surfer is a BBC term, these being the people that have just discovered Blogging. I have very little faith in that organisation and object to the assumption that just because I am (slightly) over 60 I know nothing about PCs. Retribution is swift and terrible to anybody using the words within a 100 yard radius.
ps I still have most of my hair, and it's still a fetching dark blond.
I'm using K-Ninja to post this, it's what Firefox was supposed to have been but is now not. Small, fast & with no fripperies. Lovely.
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Only just got around to reading "all" of this thread and I must say I liked that graphics card.
"All donations greatly received" :lol:
My local PC shop has a second hand card for about ?80 with 1GB memory and more plugs and sockets than the Nation Grid.
The only problem is it's that big it takes up the space of 2-3 slots.
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"All donations greatly received"
Here's a virtual 5p. Being a silver surfer that's all I can afford unfortunately. :angel:
Eric
P.S. "Every little helps" ? Tesco 2006