New video card for an old PC

[akaSM]

Remember that PC I tried to use to make us a TF2 server? Remember how much it sucked? Well, the poor thing has a really weak video card (a geforce 7200gs), since my bro and sis like to play games, I'd like to get a better card for it but, here's are some objectives:


Price doesn't really matter
It's got a 400w power thingy (was it called a PSU?)
It's got a Pentium D processor @ 3Ghz
The motherboard is a Intel d102ggc2
It's got 1GB of RAM


Now, with those things in mind, which video card would be a nice idea to get? Specially considering that the motherboard won't accept RAM beyond 2GB and the processor isn't exactly powerful. I don't want to end with a extremely expensive card that will be limited by the processor >_>

The games it'll run will be mostly what we play in the NPF weekends. You can take TF2 as the reference game.

Thanks in advance ^_^.

Oh, if possible, list various options like


card A can run TF2 fine but, that's about it
card B is more expensive but, will run more things
card C is the best you can get for that processor
card D is good but, your processor sucks and it'll limit the card
card E is what you need but that power thingy is too weak for it

[Kyanbu The Legend]

What's your OS?

[akaSM]

It originally had WinXP, I've messing with Win7 lately. Now that I think about it, is it a good idea to go back to XP for that specific PC?

[Kyanbu The Legend]

XP is recent enough to for a less then current Geforce graphics card to work. Though don't take my word for it too willingly.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_family.html Has a nice list of cards to chose from. All comes down to what you want it to do VS what your PC can handle. Wish I could be a bit more helpful then this.

What I can tell you is that I use a NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 on my 2 gig system memory 64 bit Win7 PC and it works pretty nicely for me.

[Nikose Tyris]

Okay so couple of things that I had to figure out using what information your provided:

A) your computer is older. Your Mobo likely won't accept higher than PCI-e video cards [since that's what you're using now], so that's what I went hunting for.

B) Your OS really has jack-all to do with this, I guess Kyanbu was maybe talking about drivers but really no, not an issue here.

C) As it stands with your PC, I don't think you'll find a video card that can give you more then 512MB Video Ram, and I'm leery to recommend anything for fear of it being too advanced for your system to handle.

THAT SAID, I can tentatively recommend this, since it seems to match your previous card, and is merely an upgrade: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5677105&CatId=1826

*************************

But, since you left the statement that price doesn't matter, I'd rather point you at this:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=814321&csid=_21

it's a barebones kit to a superior computer that might be in your price range. Plug it all together and slap your old hard drive in there. The onboard video is superior to the video card you were using.

Please keep in mind it's only an idea - But it may be an idea that's affordable, in terms of running a server for games.

[akaSM]

A new PC, huh? Well, time to see if the can ship here ^_^. Otherwise, I'll have to look for the card. Thanks Kyanbu and Nik

[Nikose Tyris]

Hope I helped in the long run. :P Server Machines are annoying, but there are some amazing deals to be had for doing barebones builds if you watch for them, that can match the cost of individual components like the video card.

I'd poke at Synk to verify my advice, though- I've been pretty much ignoring the hardware scene for a while, and my advice always feels kind of outdated to me these days!

[akaSM]

Hey, guess what? It seems video cards aren't ridiculously overpriced around here! :D...well, considering that I still have to pay for shipping and taxes (I paid about 50 USD for 2 HDs...stupid taxes), I might even get it locally :3

[synkr0nized]

I suppose it depends on what cards you have available locally?



I recently used parts from a former rig to build a HTPC. As such, I got a similar card as Nikose linked -- a GeForce GT 220. I didn't want one that required too much power; really all I went for was HDMI output and the ability to handle streaming video. It was about forty bucks (US), and the reason I went with it over the 210s I saw and the 8400GS like he linked is that it has a 128-bit memory interface instead of 64-bit, a little bit faster core clock and more cores, things like that. It's worth noting, however, that it's only DDR2 video RAM.

Your 7200gs would be outperformed by either card, however, and very likely by the onboard video of that kit Nikose linked (I don't usually keep up on onboard video options, as I prefer dedicated cards, so I'd have to do some reading to be comfortable with recommending or dissing that setup).

And the latter brings up an interesting point: what is your intended budget? If it's as high as a few hundred, then yeah I totally am on board with just ignoring that Pentium-D machine and slapping together an AMD quad-core or tri-core. Even with a kit like that you still have a PCIe slot in case you want to add a more powerful, dedicated card to the system later.



Right now, if I were in your shoes, I would push to replace the machine. Either part-out something with similar parts (AMD processors would be the most friendly to any budget) or look for kits like that on TigerDirect or Newegg. I say this because you can easily double or triple or more the performance of what you currently described without going way too huge into cost.

However, you're talking about this machine being a server machine. The server doesn't even need graphics to run (or are you not running it as a dedicated server and also playing on it while hosting the games?). In that sense, maybe it's NOT worth the money to build a new one right now and just get a nice PCIe card. There are some newer and more powerful ones that would be fantastic cards -- such as the 430 -- in the 75-100 dollar (US) price range. You could buy something like that now and then have it if you go ahead and put together a machine later.


It would depend on what you're interested in, I guess.



And it looks like I haven't really answered anything.




EDIT: I hate to say it, but you could even look at pre-builts (Dell, HP, etc.) with dedicated cards that fell into whatever budget you decided upon. I had advised my father on parts and budget and so on when he wanted to get a desktop machine and ended up guiding him to an HP elite tower, as it had all the kinds of processing and computing (and even graphics) power he wanted, was in his budget, and had the added benefit of actual customer support and warranty for three years instead of relying on me.

[akaSM]

So, my bro bought an extra RAM stick. Same brand and everything BUT, it's a single sided RAM stick, the one we had is a double sided one. The PC can detect them separately (bot in the BIOS and within Windows) but, as soon as I put both, only one of the sticks is detected (again, in both cases).

The things is...CPU-Z can detect both just fine o_O

Here's what CPU-Z says about the RAM:

Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM # 1
SMBus address 0x50
Memory type DDR2
Module format Regular UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Kingston (7F98000000000000)
Size 1024 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2-4300 (266 MHz)
Part number
Serial number F208AC72
Manufacturing date Week 20/Year 10
Number of banks 1
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts
EPP no
XMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 3.0-3-3-9-12 @ 200 MHz
JEDEC #2 4.0-4-4-12-16 @ 266 MHz
JEDEC #3 5.0-4-4-12-16 @ 266 MHz

DIMM # 2
SMBus address 0x51
Memory type DDR2
Module format Regular UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Kingston (7F98000000000000)
Size 1024 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2-4300 (266 MHz)
Part number
Serial number 6709D00B
Manufacturing date Week 13/Year 07
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts
EPP no
XMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 3.0-3-3-9-12 @ 200 MHz
JEDEC #2 4.0-4-4-12-16 @ 266 MHz
JEDEC #3 5.0-4-4-12-16 @ 266 MHz

DIMM # 1
SPD registers
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F
00 80 08 08 0E 0A 00 40 00 05 3D 50 00 82 08 00 00
10 0C 08 38 01 02 00 03 3D 50 50 60 3C 1E 3C 2D 01
20 25 37 10 22 3C 1E 1E 00 06 3C 7F 80 1E 28 00 00
30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 12 F6
40 7F 98 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
50 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 0A 1A F2
60 08 AC 72 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
70 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
90 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
A0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
B0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
C0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
E0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
F0 39 39 55 35 34 33 31 2D 30 31 34 2E 41 30 30 4C

DIMM # 2
SPD registers
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F
00 80 08 08 0E 0A 61 40 00 05 3D 50 00 82 08 00 00
10 0C 04 38 01 02 00 03 3D 50 50 60 3C 1E 3C 2D 80
20 25 37 10 22 3C 1E 1E 00 00 3C 69 80 1E 28 00 00
30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 12 B6
40 7F 98 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
50 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 07 0D 67
60 09 D0 0B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
70 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
90 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
A0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
B0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
C0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
E0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
F0 39 39 55 35 33 31 36 2D 30 30 32 2E 41 30 32 4C

[akaSM]

Mostly, I to make this PC not suck at games so my bro and sis can use it on the living room TV, or one of the many TVs that are available (I got one so I could get 1080p from my laptop, then my bro got one because BIGTVOMG AND my mom won one...all that in less than half a year o_O). A new PC would be a good idea but, it's not a huge priority for me (I got my badass laptop) or my dad (you already got a PC, why do you want a new one?)

EDIT: I hate to say it, but you could even look at pre-builts (Dell, HP, etc.) with dedicated cards that fell into whatever budget you decided upon. I had advised my father on parts and budget and so on when he wanted to get a desktop machine and ended up guiding him to an HP elite tower, as it had all the kinds of processing and computing (and even graphics) power he wanted, was in his budget, and had the added benefit of actual customer support and warranty for three years instead of relying on me.

Hmm, Dell seems to have a nice PC but it's a bit too pricey for my current budget. If I can get my bro and dad into this, we could get a new PC ^_^

I'll go and look for local prices of video cards and PCs, maybe tomorrow or next week.

[synkr0nized]

I haven't done a lot of looking around. It's a possibility still, but it may be that they are charging too much for a pre-built. Still, it's an option and I wish you well in looking for something.


As to the RAM -- ]When you tried them individually, did you use the same slot both times? If not, try leaving ONE in at a time in one of the DIMM slots, move it to the other, and then repeat with the other stick. If they continue to get detected in either slot but fail when both sticks are in, then I am not sure what's going on. I would assume that just because Kingston put higher-capacity memory parts on the newer stick but everything else is the same that it should be compatible. Perhaps this is not the case -- you may try asking Kingston.

[akaSM]

Yeah, they're more expensive here. See that laptop Jagos wants for less than 6k? I would have to pay almost 2x to get it >_>. I've tried all the possible combinations with the RAM, and the results are the same. Now that you mentioned it, why haven I asked Kingston themselves >_>. Time to see if they have a support chat/page/something :D