Indigo Renderer Forum

Right now I only have an intel integrated graphics chip. I was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade to a new graphics card if I only have pci slots?

PCI how old is your machine????

or do you mean pci-e (pci express rather then PCI))

if the latter then you need to check what channel configs the mobo supports but you can prolly get a decent upgrade, if the former you may want to find a nice space in the garage for the machine and go and buy a new rig....

Yeah pretty much what gog said.

if you meant PCI-E then yeah you can get something better, if it's pci a change of computer is reacommended.

I'm pretty sure it's pci. Is there any website I can check to make sure?

[edit] Just searched and it's pci.

doublez wrote:I'm pretty sure it's pci. Is there any website I can check to make sure?

[edit] Just searched and it's pci.

PCI is a very old technology in terms of video cards. Very few actually do work with it and those that do arent very powerful and costly.

I know.

Is there a mobo I could get that can have a pentium 4 or a quadcore on it? Or is that not possible?
It would be nice to be able to use the same processor until I can upgrade that too.

Hmm, depends on the P4, they came in 2 sockets, 478 and 775

478 is the older, I found this one that could take an AGP card - you'l be able to get a card that is better then your on board

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Componen ... ctId=23284

775 is newer and is still quite mainstream so lots of choice, will take quad cores and PCI-E which means lots of good graphics card choices....

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Componen ... ctId=23284

To re-iterate to some extent I reckon if you have a 478 machine, I would look at buying a low end CPU (such as the E2180 or E220) on a 775 mobo new ram and new card - you can upgrade your machine for not too much money. staying with the P4 on 478 is not going to be money well spent.

How can I find what type I have?

if you know your mobo make/model an internet search should turn it up - it'll tell you the socket type of your CPU.

After a little research, I think I have the 478.

I really think I would be doing you a disservice if I suggested spending money on upgrading it. Don't get me wrong if you have a 478 box that does what you need it for without changing it then why change - but money upgrading this is money on goods that won't be usable with many of the bits you can buy mainstream now, and as the bits aren't mainstream anymore may well have gone up in price.

Second hand / ebay may be worth a gamble....

I don't want to upgrade to keep using old technology because it would cost me more money in the long run. I guess I'll keep using what I'm using for now. One day I'll upgrade to the best that's out.

Or nearly I have come to feel comfortable with ~-2 tech generations, I mean I don't really mind if my computer is 3 years old. Though I guess that those who change computers every year are also alimenting the second hand market