Video Card Help Needed for Xmas Gift!

[paintedhorizon]

I bought a game for my son only to find out I'm missing one requirement.

A video card.  This is what the guy said.

The main technical obstacle here is the Intel Graphics Controller currently in use on your computer.  This is not a video card.  This is a graphics controller.   
<snip>
Grahic card: NVIDIA GeForce 2 – ATI 7500 or better with at least 32 MB of Video RAM

Where can I find one of these?  And hopefully by tomorrow!  And are they easy to install?  I've installed a modem in my computer before, is it that easy?

[computeruler]

if you need one by tommorow your olny chance is walmart, bestbuy or frys we need to know what type of slot your computer uses what type is it and whats the game

[Raptor]

You really do not want to buy a Geforce 2. You're probably better off using the onboard solution.  (IE: Not listen to the crackhead who told you that the onboard solution is not a videocard.. Who told you that?)

How old is the computer, what game is this and how much are you willing to spend on a videocard?

[paintedhorizon]

The game is Action Pack, 3 games in 1.  Has The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille games in it.

The computer is an Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.53GHz, 2.52 GHz, 256 MB of RAM.  It has Windows XP on it.  Not sure how old it is, but not very.

I can only spend like $30 TOPS.

I wouldn't even know what to look for at Best Buy!

I tried looking for the receipt to take the game back, but go figure, can't find the stupid thing!  Thank goodness I decided to make sure it worked before wrapping it!  But he asked Santa for it, so I really want him to have it!

Thank you all!

[brett74]

you can get a decent video card at best buy or if there's a microcenter computer store near where you live you can get a decent one for about 30 to 40 dollars

[paintedhorizon]

How do I know what video card to get?   

[BC_Programmer]

according to the game requirements- any Nvidia or ATI video card on the shelves Today will almost certainly meet them.

[Raptor]

Judging from the screenshots I've seen of these games, they're not very 'heavy' on the system so a low end card would suffice. Any idea what is currently installed? If you don't know, go to Start -> Run -> Dxdiag

That computer might need another 256MB of RAM, though. 256MB is probably too little if you also intend on gaming with it.

[paintedhorizon]

It doesn't have a video card at all, it has a graphics controller???  I'm at work so can't get the actual info, but that's what the guy at thq said.

I don't intend to do a lot of gaming, this is just a cars game for my 4 year old son.

I intend on taking the game in with me and showing them what it says I need, but don't want to get screwed. LOL

How hard is it to put one of those video cards in?


Here's where I'm looking at going, can you help me chose one?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=abcat0507001&type=category

Thank you all for your help so very much!

[Raptor]

It doesn't have a video card at all, it has a graphics controller???  I'm at work so can't get the actual info, but that's what the guy at thq said.

Apart from your onboard solution possibly being rather outdated, it will do the exact same as any expansion videocard. That guy at THQ was probably getting high on some kind of home brewn experiment, best not listen to people like that. I hope you're teaching your kids to say no to drugs or they'll end up giving advise just like that.

If you want to play games on your machine, you're probably going to have to add more memory. 256 is very little, even when you just run Windows XP. However, if you're not going to take that advise, don't look surprised if your kid tells you the computer is too slow to run the games regardless of that new videocard or not.

As for the videocard; if you know the differences between 2x, 4x and 8x AGP cards or PCI-E/PCI, how to handle electrostatic discharge and install the latest drivers, then installing one is a piece of cake.

My guess is that you don't so lets get some more information;

Can you tell me the name of your mainboard? That way I can look up the type of your card you will have to install.

[soybean]

paintedhorizon, I wish you had more time left to buy this before Christmas.  Best Buy does not have much to offer; in fact, I see nothing in the price range you mentioned.  If you're in the U.S., online seller newegg.com has a much better selection.  See here; this is their AGP cards.  As Raptor said, you need to know what type of slot you have; it might not be AGP.

Here's one reference on installing a video card: http://www.directron.com/howtovideo.html

[paintedhorizon]

Soy, do you know of anybody retail wise I could go to then?

How would I find out what slot I have?  the dxdiag thing?

[Raptor]

Soy, do you know of anybody retail wise I could go to then?

How would I find out what slot I have?  the dxdiag thing?

Give me the name of the motherboard of the computer in question. Download SIW or check the motherboard manual.

[paintedhorizon]

Here's my dxdiag text

Machine name: CHERI-64KAHURO0
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
System Model: Dimension 2400               
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A05
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.53GHz
Memory: 254MB RAM
Page File: 327MB used, 297MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

[Raptor]

It's a dell.

O.K, give me the service tag. Way easier.