agp help here - Final Fantasy XI :: Dreams in Vana'diel :: Community

nano · 03-24-2003, 08:50 PM

hey i was thinkin bout gettin a new video card but idk if i got a agp or not my computer only says that it has 64 allocated memory or somethin like that is it possible any way to get a new ge force card on my computer? is the allocated the same thing as agp? PLZ HELP!

Flawless Cowboy · 03-25-2003, 01:16 AM

Alright.......I don't know how much you know about computers so I'm going to try and tell you the easiest (?) way to determine if you have an AGP slot.

Okay, the first step is taking the side plate off your computer case so you can see inside of your computer. After you do that just look inside and you should see........everything..........but you should notice that there are alot of "slots" to the bottom left hand side of your motherboard. They all should be white slots and some should have things in them (modem, soundcard, whatever you have). These are the PCI slots. IF you have an AGP slot it's going to be at the very top of this row of slots. It should be either black or brown (or some color that's different from all the other slots) and it should also be smaller and it should be positioned more to the right side of the motherboard than all the PCI slots. It will also have a locking clip or some other device that locks cards into place on it. If you have something that sounds like this then you have one. If not, then you don't. Simple as that.

If you have something that sounds like this but it's at the bottom of the motherboard than it's NOT an AGP slot. It will most likely be a CNR slot.

So, just remember:

1.At the TOP of the row of slots on the bottom left hand side of the motherboard.

2.Different color than other slots (99 times out of 100 anyway)

3.Slightly smaller than all the PCI slots below it.

4.Has a locking pin or other card locking device on it. (PCI slots will not have these unless your motherboard manufacturor went overboard.....)

5.Oh yeah, it will be positioned more to the right (middle) of the motherbaord than the PCI slots below it.

This is the best way I can think to tell you without knowing what kind of motherboard you have. You should be able to determine if you have one by following these steps though; unless you have MINI motherboard or some other special type which is unlikely.

IF you don't want to take the side panel off for any reason (maybe you have a warrenty or something) then just tell me the make and model of PC you have and I'll tell you if you have an AGP slot or not.

Osaka · 03-25-2003, 07:31 AM

Beautiful post. ^_^ I dont think I would have explained in such an easy to understand way though I do have a few details to add. The CNR slot is usually between the AGP and the PCI slots. AGP slots are alwasy the slot that is closest to the RAM and the CPU. Not all motherboards have a locking mechanism for the AGP video card and most of those dont work. LOL. ^_^ I hope these few details dont add to the confusion. If they do, then just ignore them.

~On to my reason for posting~
64 allocated memory? Im not quite sure what this means. It could either be the ammount of memory on your video card, or the ammount of memory in your computer. If its the ammount of memory in your computer then maybe you should look into getting more RAM.
~The Real reason for posting~
If you have never opened a computer before and in any way dont feel comfortable opening a computer, DON'T DO IT~!!~ Find someone that is more comfortable with the inside of a computer. Alot of people just say to open computers, including myself, as second nature since most of us include building computers as a hobby. I must stress that if in any way you dont feel comfortable with opening a computer, or you feel you may do damage to your computer by accident and have no way of fixing it, DON'T DO IT~!!~ ^_^ Please find someone who is more comfortable with computer hardware and can take responsibility for any damage that MAY occur when the computer is opened. Computers are very fragile in nature and have a habit of just "going bad" if something is scratched or zapped in just the wrong way. So, to sum it all up. PLEASE BE CAREFULL~
Ganbare~!!~

nano · 03-25-2003, 04:10 PM

i looked and it looks like do got one but i still got one more ? how do i know if its agp 2.0v whatever i need it run the ge force 4 ti 4200 i dont want to buy it and then not be able to run it cause i dont got the right agp slot

Flawless Cowboy · 03-25-2003, 11:16 PM

Post your PC specs and I can help you better. What is it, how fast is it, how much memory?............if it's even half way modern your not going to have any problems.

nano · 03-26-2003, 08:47 PM

ok 2.4 ghz
256 ddr ram
40 gigs
what else is there idk that should be it its brand new im gonna add some ram later

nano · 03-26-2003, 10:26 PM

basicly i got a compaq presario 6000

orts · 03-26-2003, 11:41 PM

what card did you have in there before?

anyways, i'm 99.9% sure you can buy a newer geforce card if you wanted. if you go here http://ap.compaq.com.sg/products/desktops/home/6000/ then click on product specs and scroll down, it says that there's an agp 4x slot.

hth (hope this helps)

Osaka · 03-27-2003, 06:08 AM

(Points at Comcrap.. errrr compaq) You call those product specs? yuck~!~ All that page is doing is trying to sell you the product. It gives no information about the motherboard. What's the speed of the FSB? Whats the highest type of RAM supported? What chipsets are on the North and South bridges? 3 PCI slots. 4xAGP.

This specs mension the GeForce3 Ti500 as the highest card to be able to upgrade to. I dont think bodes well for you Nano. Considering your running at AGP 4x, your not going to get the full potential of a GeForce4Ti.

JncoDragon · 03-27-2003, 07:21 AM

You should be able to upgrade the graphics card without a problem. By using the information supplied by Compaq, I deduced that you could upgrade to any AGP 4x card. The cards listed on the website are the upgrades that Compaq provide. According to specifications the board should have a slot and no integrated graphics, so upgrading should not be a problem.

AGP 2.0 encompasses up to 4x AGP, whereas AGP 3.0 has up to 8x AGP. It should not matter too much about the voltage, as the standard is 1.5v, or the board will have a universal connector that will support 3.3v and 1.5v. As for the AGP 3.0(8x) cards, it is debatable whether the motherboard will support it or not. AGP 3.0 is the first AGP specification that is not fully backwards compatible. There are, however, some exceptions, but that all depends on the board manufacturer. There are some boards that make their AGP 3.0 slot completely backwards compatible and some that are exclusively 3.0. In this case there is not enough information to safely say that you could use an AGP 8x card on this board.

Also, the Compaq seems to support both PC133 SDRAM and PC2100 DDR RAM. The chipset was used as a transition board to test the waters for DDR RAM for Intel. Be wary though as this board will only support two sticks of DDR despite the three slots.

I hope this helped you in making a decision on your future upgrade!

~JncoDragon

nano · 03-27-2003, 05:37 PM

thz for the help just one thing that compq website is messed up it says up to 2.0 ghz but i got 2.4 also on the memory it says up to 2 gigs but i can only get up to 1024 mb

im guessin if they screwed on that i wander if they screwed on the agp :sweat:

dbeeo · 03-27-2003, 06:29 PM

your motherboard could support agp 4x, unless the motherboard manufacture gave compaq the wrong info

JncoDragon · 03-27-2003, 09:42 PM

I believe that the specifications on the Compaq site are the maximum they would put into the machine. With most computer companies, the maximum CPU is never put into the machine and not many who buy pre-built computers would ever think of changing anything inside for fear of voiding their warranty.

As for your memory problem, you would have to buy a 1GB stick of DDR in order to achieve more than the 1GB you say is your limit. The motherboard in your machine only supports TWO DDR sticks, but it has THREE slots. It DOES support THREE PC133 sticks though. So, in order to achieve more than 1GB, you would have to put in either a 1GB stick of DDR with another stick of DDR, or three 512 sticks of PC133 RAM.

I hope this clarifies a few things!

~JncoDragon