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Nick
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 Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:19 pm Post subject: I need help with finding something. |
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I have an Intel Pentium III Processor and I am looking for an OpenGL compatible graphics card (NVIDIA FeForce FX series preferred). Can anyone help me?
Also, my display only goes to 24 bit color, how do I update my computer to go to 34 bit color? Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
God bless
--Nick |
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FDIV
Joined: 12 Mar 2006
Posts: 740
Location: Ohio, USA
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| Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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With a PIII computer you probably have an AGP 4x slot. This means you are looking for an AGP 4x/8x card (it will simply run slower on the agp 4x mode). As for the OpenGL you will need to know which one. there is 1.2,1.3,1.4,1.5,2.0.... Everything that will do 2.0 will do also handle the old standards. Basically then you are looking for a graphics card that is agp 4x/8x, OpenGL compliant, and as you stated Nvidia although I personally like ATI best. A search on newegg (the best pc supply site in the universe) reveals this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1305520548+1068909627+1069609639&Subcategory=48&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=
What you choose is entirely a matter of your preference in price but bear this in mind. Your PIII computer is not fast, and it likely has AGP 4x which is also not so fast. With this in mind I would not buy a card with a real quick chipset. You simply will not get the benifit running it on a slow computer. Another thing you might want to consider is that most aplications the want newer versions of OpenGL are resource hoggs and might not run on a PIII anyway. Don't belive what games say on the "minimum" specs. To play a game and have the frame rate high enough you don't have to be informed by mail you have been fragged you should have at least the recomended specs on your machine. Good luck and happy building. |
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FDIV
Joined: 12 Mar 2006
Posts: 740
Location: Ohio, USA
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| Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Oh, forgot to address the whole 24bit color problem. Don't sweat it, your eyes can't detect that many colors anyway. I have run my display on 16 bit color and I have run it on 32 bit color. No difference to me. I can't distinguish that many colors, neither can you. |
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Michael
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Posts: 142
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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| FDIV wrote: | | Oh, forgot to address the whole 24bit color problem. Don't sweat it, your eyes can't detect that many colors anyway. I have run my display on 16 bit color and I have run it on 32 bit color. No difference to me. I can't distinguish that many colors, neither can you. |
32-bit color isn't actually 32-bit color. It's the same as 24-bit color. The extra 8 bits are the alpha channel (transparency). |
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debs3759
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 9477
Location: Northampton, Divided Kingdom
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| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 6:18 am Post subject: |
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| Michael wrote: | | FDIV wrote: | | Oh, forgot to address the whole 24bit color problem. Don't sweat it, your eyes can't detect that many colors anyway. I have run my display on 16 bit color and I have run it on 32 bit color. No difference to me. I can't distinguish that many colors, neither can you. |
32-bit color isn't actually 32-bit color. It's the same as 24-bit color. The extra 8 bits are the alpha channel (transparency). |
To put that in terms the layman will understand, the extra 8-bits enable the data to transfer more smoothly (faster), as the processor (both CPU and GPU) need less instructions to transfer 16-bit and 32-bit words than to transfer a 24-bit word (which is not a standard data size, from the processors viewpoint).
Also, in todays 32-bit and 64-bit world, 32-bit colour is generally faster than 16-bit colour, even if most people can't generally percieve the difference. This is down to how the hardware works and how the graphics code has to be written, andis not purely down to how much data is included in each pixel (I'm sure someone can explain that better than me).
If your display drivers only give the option of 24-bit colour, then I think you need to update them. Most graphics drivers offer 32-bit colour (the graphics card should handle how the data is transferred to the screen).
_________________
My graphics card database can be found at http://www.gpuzoo.com.
I can resist anything except temptation.
Debs |
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Nick
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| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:56 am Post subject: Thanks |
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Thank you all for the help. Appreciate it.
Debs. Thank you, the reason why I ask is because there is a program I could really use but the system requirments are the following:
Pentium® III /AMD Athlon Processor running at 700 MHz
Windows 98® SE or above
128 MB RAM (If running Windows 98 or ME)
256 MB RAM min (If running Windows 2000 or XP)
50MB free hard drive space for installation (For installation of the free content bundle, we recommend that you have 350 MB of free harddrive space)
OpenGL compatible graphics card with at least 128 MB of onboard
Drivers supporting OpenGL 1.1 recommended
NVIDIA GeForce FX series cards highly recommended
ATI Radeon series cards recommended
32-bit graphics color depth
DirectX 8.1 or above
CD-ROM drive
Thing is, I only have 128 mb Ram and Windows XP. I need a graphics card compatible with OpenGL and everything else below that except DirectX 8.1 which I think I have already. I have plenty of harddrive space so that is not a problem.
Could I still run this program on what I have (even if the program runs slowly)? |
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debs3759
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 9477
Location: Northampton, Divided Kingdom
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| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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You can often run software with older hardware than they specificy, but it will run slower. The only real way to test it is to install and see:
a) Will the installation routine let you install?
b) If you are able to install, will it run well enough to be be good enough for your purpose?
With your system configuration I think you will find that software which says you need that much memory will be slow as you already have a lack of memory for an optimal XP system.
_________________
My graphics card database can be found at http://www.gpuzoo.com.
I can resist anything except temptation.
Debs |
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Nick
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| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 5:58 pm Post subject: Good news |
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In answer to your questions.
A): Yes.
B): I believe so. So far it's working. A little slow to be sure, but that's ok.
How do I update my system to 34 bit color and being faster via RAM? Thank you. |
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debs3759
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 9477
Location: Northampton, Divided Kingdom
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| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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It would be 32-bit colour, not 34-bit...
With the detail you have given of your system, the first thing I would do would be to put in more RAM. It's a cheap way to speed up most systems.
To get faster graphics and have more colours, you need a newer graphics card. If you ahve to choose between upgrading your RAM or graphics, upgrade the RAM first, as that is the biggest bottleneck, and you might find when you have more memory that the system can get information to your graphics card more efficiently.
_________________
My graphics card database can be found at http://www.gpuzoo.com.
I can resist anything except temptation.
Debs |
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Nick
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| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:52 pm Post subject: Ok |
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I'm no computer expert that's for sure. Hence the following question.
How do I get my RAM to be faster and where can I order that online? Thank you. Your being a great help.  |
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debs3759
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 9477
Location: Northampton, Divided Kingdom
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:41 am Post subject: |
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As I mentioned above, adding more RAM is the best thing you can do. Trying to tweak the memory you have will not improve the speed much as you don't have much to work with in the first place, adding it will make things loads faster.
There are two ways to buy memory online. One is from an online computer shop, who will most likely be expensive. The second is on eBay. Alternatively, I can sell you some for a reasonable price that will work in you system, but you will ahve to register on this site so that I can send you a PM. I have a box full of various memory (SIMMs and DIMMs, and your system will probably take DIMMs) and can test it before selling.
_________________
My graphics card database can be found at http://www.gpuzoo.com.
I can resist anything except temptation.
Debs |
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Nick
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:58 am Post subject: Heeey |
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Right, I meant that adding more RAM is what I meant. Sorry. 
Alright, I'll register today. Once again, I really appreciate all the help. |
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Nicolas22179
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 1
Location: Washington State
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:23 pm Post subject: Ok |
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I'm registered now. I want to help you as much as I can so here is more info on my computer.
933 MHz
128MB Memory
11MB allocated as video memory
60.0GB Hard Drive
10/100Mb PCI NIC
_________________
--Nick |
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debs3759
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 9477
Location: Northampton, Divided Kingdom
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:43 pm Post subject: |
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Looking at that spec, I would say that both yourmemory and your graphics ned upgrading. The memory is the most important as it slows your whole system down. I'll send you a PM in a few minutes about some memory...
It is also important that you upgrade your graphics card (I don't know a lot about different otions for graphics, but having onboard graphics which use system memory on a system that is already the minimum acceptable for your application means it will never perform as well as you like. A separate graphics card won't be expensive, but it will help improve yoru graphics speed and resolution.
_________________
My graphics card database can be found at http://www.gpuzoo.com.
I can resist anything except temptation.
Debs |
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Michael
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Posts: 142
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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Fry's Electronics just had a GeForce FX5200 128MB for $9.99 after $40 rebate. Today is the last day of the sale I think.
(Random information, sure, but if it's nearby you might want to buy it). |
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