What video card?

bertietheblue

I have now finished work so have been able to read through all the replies properly.

The conclusion seems to be that my son could play Sims 3 on my dated Dell if I could upgrade my PCI video card, but finding an upgrade that meets the specs might be tough: Knub mentioned the Zotac GeForce 5200 256MB TV-Out/DVI PCI card, but that doesn't meet the GeForce 5900 requirement; Psychofly mentions the Nvidia 8400 but Knub thinks that's PCIe and I can't find it as a PCI card either.

Any ideas? I mean, short of a suitable PCI card upgrade, the only alternative is to buy a new desktop, which I'm reluctant to do just so my 8 year-old son can play Sims 3.

On the other hand, £40 for a video card that may or may not work, £20-30 for extra RAM and £100 plus for the flat screen monitor I keep meaning to buy - maybe I might as well get a new desktop (plus someone said I could maybe get £50-70 flogging this Dell Dimension 2400 - really, on ebay?)?

But if I do decide to buy a new desktop, has anyone got any bargain recommendations: something that will cope with my son's gaming requirements for the next couple of years and comes with a flat-screen monitor.

Cheers all!

ukmike

Just had same problem,daughter bought sim3,wouldn't run-*your video card doesn't support shade 2.0*.Simply downloaded this program for free-*Swift Shader*,now works fine.There's another free fix if you want to remove the Swift Shader logo.

AHAR

Hi,
We've got one of those Dell Dimension 2400s at work. you can see where the AGP slot should be on the motherboard but Dell obviously saved a few pennies by not bothering to include it.

Here's a PCI Nvidia 8400 at DABS

and a more powerful 9400 at Novatech

bertietheblue

ukmike wrote: »

Just had same problem,daughter bought sim3,wouldn't run-*your video card doesn't support shade 2.0*.Simply downloaded this program for free-*Swift Shader*,now works fine.There's another free fix if you want to remove the Swift Shader logo.

Mike

The link for the free Shift Shader download doesn't show - you couldn't post it or PM me it could you?

Cheers

bertietheblue

Cheers for the links, Ahar. Might get there yet on this old computer. First want to see what happens when I download this Shift Shader program MIke's mentioning.

ukmike

Mike

The link for the free Shift Shader download doesn't show

What link?I didn't put one in!Just Google it.

Percy1983

My other arguement for not going the upgrade route is you pay a premium for old tech, old ram can cost 2-3 times more than newer DD2 of the same size, PCI graphics are more expensive (you could get a better model on PCI-E for less)

As for sales:
Recent sales on ebay

As a replacement:
Refurb at PC world

Then just add a budget ATI graphics card £30-£100 depending what you want.

That PC will be a big improvement on your current system in many tasks and you will be looking at less than £200 if you sell your current one (all being well).

As a general rule I never go near PC world, but they do have good prices on refurbs.

It does come down to what you want to spend, but hopefully a few people will agree that this plan does make a lot of sense.

jackthenipper

Have you tried updating the bios?

bertietheblue

jackthenipper wrote: »

Have you tried updating the bios?

Bios? What would that be? And how do I update it?

Psychofly

Steer clear of updating the BIOS. It's not a job for a novice. Try the free fixes, if not then buy one of the suggested £40 cards. If a BIOS upgrade goes wrong you start breaking hardware.