Buying a 3-D card

[AnneGuida]

Hi,

I need to buy a 3-D card for my old (5 years) computer.

What should I look for and where would you recommend I buy?

Thanks for your help!

[deore101]

Hi AnneGuida,

We'll need to know a little bit more about your computer before we can help.

Some things we'll need to know are:

The Make and Model of the computer.
What Motherboard and Processor does it have in it?
Does it have a 3D card in it now, or does it have an on-board video chip?
Do you have a PCI slot available for the new card to go into?
Or, even better- does it have an AGP slot?

The more info you can give, the easier it is for someone to help you.

Regards-

[AnneGuida]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Actually, I'm writing in
for a friend who owns this PC.

He gave me the following information:

Gateway P5-120
Pentium Processor
Motherboard:unknown
No 3-D card currently;on-board video chip: unknown
PCI slot: unknown
AGP slot: unknown

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's enough to go on.

Also, are 3-D cards expensive? My friend just has
a Disney software program his kids got for Christmas that requires a 3-D card.

Thanks again!

[missiveusa]

You probobly need a PCI video card since that mainboard has intergrated video. Check with Gateway on specific model. An AGP style card will perform better, but PCI is acceptable. Expect to spend anywhere between $50-$100.
Remember to disable onboard video and install PCI-VGA drivers before installing drivers for new card.

Try http://www.pricewatch.com/ Then check with http://www.resellerratings.com/

Good luck.

[Rocketmech]

It apears the P5-120 has the ATI-264GT graphics subsystem which contains the 3D Rage II chipset. They can confirm this by opening the case and look next to the white PCI slots, the video controller chip will be marked ATI 3D RAGE ll . If you follow this link to Gateway here you will find a pic of the mobo w/ links to the ATI chip info. Hope this helps.



Argg.. the link comes up short. Type P5-120 in the search window. Select the mobo w/ integrated video. You might ask them the S/N, this way you'll get the full spec's on the system from Gateway. OEM's are notorious for mixing components for same M/N.

[phecky]

For that system you can find a PCI type 16 megabyte Nvidia TNT card that should work fine for around $35. My 3 year old daughtter likes the Disney games too and I've got her using a systtem witth an old 16Meg Voodoo Banshee(PCI). Either Best Buy or Circuit City might carry them. If not, go on-line and order it. p.s. those Disney games are very colorful and it's a joy to watch her play.

[Schattenreiter]

I think a P5-120 is a little bit week for 3D.

Maybe you should consider upgrading the prozessor as well.

[NDD]

Schattenreiter

think a P5-120 is a little bit week for 3D

I had my P5-133 with Voodoo2 few years back, total annihilation !!!

You should consider TNT2 (not the M64 !!!) or Voodoo Banshee/Voodoo2.

R

[XT]

I saw a older Monster 3d <Voodoo1> at the "show" about 2 weeks ago. I should of picked it up. That card would work beautifully for this older machine.

[Kurylo]

Maybe, a TNT2 PCI or Voodoo2 Banshee PCI. I'll stop at TNT2 PCI. Also, there is a G200 PCI version for your Pentium.
As far as you don't have too fast CPU, I do not recommend 2xVoodoo2 at the SLI mode.