P64 not running smoothly

[Milto007]

I've been trying to play games like Super Smash Bros. and Golden Eye, but it seems to go way below the 60FPS in certain scenes or when there is a lot of action. I seem to meet the minimum requirements, but I'm not sure about my video card.

Running
Pentium 4 1.6 Ghz
512+256 MB DDR Ram
and the Direct X Diagnostic Tool Says I have an SiS 650 with 32.0 MB. I'm currently displaying on my monitor at 1280x1024 (32 Bit) (60HZ).

Do I need a better graphics card or is my overall computer just not up to the standards to play those games? Thanks.

[Agozer]

You need a better graphics card, preferably something that isn't integrated and has more video RAM. having 32MB video RAM (shared or otherwise) gets you nowhere.

Try jabo's Direct3D6 graphics plugin if that alleviates the problem

[Tastegud]

nope

wont work

if u use project64, it says that super smash will lag on the emulator wen many actions occur. This means that whatever system specs u have, it will lag. But u might want to get a better graphics card. coz 32mb is like 20yrs ago

my system specs:
3ghz
512 + 256 mb ram
128mb graphics

and it still lags a few times

[nmn]

Yeah. But either way, get a better graphics card. SiS sucks really really badly. They are like, the worst of the onboard 3D accelerators, and onboard 3D accelerators are usually terrible anyways.

[Milto007]

So would it be as simple as something like this SAPPHIRE 100119L Radeon X550 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card or is that not enough? Should I be looking for something specifically for my computer since it's 4-5 years old or are they all generally made for the same PCI slot in a computer?

[Agozer]

Yes, it would be that simple, in general. Even weaker cards than that are more than enough. Radeon 9xxx series and upward or Nvidia 5xxx and upward are recommended.

A card certainly doesn't have to be a powerhouse, it just needs to have decent pixel shader support (2.0 will do fine) and a good amount of video memory. 128MB is more than enough.

[smcd]

Careful, a PCI-e slot is not the same as a PCI slot... if your computer is 4-5 years old, it probably has AGP or maybe PCI-only.

[Milto007]

Is there a difference in AGP slots? according to this, I have an open AGP slot http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07328&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=77419&dlc=en&lang=en

Would MSI FX5200-TD128LF GeForce FX 5200 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail be fine for my computer then? or is ASUS A9250/TD/128 Radeon 9250 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail significantly better?

[smcd]

a 5200 should be sufficient for n64 gaming. i'm not sure about "which is better" between the two you listed

[mudlord]

Would MSI FX5200-TD128LF GeForce FX 5200 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail be fine for my computer then? or is ASUS A9250/TD/128 Radeon 9250 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail significantly better?

Wow, thats a very tricky question. Lets note a few things first:

The Radeon 9250 only supports up to Shader Model 1.4, which is basically what Jabo's plugin uses.

The GeForce FX5200 supports up to Shader Model 2.0 for pixel shaders, but there is a catch, with this as I will explain.

If you use the GeForce FX 5200, for anything other than N64 emulation, you'll find it sucks. You see, at the time the chip was developed, the design of the pixel shaders it supports was of a mixed precision type. So it doesn't support full precision 2.0 shaders well, which sucks. Especially when you play a game like Half-Life 2, and you'll notice the lag compared to say, a Radeon that supported 2.0 shaders fully. Secondly, also another design flaw was that the architecture of the chip, relied on the driver's pixel shader compiler. So, optimization of pixel shaders was of crucial importance for the GeForce FX, otherwise performance suffered. So basically, using the GeForce FX for anything other than N64 emulation (like gaming), sucks.

Secondly, the Radeon 9250 supports D3D well, but historically, OpenGL driver support is kinda, lacking to say the least. So, be aware of any possible performance issues with OpenGL games.

So, tossing up between the two, if you want a good card for N64 emulation (and N64 emulation only), pick the GeForce FX5200. If you want a good purpose 3D card though, its best to steer clear of the GeForce FX 5200.

[Milto007]

I was looking at getting a HIS Hightech H955H128E1TOAN Radeon 9550 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 8X Video Card - Retail since it has a $10 rebate, but I noticed the card I was looking at before (Radeon 9250 stated above) has a different connector, like it fits into a different AGP slot. Would this one not work in my AGP slot? Would the other? Is it specifically different, or can I go ahead and get it without worry?

I looked it up, but it seems compatibility varies from card to card. Can anyone clarify this? Thanks for the help.

EDIT: since it's on a second page, here is the card I'm trying to compare it to. ASUS A9250/TD/128 Radeon 9250 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail.

[smcd]

4x and 8x are agp speeds. if your board supports agp 8x, it'll run at 8x. if not, it should scale down and run at a lesser speed but still work.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Will_an_8x_AGP_video_card_work_in_a_4x_A GP_slot