Need video card upgrade

[KrillBee]

Ok, my mom's computer has been using an ATI Rage128 (16 mb), to surf the internet. She has a p3 1ghz, 512 mb ram and is running Windows XP.

I've noticed that for flash videos and other types of videos on the internet, the computer is pretty slow. I assume its the video card, since I know the Rage128 is a pretty old thing.

At what point is a video card satisfactory for general internet use? For example I have a Radeon 7200 lying around that I could put in. Would that work well? Or does one need something even better? (obviously she doesnt need an x800 or anything like that)

 

[Kromis]

A 7200 is enough. You really don't need a good card to go online. I used to have a Rage128 on my old emachines and I was able to surf the web pretty smoothly.

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: Kromis
A 7200 is enough. You really don't need a good card to go online. I used to have a Rage128 on my old emachines and I was able to surf the web pretty smoothly.

yea, the Rage will load pictures and stuff, but for newsfeed videos and things like that its horrible!

 

[kmmatney]

The other aspects of the system (the cpu and hard disk) probably also contribute to the system's slowness. The 7200 would help, but may not fix the problem. Even onboard video with a faster system would probably work better than a fast video card on that system.

 

[PianoMan]

Agreed - with new streaming multimedia, I think more computer power would be better than upgrading the vid card. But heck, you've got it laying around - slap it in there and check it out, time permitting.

Wow - ATI Rage128... haven't heard that card's name in awhile. My parent's 8500 in their hand-me-down brings occasional tears to my eyes.

PM

 

[Peter]

Before you start upgrading hardware, first check whether the Rage128 is running on Microsoft's (unaccelerated!) drivers. If it does, install ATI drivers.

From using a Rage128 on Linux once a week, I know the card hardware itself is easily fast enough for /everything/ 2D, including Flash animations and the likes.

In case there aren't any XP drivers for the R128, use the W2K drivers for it.