as long as your motherboard supports it

STOP IT. You're killing me! I'll help but I want to see this go a little further first. MEAT, is your card seperate from your motherboard or is it integrated (built in)?

I've actually had a 9800 Pro since that time a few months back when I had problems and Dell was so slow to honour the warranty. It runs either 4X or 8X AGP the same as the 9700 did.

I was unaware that a BIOS update might enable me to ramp up my mobo to 8X. I had a quick search around for such a thing, but didn't find one. Not yet, anyway. If I could do that, it would unleash some power in the 9800 that I am not presently benefitting from, I suppose. That would be sweet enough for now.

Cool beans, Nameless. Dell is not notorius for BIOS revisions, so if you do not find one on the site then you may be out of luck.
Be careful with BIOS versions out there for the 850 chipset. While Dell used it, they make their own mobos, so they may or may not work.

MEAT said:


Herm asked:


I was not aware that the TNT chip was used as an "on board" video option.
Another question, MEAT. If it is a card, then is it an AGP or a PCi card?

The reason I ask is that if it is an AGP card, then your upgrade options are much better than with PCi.

Dude, we are gonna have you putting your next computer together before you know it. You have learned a bunch since you joined this motley crew

OK MEAT, your monitor will plug into the PC and when you pull that case off you'll see that the connection is either on a daughter-type board that plugs into the motherboard or it will just plug straight into the mother board. It is better if it plugs into it's own daughter type board. That would be a video card! If it plugs straight into the motherboard, then it is integrated but don't fret. Keep reading.

Then the question will be this: If it plugs into an actual video card, what color is the connection that the video card plugs into when it plugs into the motherboard. If it is white, that is PCI and that may be a bummer. If it is brown, that is a AGP slot which is better but still not best.

Last option will be one of two also: If it plugs into a white slot, is there a empty brown slot available? Same question if your monitor plugs directly into the motherboard (integrated).

All that said, if it is integrated, you can still upgrade anyway so don't worry. The question here is do you have an AGP slot?

Scify finally found Driver CD for her comupter

We're looking at a AGP 4x Herm.

Then any 8X card will probably boost your performance quite nicely. No need to spend wads of cash though. Maybe a G-force 3 or higher or an ATi 9 series will do the trick.

Not true I hate to say. Sorry Jarg. First of all the chances are pretty great that his motherboard only supports AGP 4X and even if it supports 8X and he gets an 8X card, the performance improvement would be based on the card technology and memory amount more than anything and not the AGP being 8X as I have read that the increase from 4X to 8X is so minor in fact that it is barely measurable.

That is what I read somewhere a long time ago anyways. I have had an Nvidia TNT2 M64 video card before. It was called the Maxigamer Cougar. At first I thought it ruled but later found out that it was a cut back TNT2 because the pipes only allow 64 bits to cross at a time rather than the TNT2 true standard of 128. That was why they named it with the M64 included. It didn't mean 64mb of memory onboard. That card actually only has 32mb of sdram on board. They are actually cut in half. The card has the orinal TNT2 power but the pipes don't have the bandwidth so the card itself was its own bottleneck.

By today's standards, it won't take much at all to have a far superior video card in MEAT's computer. For instance, he could get an Nvidia 5700 something rather and be better off than me with my G-Force4 ti4200 4X AGP 128mb DDR ram and he could do it now for less than $80 where as my card cost me $180 back in the day. That is true provided the amount of ram onboard is equal or greater to mine being 128mb. I still would not by that card though as I think it sucks. Buy better.

I made my assumption from my experience. I had my 9700 Pro in my old P.O.S. Dell. The bus was 4X in it, but the performance upgrade was very good. The original card was a Nvidia GeForce 2 Ultra. Still, I would agree with Herm here for other reasons. No offense meant MEAT, but the lifespan of your current computer is dwindling. Chances are that it will one day bite the dust, sooner as opposed to later. I say this ESPECIALLY if you are running your server on the same machine. More uptime and more disk movement = less lifetime. (the uptime is arguable, but Herm can attest to the disk movement problems).

MEAT, do you plan on getting any other, newer games? Or are you happy with UT and whatever else ya got. If the former, I would save up and purchase a new rig with some bells and whistles. If the latter, then upgrade your existing rig cheaply and have fun.
Just my $0.02

Listen to Jarg and Herm,they know they talking about.

And I need the help Scify...lol
As of now I'm just looking to upgade a little...but I'll probably purchase a second PC for the wife come Xmas Jarg.
And I'll be asking for advice on that too.

Dr. Hermskii has been helping me IMMENSELY...so hopefully I'll be
looking at video cards soon.

MEAT said:

For the wife? That is easy.
If you have a wireless router, get a laptop. Nothing fancy if it will be used for mostly internet and office type stuff.
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?seg=HHO&coid=-30599
I have never had a Toshiba, but I have heard nothing but great things from those that do have them.