that's me officially out of date with PC hardware

guess what idiot bought a graphics card not realising that "PCIe"
cards don't fit in PCI slots?

 

In

do they not fit ISA slots then?

--
Steve Parry
K1200GT SE & F650
'87 Yamaha FS1 & Sukida SK90PY
and a VW Passat SE Estate for comfort
www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

Angle grinder.

 

They will go in, but with a bit more of a "click" than usual.

 

but at least you can challenge and translate business requirements
into competitive solutions

 

there's always that.

 

Ah, so that's what "AG" mleans in "AGP"?

 

The real question is, why would you want to get a PCI gfx card in 2008?

Btw, a PCIe card should be worth more than a computer than needs PCI
graphics....


Geo

 

so A. can play the latest Broken Sword game that requires DirectX 9.0c
on her 3-year-old PC.

The card was 17 quid - I think the PC's probably worth a little more
than that.

 

Fair enough, I thought non-AGP motherboards died earlier than that. 3 years
old isn't half what I expected your comp to be. I also expected gfx cards to
be a bit more expensive...


Geo

 

actually, it was only 2 years ago I bought it - it's one of these:

http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpresentation/index.php?product_id=FJSCA04M4U

I suppose I'll have to see if there exists such a thing as a PCI
graphics card that does DirectX9.0c

 

I should have guessed it had integrated graphics and therefore no AGP slot.
Costs less but makes upgrading a PITA. Are you sure you can disable the
onboard gfx chip and use the PCI card as a primary output?

The nVidia FX 5200 seems to be 9.0c capable, you might want to have a look
yourself.
(For sale: 128MB http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119725 , there's a 256MB
going on eBay, item 200188636629) but at 30-odd quid new I wonder if it'd
make better sense to look for a cheap motherboard with an AGP slot and a
card for it. Might cost a bit more as a whole (and cause a slight fuss with
Windows having to adapt and find all the drivers) but it should be a better
solution for gaming. Provided your PSU manages...


Geo

 

Yes - I've already checked the BIOS.

I did check the nVidia FX 5200, and yes it claims to be DirectX 9
compliant, but not /necessarily/ 9.0c (which the game specifically
requires, some cell shading gubbins)

a) more hassle than I can be bothered with and b) she's not exactly a
"power gamer", she's only trying to play the latest Broken Sword, FFS.

 

Not sure, although some people in forums seemed to be running it with 9.0c.
Then again said people were usually asking "what's wrong with...." and I
didn't check whether it was some gfx issue.

I wouldn't know, my Athlon@500MHz-GeForce2 GTS desktop won't handle anything
over Age of Mythology.


Geo

 

Not all integrated-gfx MoBos lack and AGP slot but all (at least most) MoBos
lacking an AGP slot should have integrated graphics. Before PCIe anyhow.


Geo

 

My Radeo X1950 Pro is the dogs nads. Especially with COD 4, which I'm
going to play all over again, as I was too impressed.

 

I got out of date within three months after I left the industry.

 

Where you're waiting for the chopper? Well, instead of waiting next to
your injured boss, turn to the right of him and run all the way down to
the end. Hide behind the rides, as there is only one way that you can
be attacked.

You can defend the area quite easily with claymores and also shoot the
buggers over the top of the ride (which is on a sort of platform)
IYSWIM.

 

On the hardware side, I know I've slipped slightly. On the OS side,
loads. I don't know how Vista works or 2007 Server. You're right, you
lose touch quickly.

 

There isn't a 2007 server... So you're more up to date than Microsoft!