My New Video Card...
<div class="IPBDescription">sucks. and i want to know why :(</div> I just bought a new vid card two days ago, and it arrived just today. I was all excited about it -- especially since it was my first "real" video card, and took me 3 hours to install. After I'd finally installed the old bugger, I booted up NS and got to kicking some skulk arse, or so I thought. It's only a slight improvement over my old card (intel i810), and I'm still not hitting the constant ~70 fps on 640x480 I expected from the new card :\. I kicked in every tweak setting I know, but it's still not working out. Right now, I'm thinking of just returning the card, but then, I don't know what else to get, considering I don't have an AGP slot.
Any tweaking tips or suggestions on card to replace it with, PLEASE?
my card:
<a href='http://www.pny.com/products/verto/geForceFx/5200pci.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pny.com/products/verto/geForceFx/5200pci.asp</a>
again, I don't have an AGP slot, so PCI ONLY!
edit: just thought I should post my system specs too <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
1.2 ghz celeron (yes, kill me please!)
256 MB SDRAM
Any tweaking tips or suggestions on card to replace it with, PLEASE?
my card:
<a href='http://www.pny.com/products/verto/geForceFx/5200pci.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pny.com/products/verto/geForceFx/5200pci.asp</a>
again, I don't have an AGP slot, so PCI ONLY!
edit: just thought I should post my system specs too <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
1.2 ghz celeron (yes, kill me please!)
256 MB SDRAM
Comments
Seriously.
You are probably bound by your processor not your card and if you are you can at least use slightly better quality graphical settings without incurring any loss in performance(such as 2x anisotropic and trilinear filtering(gl_texturemode gl_linear_mipmap_linear) and slightly higher resolution).
You are probably bound by your processor not your card and if you are you can at least use slightly better quality graphical settings without incurring any loss in performance(such as 2x anisotropic and trilinear filtering(gl_texturemode gl_linear_mipmap_linear) and slightly higher resolution). <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
that's pretty much what I thought was going on. a friend of mine has the exact same card (AGP version tho) and is on a P3 1.0 ghz. He's getting smooth 100fps in all his games.
PCI, read the post jedi <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Yer PCI cards dont run very well, all i CAN SAY
You've got to move with the times, if you want half decent framerates, you're going to have to buy a new motherboard and get in on some of that 8x AGP action.
It just does not have the cache and bandwidth to deal with it.. saying that PCI went out when P2s came in so id suggest updating your MB aswell.
The minimum system requirements for that card does not include a celeron...
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Intel Pentium® III, AMD Duron or Athlon™ class processor or higher
The problem is if you going to update your MB you are going to have to buy new ram,cpu and perhaps a new case depending on your PSU.
Id suggest going for a budget PC as buying top of the range just is not worth it..
Any tweaking tips or suggestions on card to replace it with, PLEASE?
my card:
<a href='http://www.pny.com/products/verto/geForceFx/5200pci.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pny.com/products/verto/geForceFx/5200pci.asp</a>
again, I don't have an AGP slot, so PCI ONLY!
edit: just thought I should post my system specs too <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
1.2 ghz celeron (yes, kill me please!)
256 MB SDRAM <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Your GFX card is being limited by your processor and RAM it seems. If your motherboard is still limited to SDRAM and only has an available PCI slot for your Geforce, then its likely so old as to not take advantage of any advanced AGP speeds. Your processor is also a celeron, which dosent really help matters.
I have a Geforce 5200 as well, and it runs HL fine with everything cranked up, and I have almost the same specs as you <i>except</i> I use DDR RAM and an AMD processor.
Don't freak out though, heres my advice:
-Ditch your motherboard, upgrade to a newer one that supports DDR RAM. The difference between SDRAM and DDR is night and day.
-Your proccessor is ok for now, it will do, but you can pick up an AMD processor with more speed for dirt cheap right now (under $100). And it will be faster then your current processor even if its the same speed.
-The Geforce 5200 is a fine card. Don't listen to the BS being spread about, people seem to forget that not everyone has $400 to put down on a Radeon 9800. Although I have to reccommend you return it, and wait until you get a new motherboard so you can buy the AGP version.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> If your motherboard doesn't have an AGP slot, it's time to upgrade, seriously. The GeForce FX 5200 is a piece of crap even at 8x AGP, i dread to think what it's like PCI.
You've got to move with the times, if you want half decent framerates, you're going to have to buy a new motherboard and get in on some of that 8x AGP action.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Its a piece of crap that runs HL just fine though. Theres no justification in spending $400 on a card if all your playing is HL. And by the time HL2 is out, 9800s will be as cheap as a 5200. Not to mention the fact that HL2 is supposed to be scalable enough to run on the lowest end of systems. And from what I heard, even the unoptimized incomplete leaked alpha runs fine on low end systems.
You've got to move with the times, if you want half decent framerates, you're going to have to buy a new motherboard and get in on some of that 8x AGP action.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Its a piece of crap that runs HL just fine though. Theres no justification in spending $400 on a card if all your playing is HL. And by the time HL2 is out, 9800s will be as cheap as a 5200. Not to mention the fact that HL2 is supposed to be scalable enough to run on the lowest end of systems. And from what I heard, even the unoptimized incomplete leaked alpha runs fine on low end systems. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
That piece of crap is what i'm using now. Yes, it's a cheap card, but you get cheap performance. I'm currently saving for a cheap Radeon 9600 which will guarentee me good performance in newer games.
I can run Farcry fine on it, for example, but that's with the detail settings down a notch or two, same with KOTOR, i can't get excellent performance on any new game. Hell, even Morrowind gives me problems.
p.s. I'm happy with my card now, since I know people with MX440s that run NS at 100 fps. I can safely conclude it's not the card's problem now.
When the new PCI Express motherboards come out some time this year, I suggest you look into buying one of them. PCI Express is faster even than AGP 8X, with the added bonus of being 100% backwards compatible. You'll be future and past proofed! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
And about overclocking a 1.2 celeron, celerons overclock VERY poorly do to their poor heat dissapation abilities, so to put this into perspective. The size heatsink you would need to get to overcome those downfalls would cost more then your proccesor is worth currently (and we could be talking about a 30$ heatsink here).
Also my old comp had a 2.0 ghz celeron, and those go for 35$
Also, consider getting a new processor too. Some people on the boards pointed me to a 2.4C Pentium 4. For its performance, its dirt cheap and it can overclock like a beast. One of the best processors I've ever seen. Comes with an 800MHz FSB and has HT tech, really nice.
You can also upgrade your RAM. If you have DDR Ram you should be ok with just another 256mb stick, but if you have a mobo with SDRAM only, get a new one with a stick of 512mb RAM.
These uprgades can be costly, but if you have the money by all means do it, your games will thank you.