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Beer_Cayse
Guest
At least a 256MB card but if you shop around 512 and even some 1GB cards are decently priced. I would suggest either something Radeon based or Nvidia. I currently have a 512MB Nvidia 8400GS PCI Express 16x card that I got for $35 and shipping from Newegg - and that was several months ago.
Shop around for the best you can afford and that can fit into your system.
Shop around for the best you can afford and that can fit into your system.
what is your existing video card /cpu you have now ? ati (now AMD) or nVidia , both are pciE format. pciE replaced agp years ago. you can't draw blood from the stone 2d client, but if you're running the enhanced client... an upgraded video card should help, again depending on what you're running now.
hp pavilion slimline
amd sempron LE-1250 2.2ghz
windows 7 64bit
4 gb ram
has a factory built in nvidia geforce.. idk what kinda but i dont think it matters prob just a basic pos..
if it matters my monitor is
18.5 inch hd/lcd
displaying- 1366x768 @ 60hz
amd sempron LE-1250 2.2ghz
windows 7 64bit
4 gb ram
has a factory built in nvidia geforce.. idk what kinda but i dont think it matters prob just a basic pos..
if it matters my monitor is
18.5 inch hd/lcd
displaying- 1366x768 @ 60hz
hmm the 2D client just isn't that demanding 'video' wise imho. your video is the 6150 nvidia onboard , meaning it's obviously a part of the motherboard, or 'onboard.' Aside from being able to display two monitors natively, or unless you play other games that actually tax video rendering... I don't see a reason to get a another video card.
Assuming you have a free PCI-E slot inside, (1) what card were you thinking of getting ? (2)what other games do you play ? (3) do you play the enhanced or 2D client ?
yes i have a slot free.. and i have no clue as to what card i was thinking of gettting, thats why i made this post 
so someone can tell me what i should get because theres like 100 dif vid cards.
other games-
uo 2d reg client
combat arms
and i want to try wow... so im sure ill need something for that
so someone can tell me what i should get because theres like 100 dif vid cards.other games-
uo 2d reg client
combat arms
and i want to try wow... so im sure ill need something for that
ok well buying a video card can be a personal thing lol so i'll just give you my suggestion. since you are interested in other games that do tax video systems more, i'm going to suggest something strong enough for current and future games, yet not crazy expensive either. the cost of the card is roughly 155 us dollars online from various manufacturers and quite honestly, anything less will not give you the shot in the arm you are looking for(IMHO). finally lol i cant stress enough that this card will not improve visuals in 2d client, the only bennefit i can think of is onboard communicates to the cpu on the front side bus, by getting a dedicated card you're system MAY be a TAD faster...MAYBE. the card i suggest is any ATI (amd) 5750, again by any maker(sapphire,hercules,msi, asus, this that doesn't matter). what i must stress also is the current onboard video you have is the 6150 nvidia. not a complete pos if you get my meaning, its a 6000 series nvidia gpu which is leaps and bounds over previous onboard video made by intel for example. plenty of horsepower to run uo 2d client. the reason i suggest ati over nvidia is many reasons even though i love both, but ati video just looks better imho.yes i have a slot free.. and i have no clue as to what card i was thinking of gettting, thats why i made this post
other games-
uo 2d reg client
combat arms
and i want to try wow... so im sure ill need something for that
coo ty for info ill look into that.. a few more questions! LOL prob stupid but i gotta ask, so when i buy the new card and put it in the cpu, do i hook my monitor up to the old one first? then install it? or will it auto install when i boot up the pc like everything else i hook up?
excellent question. disconnect power from tower etc. dont stand on carpet while doing this, take tower to kitchen if necessary. static is very bad. put new card in and connect monitor cable to new card. connect power and wires back. turn on system and go directly into bios. in bios change from onboard video to pciE option. F10 and restart and your golden. dont hesitate to ask about other cards and don't feel obligated into getting this or that card before asking more questions.
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Beer_Cayse
Guest
as RawHeadRex points out ... connect to the new card. Def get into the BIOS and check to see that your onboard card is not active.
This can be done in SOME BIOS by setting it to use any PCI/PCIE card over onboard --- or --- simply allocating zero RAM usage to the onboard card.
Windows will see the new card and want to install the drivers, etc. I have personally always canceled the wizard and then inserted the card CD and allowed THAT to do the dirty work. It will tweak Windows system settings for you. Keep the onboard card definition in the system/device manager setup though.
This can be done in SOME BIOS by setting it to use any PCI/PCIE card over onboard --- or --- simply allocating zero RAM usage to the onboard card.
Windows will see the new card and want to install the drivers, etc. I have personally always canceled the wizard and then inserted the card CD and allowed THAT to do the dirty work. It will tweak Windows system settings for you. Keep the onboard card definition in the system/device manager setup though.
funny story; i get uo in may99, dial up blows and i get dsl soley for uo. dsl happy i buy a video card to replace onboard. at this time i knew almost nothing about computers, installed the card and started playing uo. at the most random of times, i would get a blue screen of death(bsod) during gameplay lol. took an act of congress for me to figure out what the problem was, now it makes perfect sense of course. lol
*edit* it was a PCI video card (no agp slot even offered) which was even more dependent on dipswitches and/or bios setting or it would not work... it's all coming back to me now. oh the horror
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Beer_Cayse
Guest
<laughs> I had the worst time getting a Diamond Stealth II card to work in my system. Frequent hangs - random in nature. Sometimes no bootup at all, but no BSOD.
Tech support from both card and system maker. Nada ... could not figure things out. Finally scanned all sorts of forums and found the answer. The vidcard used the S3 Virge chipset which just happened to be 100% incompatible with my system - a Compaq Presario.
Where did I find this gem? On a Compaq forum on their website - which the techs obviously NEVER look at for things like this. A UO poster at the time worked up a slick base system and shipped from his shop in Houston, TX to my house.
That box lasted 8 years with some minor upgrades. The Diamond card ran flawlessly and the Compaq was in the scrap heap - with 4 months on the warranty still left. Never did a pre-built after that incident.
Tech support from both card and system maker. Nada ... could not figure things out. Finally scanned all sorts of forums and found the answer. The vidcard used the S3 Virge chipset which just happened to be 100% incompatible with my system - a Compaq Presario.
Where did I find this gem? On a Compaq forum on their website - which the techs obviously NEVER look at for things like this. A UO poster at the time worked up a slick base system and shipped from his shop in Houston, TX to my house.
That box lasted 8 years with some minor upgrades. The Diamond card ran flawlessly and the Compaq was in the scrap heap - with 4 months on the warranty still left. Never did a pre-built after that incident.
My son's computer is running an AMD 3200+ cpu with built-in Nvidia 6100 integrated gpu. It runs both the classic client and the Enhanced Client just fine. I do plan on upgrading his computer soon, it's the oldest of five computers, but it's hardly an absolute necessity in order to play either of UO's clients.
If you are playing other more modern games and need a good card, here's a current great deal from Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102870
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Beer_Cayse
Guest
What I have found - even before UO3D, KR and EC is that system and video RAM play a large part in performance. Many times an inexpensive upgrade in either or both solves issues.
That Diamond 32MB card replaced a 8MB one. What a difference. Four years later a 128MB card replaced that one and again, large performance gains in vid refresh. Without any really major internal OS tweaks or anything.
If the case and PSU are adequate on your sons system, maybe just gut-replacement is all that's needed to be done? Heck, even PSU replacements aren't all that bad if you need to do that and the case is solid. <shrug>
I bought all my system parts from Newegg - shopped around quite a bit for discounts, free shipping deals, etc. Normally the list is case, mobo, CPU, RAM, maybe video card. I'll keep the HD and opticals, monitor, etc. I've done that on 3 systems with costs ranging from $625 per system to roughly $812 with S&H.
That Diamond 32MB card replaced a 8MB one. What a difference. Four years later a 128MB card replaced that one and again, large performance gains in vid refresh. Without any really major internal OS tweaks or anything.
If the case and PSU are adequate on your sons system, maybe just gut-replacement is all that's needed to be done? Heck, even PSU replacements aren't all that bad if you need to do that and the case is solid. <shrug>
I bought all my system parts from Newegg - shopped around quite a bit for discounts, free shipping deals, etc. Normally the list is case, mobo, CPU, RAM, maybe video card. I'll keep the HD and opticals, monitor, etc. I've done that on 3 systems with costs ranging from $625 per system to roughly $812 with S&H.
not a terrible card, 400 stream processing units for 90ish dollars. the one i recommended might be slight overkill with 700 stream units hence the 60dollar increase in price. the more i think about it, this 5670 is a lot of card for the dollar. not too shabby at all. the 5750 is a TWO slot design and the 5670 is a single slot design, something else to consider. as a comparison, I seriously doubt nvidia has a card at that price that can compete with the ati one. I dare to bet the 5670 would outperform or be on par with my nvidia 8800GTS(320) which is at least a year old.
yes the single cores are really starting to show their 'performance age.' as we get better as multitasking and more accustomed to our rigs, we demand more. its not uncommon for me to record a tv show, burn a dvd and play uo at the same time. Responsiveness is very important too, if i double click firefox, i want that damn thing to run within three seconds... not twenty.
wow lol those were the serious learning curve days for sure. i remember the first video card people thought they needed, it was a pci NUMBER9 card,not small. then the voodoo's appeard, then the Gefore2,3,4's... which lead up to the ati 9700. those milestones were huge for gaming and computing in general imho.
ok cool, tell us how it works out.so this is the card i bought online, just waiting for it to get here on the 24th
XFX GeForce 9500 GT Video Card - 1GB DDR2, PCI Express 2.0, w/DVI, VGA Support Low Profile
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Beer_Cayse
Guest
nice card ... will wanna know as well how it does.