What kind should I buy. . .?

[shark_midget]

I got a dell dimension 2350, and like. . .I want to get a video card. . .all it has is PCI slots, so . . . which one would be the best to buy? I think I had it down to the ATI radeon and the Chaintek Geforce blah blah blah something or other, I just woke up and I can't remember. . .but which one should I get? I mostly play project 64, Visualboy Advance, Zsnes, Jnes and Quake 3 Arena lol. . .

 

[WhiteX]

I side with ATI however a PCI card would be hard to find, you could get lucky with an used card on ebay.

 

[Doomulation]

Get an AGP version if possible and I know some nVidia cards has PCI interface.

 

[shark_midget]

Oh. . .I'm ordering from the internet alright. . .I really want one that will make project64 play better, all I have is a PCI slot and I want the best card I can get so It'll be filled out or whatever. . .you know. . .maximum capacity. . .I saw an ATI card in wal-mart today, it was 128 mb and PCI too. . .surprising, but I want a 256. . .

 

[General Plot]

Oh. . .I'm ordering from the internet alright. . .I really want one that will make project64 play better, all I have is a PCI slot and I want the best card I can get so It'll be filled out or whatever. . .you know. . .maximum capacity. . .I saw an ATI card in wal-mart today, it was 128 mb and PCI too. . .surprising, but I want a 256. . .

The amount of video RAM isn't what you should consider. Try getting the graphics card with the most horsepower that you can find. With GeForce cards, if possible, try to get something at or above a 6200. ATI has the Raedon 9250 in PCI for sure, as I picked one up for my brother who has an IBM which has no AGP socket either. 128 MB of video RAM will be plenty, 256 is overkill. You want the highest pixel shaders and GPU (graphics processor) with a good clock speed. These should be what you're looking at more with a card rather than how much memory it has.

 

[Alchemist]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133007

Here's a 256 card.

 

[revl8er]

I put a 5200 pci card in my bros pc, and didnt have too much trouble playing many games at normal settings. Since you dont have an agp slot I would go with that type of card.

 

[General Plot]

I put a 5200 pci card in my bros pc, and didnt have too much trouble playing many games at normal settings. Since you dont have an agp slot I would go with that type of card.

A 5200 handles pixel shaders above 1.4 like utter crap, which was my reason for suggesting a 6200. Since an AGP version can be had for around $40, (and I imagine the PCI one would not be too far from that price), it seems the best bet.

 

[Noobnugget]

the best youll be able to get on pci is most likely a geforce 5200 series(which is still bad). as stated 256MB is useless in this case. that card(or any other patheticly weak pci offering) would be too weak to be able to make any good use of 256MB. 128MB is more than enough on such low end card. so dont bother looking for one with more ram than that. it wont do much good.

 

[shark_midget]

It'll be alright. . .I just want the most powerful PCI card with TV out and in. . .that's all I need. . .I don't care about any PCIe or AGP anything right now because I'm way too poor to be having a super computer. . .I just want the most powerful PCI card. . .with TV out AND in. . .and OUT AND IN. . .AND OUT AND IN . . .AND OUT AND IN. . .AND OUT AND IN. . .sorry. . .my girlfriend's screaming at me because she can't find her bra and it's making me very angry. . .

 

[Alchemist]

A 5200 handles pixel shaders above 1.4 like utter crap, which was my reason for suggesting a 6200. Since an AGP version can be had for around $40, (and I imagine the PCI one would not be too far from that price), it seems the best bet.

There is no PCI version of the 6200. The 5500 is the best you can get on PCI.

 

[General Plot]

I wouldn't be so sure of that.
http://www.3dfuzion.com/cards_6200_pci_128.asp#
http://www.3dfuzion.com/register/images/card_boxes/boxes_large/6200_125_PCI.jpg
They may be a little harder to find, but they do exist.

 

[Alchemist]

Hadn't seen those before, wow.

Where can you buy those? I can't find any store/ website that actually sells them in other than AGP.

 

[shark_midget]

Then it's settled. . .that is what I shall get. . .the quest begins. . .

 

[General Plot]

Then it's settled. . .that is what I shall get. . .the quest begins. . .

Best bet for finding them will most likely be ebay and other online PC shops that sell clearance items.

 

[Alchemist]

Thanks, found one.