(Updated) This thread is now about PCI video cards

whuppins

Edit: The original post was about determining my options for upgrading a video card on a middle-aged Dell computer. Now that I know that, I'd like some shopping advice. Please see my post further down in the thread. Thanks!

Erandus

You could run something like Belarc Advisor to get the exact mainboard make and model and then google that to see what it has.

Daenris

whuppins wrote: »

P.S. -- it's a Dell, and I'm in the process of getting the service tag # and seeing if I can find the documentation at the Dell site. So no need to suggest that solution.

Well... that actually IS the solution, so there's no need for another. With the service tag it will show you the original configuration of the computer, including what slots it has (not sure if it actually gives you the exact model of the motherboard, but it may in which case you can look it up elsewhere to confirm that Dell is right).

whuppins

Well, balls. The machine's a Dell Dimension B110. It doesn't have an AGP or a PCI-e slot, just old-school PCI. According to that page, it's got a 3-slot PCI bus running at a blazing 33 MHz.

I've never used a PCI video card; are there some disadvantages I should know about? All he wants to do is play the Orange Box and his current integrated Intel GPU only supports DX 6.0, so no pixel shaders --> no HL2.

So, I guess I need to shop for a PCI vid card that has hardware support for DX 8.1+, which according to this page, is the minimum required level for these games. The rest of his system specs are actually pretty decent (2.5 GHz cpu, 1 GB of ram), considering it's a budget system.

NewEgg has a wide selection of affordable PCI video cards that would seem to do the job. Before I spend ~$50 on one, is there anything I should know about this setup in particular, or PCI video cards in general? The only specific question I have is: Does PCI bus speed matter? Am I required to get a card built for 33 MHz slots, or are faster cards backwardly compatible? Any other areas I should consider before making a purchase? Thanks for any and all comments.

Erandus

The short answer is that these cards are not worth spending money on.

whuppins

You'll have to give me the longer answer then. Without one of these cards, the system flat-out won't run any Orange Box games because of the Pixel Shaders hardware requirement. How else are we supposed to get the games up and running?

Erandus

Technically the card will work, and probably run the game. It's going to look and likely run like crap. My point is that it's not a great investment and will become pretty useless pretty quickly. It would be a better use of money upgrading to a motherboard that has a PCI-E slot. It would also be more expensive, but it's going to have to happen sooner or later. Even a good PCI card is going to perform woefully worse than a mediocre PCI-E card in the same price range.

whuppins

That may all be true in general, but in this particular case, there are a number of factors -- time, money, gaming habits, plans for the future -- that make a PCI card a better choice than a whole new motherboard. That part of the decision is pretty much made; at this point I just need to know what my concerns should be when shopping for a PCI card.