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Help with Graphics Card

coolbrowcoolbrow
edited January 2008 in Everything Else
So, I recently bought Orange Box for my PC, when I unfortunately realized that my graphics card was not good enough. I just bought a GeForce 8600Gt which can be veiwed here.

Newegg

However, when opening my computer I discovered the PCI slots were not compatible with the card's PCI plug-ins. This troubles me, every card I look at has this same problem. Is there something wrong with my computer? Is there no hope for me?

Help is appreciated
-Coolbrow

Comments

  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited January 2008
    Your computer is using the AGP slot which I think is still used in some motherboards. Sorry to say but they phased out AGP somewhere around the 6 series. You need to buy a new motherboard.
    If anyone rips on him/her for making an obvious mistake, don't.
    Ps, can someone tell me what the GT, GTS, etc.. abbreviations mean?
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • AprecheApreche
    Your computer is using the AGP slot which I think is still used in some motherboards. Sorry to say but they phased out AGP somewhere around the 6 series. You need to buy a new motherboard.
    If anyone rips on him/her for making an obvious mistake, don't.
    Return the card and get an AGP card. They might be "phased out", but you can still get them. I only have AGP in my computer, and I recently bought a 7 series AGP card on Newegg that works just fine.
  • coolbrowcoolbrow
    edited January 2008
    Your computer is using the AGP slot which I think is still used in some motherboards. Sorry to say but they phased out AGP somewhere around the 6 series. You need to buy a new motherboard.
    If anyone rips on him/her for making an obvious mistake, don't.
    Ps, can someone tell me what the GT, GTS, etc.. abbreviations mean?
    Thats what i thought, but in the booklet, they say AGP slots are brown, and PCI slots are white. Mine are clearly white. The card appears like it should fit, but only after a 180 degree turn, which isn't possible.

    EDIT: I just looked at some AGP cards, and those are defiantly not compatible with my computer. It is PCI for sure, just not in the correct orinetation
    Post edited by coolbrow on
  • AprecheApreche
    edited January 2008


    EDIT: I just looked at some AGP cards, and those are defiantly not compatible with my computer. It is PCI for sure, just not in the correct orinetation
    That video card you bought is PCI Express x16. The slots in your computer are just plain old PCI. You need to have a PCI Express x16 slot, not a normal PCI slot. What kind of computer is it that you have? If it only has plain old PCI slots, and no PCI express or AGP slots, then you do indeed need a new motherboard, or just a whole new computer.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • coolbrowcoolbrow
    Darn, I was hoping that wasn't true. They don't sell cards with plain old PCI?
  • thaneofcawdorthaneofcawdor
    You can get non-Express PCI video cards, but I wouldn't touch one of those with a barge pole. On the plus side, if you can find one, it would be ultra cheap. On the negative side, it would suck, as in it would use a chipset older than my grandmama. And it would be slow too, as the PCI bus is, uh, crap.
  • VhdbloodVhdblood
    edited January 2008
    Believe me from experience, just get a new computer. I bought a 6-series card for my old Dell that was non-Express PCI. It is the shittiest thing I've ever used. It randomly freezes, I can't watch videos without turning the acceleration down, and it all around runs slower than its AGP/PCI-E equivalent.

    As far as I know, it's because without another power connector, it can't get as much power through the normal PCI slot, but that's just a guess on my part.

    So, yeah, just get a new computer, and save yourself the trouble.
    Post edited by Vhdblood on
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    edited January 2008
    Darn, I was hoping that wasn't true. They don't sell cards with plain old PCI?
    I got some old PCI Matrox cards I can give you.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • AprecheApreche
    I got some old PCI Matrox cards I can give you.
    Those would not play the Orange Box.

    coolbrow, tell us what kind of computer you have.
  • WallyBmanWallyBman
    I'm betting I know about what he has. A couple years (5 or 6) ago, a bunch of the major pre-built brands had "AGP Graphics." Don't confuse that with a AGP slot. It was basicly some shit agp graphics card built onto the mother board. I was in the PX and saw a bunch of pc's stating they had "AGP Graphics." I was like, "wow, these are cheap," so I asked if I could pop the side panel. The sales guys said sure, so I did so, only to see that they had the vga routed off of the motherboard onto a plan gap filler with a vga port built into it. Luckily, there was a single HP there, and it had an actual AGP slot and card, along with four slots for pc3200, a p4 3.2, and was really cheap. So I picked it up, found out that someone had stuck a stick of 512 in it instead of the 256 it was supposed to come with, and a month later, bought a decent nvidia card for it, along with another stick of 512 pc3200.

    Today, that system is sitting on the other side of the room, with another gig of ram in it, a x1600 pro(512) card in it, and it will run crysis (poorly). Pretty good deal for $499 out the door, don't you think?

    I gave that sytem to shay, and of course, all she uses it for is WoW and internet, and greifing in Second Life (Which is amazing fun. The game sucks, but fucking with those loser is the best fun. Ever.).
  • coolbrowcoolbrow
    I got some old PCI Matrox cards I can give you.
    Those would not play the Orange Box.

    coolbrow, tell us what kind of computer you have.
    I have a 5 or so year old Dell, with Pentium 4, 2.8GHz processor. Windows XP home edition (5.1, build 2600). Its a Dimension 3000. 2 Gigs of RAM, and the BIOS (don't know what that is..) is Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A02

    Hope that helps, thanks!
  • VhdbloodVhdblood
    I just looked and the mobo on the Dimension 3000 has nearly the same one as my old Dimension 2350, being that it only has PCI slots. Looks like if you want to Orange Box it up, you'll have to get a new computer.

    For reference, this is the mobo.
  • AndrewAndrew
    edited January 2008
    Here are the technical specifications for the computer. Vhdblood is right, it only has PCI slots. The only way to get your 8600 to work is to buy a new mobo which means a new computer all around.
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • AprecheApreche
    Yes, it is time for a new computer.
  • WallyBmanWallyBman
    edited January 2008
    The weekly deals at Tiger Direct are usually pretty good. In fact, here is a deal that is fairly cheap for what you get, and with that 8600, would make a fairly competent rig. Well, after you give it a little healthier of a power supply, and maybe drop in a gig of ram, that is.
    Post edited by WallyBman on
  • coolbrowcoolbrow
    Yes, it is time for a new computer.
    Great... My birthday is coming up, just maybe.....
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