Intel 82915g Portal and TF2 problems.

chuckleberryfinn

Hope someone can help me out with this. I have a dimension 3100 with the intel 82915g express chipset video card. Long story short Portal and tf2 don't like the card and crash after a few seconds of gameplay. I haven't been able to find a software solution to the problem and due to dell's design the video card can't be replaced or upgraded. Has anyone found a solution to this? Or know of how I might go about fixing it. Half life 2 plays fine but tf2 and portal are a no go. Annoyingly steam's "check your machine specs" all checked out fine. I've updated the graphics card driver's but still not happening. Am I at the end of the rope here? Can anyone suggest anything? Thanks.

Firebrand

If this is an integrated graphics controller, you can simply add a new graphics card and it will take precedence over the built-in one.

I can imagine Portal and TF2 has higher system requirements than HL2 as they're built on a newer version of the Source engine.

EDIT: No, you were right it seems. Dell 3100 motherboard doesn't come with AGP nor PCI-Express slot for upgrades. Ouch.

chuckleberryfinn

Yeah bummer. I think I'm in new computer or no tf2. Baaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

Mr_Grinch

Afraid most intel integrated graphics cards are utterly shite for gaming.

Looks like you're a tad stuck. Rather than buying a PC you could just get yourself a new motherboard though, and then get a PCI-E graphics card.

chuckleberryfinn

I had thought about it. I think a motherboard switch would be a complete nightmare tho and I've never done anything like it before. Really want tf2 tho, nuts.

Thanks for the help guys.

Hevach

chuckleberryfinn wrote: »

I had thought about it. I think a motherboard switch would be a complete nightmare tho and I've never done anything like it before. Really want tf2 tho, nuts.

Thanks for the help guys.

It's usually not too big of an issue if you're good with a screwdriver. But with Dells, all bets are off. I found out the expensive way that not all of their power supply connectors are wired the normal way when I instantly fried a brand new motherboard.

You could probably get a new power supply, motherboard, and graphics card together, though. If you're not comfortable doing the installation yourself, find a local college computer nerd and buy him a six pack.

chuckleberryfinn

Hi again, I have some more questions about graphics cards. So this crap dell motherboard has a pic-ex 1x slot on it...brilliant. Useless for my needs, I can probably spare one of my 2, count them, pci slots if i can find a pci graphics card somewhere. So this would be cheaper and easier than bribing a boozed up college student to redo my mb. But would it make much of a difference? I've read that pci graphics cards are rubbish so amn't sure if it's a case where buying one would be throwing money away. Can you guys advise me? So no agp slot, no useable pci-ex slot, free pci slot. Looking to have tf2 by the end of the week. Can any of you give me opinions on whether this is worth doing? Thanks again guys.

urahonky

I.... Have to say you might be in a little bit of a bind. PCI cards are indeed crap, and may not even play TF2. Cheapest route would be motherboard, but you have to make sure your processor/heatsink both fit on the new motherboard.

Then you have to buy a new graphics card (preferably PCI-E) for this motherboard. You're looking to spend about $200 to get this up and running. Stupid Dell computers.

chuckleberryfinn

Yeah man, stay clear of the dimension 3100. Complete joke.

Hevach

chuckleberryfinn wrote: »

Hi again, I have some more questions about graphics cards. So this crap dell motherboard has a pic-ex 1x slot on it...brilliant. Useless for my needs, I can probably spare one of my 2, count them, pci slots if i can find a pci graphics card somewhere. So this would be cheaper and easier than bribing a boozed up college student to redo my mb. But would it make much of a difference? I've read that pci graphics cards are rubbish so amn't sure if it's a case where buying one would be throwing money away. Can you guys advise me? So no agp slot, no useable pci-ex slot, free pci slot. Looking to have tf2 by the end of the week. Can any of you give me opinions on whether this is worth doing? Thanks again guys.

The best PCI cards I could turn up with google were a Radeon 9250, and a Geforce 5200. Both can be had pretty cheap (as low as $60 on Amazon, respectively), but they're a dead end that won't leave you any other options if it doesn't work. Even if it does, it's still a dead end and the next game you want to play most likely won't work at all.

Looking at the system requirements, you might be able to get TF2 running. The stated minimum is just a DX7 card. You might be able to run it, but I personally doubt you'll like the results - they're both bad (or at least old) cards, even in their non-PCI incarnations.

If $60 is throwaway for you, you can do that and hope for the best. I'd personally go for the big upgrade. Rather than spending $60 to play TF2 at likely minimum settings, you can upgrade your motherboard and get a really good video card and play TF2 at likely full settings or near to it. More importantly, you'll also have a nice comfort zone where you know you'll be able to play any other game that catches your fancy for some time, and opens up more upgrade routes from there.

Edit: something to keep in mind when you buy a new motherboard, like said above, make sure your CPU will fit. But shop around. Last motherboard I ordered actually came with a very nice discount on a matching CPU.

chuckleberryfinn

Hevach wrote: »

The best PCI cards I could turn up with google were a Radeon 9250, and a Geforce 5200. Both can be had pretty cheap (as low as $60 on Amazon, respectively), but they're a dead end that won't leave you any other options if it doesn't work. Even if it does, it's still a dead end and the next game you want to play most likely won't work at all.

Looking at the system requirements, you might be able to get TF2 running. The stated minimum is just a DX7 card. You might be able to run it, but I personally doubt you'll like the results - they're both bad (or at least old) cards, even in their non-PCI incarnations.

If $60 is throwaway for you, you can do that and hope for the best. I'd personally go for the big upgrade. Rather than spending $60 to play TF2 at likely minimum settings, you can upgrade your motherboard and get a really good video card and play TF2 at likely full settings or near to it. More importantly, you'll also have a nice comfort zone where you know you'll be able to play any other game that catches your fancy for some time, and opens up more upgrade routes from there.

Edit: something to keep in mind when you buy a new motherboard, like said above, make sure your CPU will fit. But shop around. Last motherboard I ordered actually came with a very nice discount on a matching CPU.

Appreciate all the help so far! So Dx7 card seems to be a lie. My intel piece of sh*t is dx8.1, I know it's not a proper graphics card but it would have been nice to know before I purchased ob. I know the mb upgrade is the right option but I don't have $200 to spend atm, I may be able to harvest a pci graphics card from a friend who is in midst of throwing out his old comp so we'll see how that goes first. Thanks again!

Nitsua

I was able to buy a nVidia 6300 PCI card from New Egg for around $80... that should more than do it if they are still selling it.

webguy20

Hey I just wanted to pitch in and say that I have a nvidia 5200 AGP card and it BARELY runs portal and Ep2. I cant imagine how crappy the PCI version would do.

Photon

A quick look around newegg revealed this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103031

I have no idea what an x1550 is like, and im sure the PCI version is worse than its real man sized PCI-express brothers, but at least x1550 is a relatively new model number ... you may not be completely boned.