Poor man video

[alanreed]

My sister, knowing my PC died, bought me a Compag. Celeron 2.6 GHz, 80 GB Hd, etc. It came with "Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics with up to 64MB shared video memory."

I'm 70 years old and I'm trying to live on $700/month! I can't afford a Radeon 9800.

My question: I have an old Radeon 7500 from my previous PC. Would it be an improvement over the included graphics?

Thanks,

Alan

[Bigshot]

You probably don't have an AGP slot on the motherboard so you'd be limited to a PCI video card. Not sure you'd want that older card. That's the first thing to check. The new Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics provide pretty good computer graphics. Especially with the more powerful processors available now. But, not sure how well it would do with FS9 though?? A lot would depend on how much system ram you system has. The thing to do is to load up FS9 and give it a try with the integrated grapics.

I just ordered this system for my son for xmas. He's currently using a Pentium I 166mhz with 16mb system ram. I think he'll like the new one as he's into strategy games and not graphic intensive 3d gaming:

Pentium® 4 Processor at 2.53GHz with 533MHz front side bus
Floppy Drive and Additional Storage Devices 3.5 in Floppy Drive
Mouse Dell™ Optical USB Mouse
Sound Card Integrated Audio
Security Software Dell Security Center by McAfee, 90 Day introductory offer
Dell Media Experience™ Dell Media Experience™
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 1 Year Limited Warranty plus 1 Year On-site Service
Bundled Software Microsoft Worksuite® including Money®
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Memory SPECIAL OFFER! 512MB at 333Mhz DDR SDRAM for the price of 256MB
Monitor No monitor
Keyboard Dell™ Quietkey® Keyboard
Digital Music Dell Jukebox powered by MUSICMATCH
Speakers No Speaker Option
Hard Drive FREE UPGRADE! 80GB Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM Hard Drive
Installation Services No Installation
Network Interface Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
CD or DVD Drive Single Drive: 48x CD-RW Drive
Digital Photography Dell Picture Studio, Paint Shop Pro Trial, Photo Album Starter Edition
Modem 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
Mail-In Rebate Offer $100 MAIL-IN REBATE! (Price above is shown before rebate)
Video Card Integrated Intel® 3D Extreme Graphics

Sub-Total $624.00
Discount -$50.00
Shipping $0.00
Estimated Tax $34.42
Total Price $608.42 (That's $508.42 total after rebate "insane" Only good for this weekend for those of you with sons and daughters on the xmas list)

[BillKing20]

Al, I'm pretty sure the Radeon 7500 came in both PCI and AGP versions. It is, I think, about the best PCI vid card available anymore.

Definately worth trying it in place of the onboard video, I bet the 7500 is much better.

Post which slot your new PC has, PCI or AGP, and maybe some kind soul will mail you their old card in the spirit of Christmas.

Merry Xmas !

[aafuss]

I also have Intel Extreme Graphics (82845G)-and it can run FS2004 in software acceleration mode.

[rispon30]

Looking at Compaq's website, the closest system representing Al's is the s5100nx model. It comes with 3 PCI slots (2 are free) and no AGP slot.

[Finals]

If you dont have a AGP slot, get yourself a GeForce FX 5200 PCI version, £60-90. It is better than the Radeon 7000 by miles.