Fastest Card for a Slow Computer?

[mjs90201]

I have a 7 year old Dell Dimension 8100 desktop computer with a Pentium 4 CPU at 1.3Ghz, Windows ME, and an AGP 4x slot. I need a videocard with a DVI port to plug in my new 1680x1050 LCD monitor. Since I'm not a gamer, I tried an inexpensive GeForce FX5200 card with 256MB of 128 bit memory. This card works well except that the maximum resolution I could access is 1600 x 1024. I decided to try a slightly more expensive GeForce 6200 card with 256 MB of 64 bit memory, which I know is supposed to support higher resolutions. However, this card had the same resolution limitation of 1600 x 1024 in my system.

Since it seems my computer will not allow videocards to produce higher resolutions, I would like to know which card would be fastest. I know that the 6200 chipset is faster than the FX5200, but the FX5200 has 128 bit memory interface instead of 64 bit. Any idea which card would perform best in my AGP 4x slot?

 

[lopri]

Which ForceWare drivers do you have installed? Screen resolutions need to be supported by your monitor, video card, and video card drivers. (all of them)

 

[mjs90201]

I installed the forceware driver version 81.98, which is the latest one for my operating system. Both FX5200 and 6200 cards use this same nVidia driver for Windows ME.

Any idea which card would perform best in my AGP 4X slot?

 

[Cookie Monster]

I would say the 6200. Should be as fast as a FX5700. Although the FX5200 may have a 128bit memory bus, it has very weak shader/filtering performance so i would say the 6200 is better.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
I would say the 6200. Should be as fast as a FX5700. Although the FX5200 may have a 128bit memory bus, it has very weak shader/filtering performance so i would say the 6200 is better.

:thumbsup:

 

[mjs90201]

Thank you for your responses! Unfortunately, I'm having trouble getting 6200 cards to function with my system. I thought I had a corrupted driver, so I purchased and used the "drivercleaner" program to uninstall the forceware driver and remove all remnants of nVidia and ATI drivers (I previously used an old ATI card) in my system before reinstalling the Forceware 81.98 driver. This has not solved the problem, however. My 6200 card continues to cause my computer to crash every time I shut down and most of the time when I try to boot up. When I do get video with the 6200 card, it still has the 1600x1024 resolution limit. My FX5200 card works smoothly in my system (with the same resolution limitation). Since my new LCD monitor looks pretty good to me at 1600x1024, I guess the FX5200 card will suffice. [I also have the monitor hooked up to the VGA port of my new XP-Media Center desktop which supports its native resolution, and the monitor does look a bit sharper at 1680x1050.]

Do you think that reinstalling or upgrading my OS would allow videocards to produce higher resolutions or would allow 6200 cards to function properly? [I was told by tech support for the videocard that the resolution limitation was probably caused by my motherboard's AGP slot.]

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: mjs90201
Do you think that reinstalling or upgrading my OS would allow videocards to produce higher resolutions or would allow 6200 cards to function properly? [I was told by tech support for the videocard that the resolution limitation was probably caused by my motherboard's AGP slot.]

<snorts> More evidence of "techsupport" BS.

I also have the monitor hooked up to the VGA port of my new XP-Media Center desktop which supports its native resolution, and the monitor does look a bit sharper at 1680x1050.

What are the graphics hardware and drivers on the system that allows you to select 1680x1050?

Have you tried VGA using the 5200/6200 cards?

Have you unchecked the "Hide modes that this monitor cannot support" option in: Display Properties > Settings > Geforce **** > Screen Resolutions & Refresh Rates ?

 

[mjs90201]

Originally posted by: betasub

What are the graphics hardware and drivers on the system that allows you to select 1680x1050?

Have you tried VGA using the 5200/6200 cards?

Have you unchecked the "Hide modes that this monitor cannot support" option in: Display Properties > Settings > Geforce **** > Screen Resolutions & Refresh Rates ?

The system on which I'm running my monitor at 1680x1050 is an HP Pavilion desktop computer with an integrated "intel graphics media accelerator" chip but no graphics card.

I did try the VGA port of the 5200/6200 cards and got the same maximum resolution.

There does not appear to be an option that is worded: "Hide modes that this monitor cannot support." Perhaps this option is part of the forceware driver for windows XP. There is a similar option on my forceware driver for Win ME worded: "Show only physical panning resolutions." This option is visible but disabled on my system; I can neither uncheck nor check it.

 

[Gstanfor]

Your problems are most likely caused by your "OS"

If you must stick with win9x technology do yourself a big favor and install Win98SE instead of Win Me.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Scaling the image sucks. Get WinXP.