# What the hell kind of Graphic Card slots do I have?



## Raul (May 20, 2008)

Long title I know, but anyway. 

I am not the most computer savvy of people. I can just about get one going again after some software problems. But this is a little different. I've had my computer about a year now, and have been slowly upgrading it. First was the 2gb of RAM, then it was the 500gb HD. Now I need to buy a graphics card.  I know you can't just buy a graphics card, plug it in and expect it to work. The problem is, I dunno what type of graphic card slots my computer has. I tried the good ol' Intranet, but its still too confusing. Can anyone tell me what type of Graphic Card slots my computer has? Here are photomagraphs of its innards. 














Any help is moochly appreciated.


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## net-cat (May 20, 2008)

That'd be a 1.5V AGP slot.

Judging from the style of the heat sink and the fact that it's a VIA chipset, I'd guess probably probably AGP 2.0. (1x/2x/4x)

Most AGP 8x cards will work in AGP 4x slots.


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## Raul (May 20, 2008)

Eh? so no PCI slots like I originally thought?


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## net-cat (May 20, 2008)

There are three PCI slots. But it's damn hard to find a good PCI video card these days. (Don't confuse it with PCI-E. That is a completely different standard that is not compatible.)


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## Raul (May 20, 2008)

Right, so I need to get a graphics card with either AGP or PCI in the title?


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## net-cat (May 20, 2008)

Yes. Any new AGP card currently on the market should be fine. Watch out for used cards, though. They may be the older 3.3V standard.

Any PCI card on the market should be fine. PCI-E is not compatible. Don't do it, though. Seriously. AGP > PCI.

Example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161208


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## WarMocK (May 20, 2008)

PHEW, finding an AGP card in these days is pretty hard, unless you want to buy some crap that would fail even with games like World of Warcraft. ^^
I had to search three months for a card (a 7600 GS) to replace my old FX5900, and the card I got was the last of its kind in the whole town.
The best thing you could get is a GeForce 8600. That's the last card that came out for AGP (iirc). But I don't know if it's sold out already, because they never were produced in great numbers (wish I had one of those. :-/).


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## net-cat (May 20, 2008)

There's also the ATI cards. I think the best you can do over there is Radeon HD 2600, though.


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## WarMocK (May 20, 2008)

net-cat said:


> There's also the ATI cards.



Yes, but after the driver issues ATI had in the past, not to mention the worse performance when compared to NVIDIA, I wouldn't recommend them, otherwise I'd have a bad conscience. Maybe the problems were solved in the meantime, but I don't know that, since the last ATI card I had was a X600 I gave away about a year ago, and it had not very much to do while I had it (it was in my server). :-/


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## net-cat (May 20, 2008)

*has never had problems with ATI video drivers*
*has never had anything _except_ problems with nVidia products in general*

As with anything computer-related, your mileage may vary.


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## Raul (May 21, 2008)

ARGH! Stop talking technobabble!

So as long as its AGP or PCI, and not PCI-E, it should work? Okay, got it...now I just have to find one 

Also, thanks for the link, but I live in Britain, I'll need a British site.


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## net-cat (May 21, 2008)

Raul said:


> So as long as its AGP or PCI, and not PCI-E, it should work? Okay, got it...now I just have to find one


Yup.



Raul said:


> Also, thanks for the link, but I live in Britain, I'll need a British site.


Heh. Can't really help you there...


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## Dragoneer (May 21, 2008)

Try this card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161209


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## Raul (May 21, 2008)

Thanks, but sadly it is still an American site. I also couldn't afford that much even if it is dollars.

STUPID ASGFK EBUYER!!!

Its bloody well locked me out of my account!


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## Dragoneer (May 21, 2008)

WarMocK said:


> Yes, but after the driver issues ATI had in the past, not to mention the worse performance when compared to NVIDIA, I wouldn't recommend them, otherwise I'd have a bad conscience. Maybe the problems were solved in the meantime, but I don't know that, since the last ATI card I had was a X600 I gave away about a year ago, and it had not very much to do while I had it (it was in my server). :-/


As a fan of Nvidia, I can rightly say that ATI's drivers are... solid. No driver set is perfect, but ATI improved dramatically over the years and is fairly rock solid nowadays.

Don't hold the past of a company against them today. My old Radeon 9800 and X850 were fantastic cards, and never failed me once. And I'm a hardcore gamer.


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## Dragoneer (May 21, 2008)

Raul said:


> Thanks, but sadly it is still an American site. I also couldn't afford that much even if it is dollars.


I understand that, but the card series is an example of what you should look for.


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## Aurali (May 21, 2008)

yes.. never hold the past of a company agianst them.. 

Your in england.. I know that. and from what my mate has told me, everything there is much more expensive... you might wanna consider importing a card from out here..


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## indrora (May 21, 2008)

*pops in, dealing with some viral infestation*
Geeks.com (http://geeks.com/) has some pimpin AGP graphics cards for <100USD.. so about 50 pounds i would guess? AGP cards are NOT all that hard to come by.

Also, given that we yanks run at 60hz and you british folks run at something else, you may want to consider finding a used computer shop nearby -- they always have something.


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## Raul (May 21, 2008)

Lots of recommendations...Looks like I'll just have to make my own decision! 

I'm just not sure which port is the PCI and which is the AGP...

Also, There is no way I'm buying any sort of computer hardware (or software) from a second hand shop. I know I don't have much money, but I'd rather get quality components than cheap second hand ones.


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## indrora (May 21, 2008)

easy: they're different sizes and offset differently. the top one is an AGP slot -- its offset farther from the mobo edge than PCI slots. its also got a spot for the (affectionately known) ass-tab or tail-tab (some just call it the locking tab) that pokes from the back end of the male (snicker snicker) chunk of the card. its impossible to put it in wrong.


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## Raul (May 21, 2008)

Ah, I see. Kinda makes sense from the pictures I've been seeing. 

Does anyone have any experience with Radeon cards? More specifically, is this one any good?


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## indrora (May 21, 2008)

two answer your first question, i've been using Radeon cards since they were 8mb ISA cards. to answer your second question, it looks like a winner. I've used a radeon 9550se for some time and loved it. I've used the old radeon agp1x cards (dubbed in my book "little shits" because of their tendancy for pissing on your screen. but thats a LONG known thing that ATI fixed LONG ago... I still call that era "little shits")

I'd look into the radeon series but take heed at nVidia. I've used three of their cards (an old TnT Riva2 and two GeForce Go's) and they stack up pretty well. Both are good however nVidia looks at both the normal user and the enthusiast (they offer two versions of their control panels: one with basic you-cant-fuck-it-up settings and you-better-know-what-the-fuck-that-button-does settings.)

For the price however, the x1650 Pro looks good. Make an appointment with Mr. Google S. Earch and get some more info :3


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## net-cat (May 21, 2008)

Dragoneer said:


> Don't hold the past of a company against them today. My old Radeon 9800 and X850 were fantastic cards, and never failed me once. And I'm a hardcore gamer.


Frankly, if it weren't for the fact that my new board has PCI-E slots instead of an AGP slot, I'd still be using my All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro.



Raul said:


> Does anyone have any experience with Radeon cards? More specifically, is this one any good?


Seems like an okay card for the price. It's not top of the line, though. It's not DX10 capable, but that only matters if you're using Vista. (And even then, it doesn't really matter.)


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## Raul (May 25, 2008)

I was just wondering, do I need to download the graphics drivers for a new card, does it do it automatically, or does it come with a CD with the drivers on it?


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## Dragoneer (May 25, 2008)

Raul said:


> I was just wondering, do I need to download the graphics drivers for a new card, does it do it automatically, or does it come with a CD with the drivers on it?


They can be found on the manufacturer's website (either www.ati.com or www.nvidia.com) depending on which chipset you buy.


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## net-cat (May 25, 2008)

Raul said:


> I was just wondering, do I need to download the graphics drivers for a new card, does it do it automatically, or does it come with a CD with the drivers on it?



In general, they come with a CD. But those CDs tend to be horribly outdated and are sometimes bundled with crap you don't particularly need. So I'd recommend grabbing the latest off of the manufacturer's website.


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