So you only have PCI slots and want to game?

[Tha General]

I went for the optimal setting determined by the game (1024x768).

Man, I would be in heaven if I could get 18-35 FPS!!!!

What kind of setting did you use?

You have a p4, and a 4350 right?
try using the drivers that shipped with the disc, also for COD4, there is a file in the miles folder called: mssmp3.asi delete it and run the game at 1280x1024 all medium settings with no AA and see how it runs.

Btw, can you list the games you are having trouble with ?

 

[jojodancer]

P4 with 9400GT 1Gb now! I have returned the H4350.

The 9400GT is running with the shipped driver.

So what is the twist with the 9400GT?

I only have COD2 and this is the only one Other games are too old / not interested to play again.

 

[Tha General]

is there a miles folder, if so, delete the mssmp3.asi file.
In cod4 there is one, but i never played cod2, so idon't know.

 

[jojodancer]

.....1280x1024 all medium settings with no AA and see how it runs.

yeah, I've found the folder and the file.

What is AA anyway?

 

[jives11]

The HD4350 was ok. Average 10+ FPS on Call of Duty 2 but was totally dead on blu-ray movies and even not that great on DVD movies. Again, for some reasons, this card did not work well with the PowerDVD.

Anyway, I got a EVGA 9400GT 1Gb PCI at Frys on the weekend and now it plays blu-ray really well except Batman The Dark Knight (too much juice needed???). Boyz, all these movies look super nice via the ACER 24" 1080P LCD. However, gaming goes back to 3 FPS (WTF!!!!!)! As you said, there must be a bottleneck somewhere or I just need more time to twist the card.

On the other side, there are so many good deals coming out this holiday sale, I think I am going to get a decent mobo / Quad Core and forget this PCI video card BS.

Hmmm, interesting results. I have been through a similar odyssey with a dell dimension 2350. Not as high spec as the 2400, but the Sparkle 8500 PCI card approx doubled the 3dmark03 score I was previously getting with a 6200-based card, now achieving scores of 5700 with no o/c

I assume you installed the latest drivers. Also sometime I noticed nVidia doesn't clean up too well, so on the link above I describe a method of cleaning out the old driver, which I use.

Perhaps also worth looking at IRQ's (again described in the blog). if the PCI card shares an IRQ with the SATA controller that might cause a problem. I routinely disable or turn off, everything I dont need in the BIOS (parallel printer, serial ports, floppy etc), that way the PnP has a bit more elbow room when dealing out the IRQ's

 

[teklord]

PCI is not enough juice to power a 24" 1080P monitor effectively and I doubt it would run Blu-Ray so hot. Should run DVD's just fine though, I ran DVD's off my onboard graphics alright. Might consider using 1280x1024 resolution max if you are going to use a PCI graphics card.

I average above 30 FPS in CoD2 and sometimes it gets above 60 FPS when nothing is going on. I'd be lucky to get 30 FPS in any situation in that game if I was still using PCI.

 

[jojodancer]

jives11, same BS with no luck after I disabled the SATA controller nor used the driver cleaner method.

teklord, I dare to use 1080 for game mode! Max that I could use is 1024. However, this card can bump up the Blu-ray movies very nicely and I am very surprised (even though the P4 chip is below the min requirement for Blu-ray).

I think the problem goes to the DELL mobo.......that I will replace completely.......very soon :0

 

[teklord]

+1 to the mobo swap, try to get the same make and model but with a graphics card slot like AGP or PCI-e. That's what I did and I avoided proprietary lockout by doing so and can use all the upgrades I bought for my old mobo in the process.

PCI cards are for people that don't know how or can't do a mobo swap because they aren't worth the investment IMO for diminishing returns.

 

[jojodancer]

I am planning to get a new mobo + CPU + RAM. How about an Intel Quad Core or AMD Quad huh? They are getting very cheap these days....plus a nice Micro-ATX board with DDR3 RAM!

So the only Dell stuff that left on my system will be the 2400 case only

Currently, Frys is selling a AMD Phenom II X4 925 + MSI 785GTM-E45 for $150!

 

[jojodancer]

So I think this is the compatibility problem between the card and the Dell mobo. I have used or am currently using:

1st
Radeon X1550 256MB PCI
- acceptable in gaming. Average 10 FPS
- average in DVD playing (with PowerDVD)

2nd
Sparkle 9500GT 512MB PCI
- extremely depress in gaming. 1 - 2 FPS
- average in DVD playing (with PowerDVD)

Added with Blu-ray 8X writer -

3rd
HIS Radeon HD4350 512MB PCI
- acceptable in gaming. Average 10 FPS.
- extremely depress in DVD (choke up) (with PowerDVD)
- super slow loading + totally dead in Blu-ray and HD video (slide show) (with PowerDVD)

currently with:

EVGA 9400GT 1GB PCI
- extremely depress in gaming. 1-2 FPS
- fast loading + very smooth in Blu-ray and HD movies (only very minor choke-up in Batman The Dark Knight) (with PowerDVD)
- very smooth in DVD (with PowerDVD)

I can only blame this to the Dell mobo......

 

[teklord]

Dunno what the deal is with PCI cards not being compatible, Dell's give people fits for all kinds of reasons. I'll never buy one and his computers just plain suck IMO these days.

That mobo and CPU deal looks sweet, good luck with that!

 

[jojodancer]

Its a sweet deal but I am going to wait for another better deal

Dell is ok. Anyway, my 2400 was free anyway It had been sitting at the store room and before we picked it up.

 

[Tha General]

I would just buy a prebuilt and be done with it, like i do. LOL but if you have time to build, just go with the AMD Phenom II X4 925, and buy a 9800GT, or 4670.

 

[jojodancer]

or do crossfire

 

[godson]

Got there answer.
Try this one

http://www.computersources.biz/C2S_Products/C2S_ProdDetailsL1.ASP?ref=M4192309

I don't think they ship in the U.S. either..

 

[Breech]

EVGA 9400GT 1GB PCI
- extremely depress in gaming. 1-2 FPS
- fast loading + very smooth in Blu-ray and HD movies (only very minor choke-up in Batman The Dark Knight) (with PowerDVD)
- very smooth in DVD (with PowerDVD)

I can only blame this to the Dell mobo......

Same card I put in my Dell and I experienced similar results. That card just couldn't game despite increased benchmarks of my prior 5200 FX. The 5200 gamed much better. I just don't see PCI as a viable option for gaming, the bandwidth is just too small. You can throw better and better cards in that slot all day but in the end it just doesn't seem to make much difference. A move to PCI-E 2.0 x16 would be advisable. With that slot you can take advantage of everything from low end cards all the way up to the most powerful GPU's available today.

 

[jojodancer]

Dell sucks.

Anyway, I am going to get this combo -

Intel Core i5
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3

It is on sale now at Frys for $249.99!

 

[Tha General]

Dell sucks.

Anyway, I am going to get this combo -

Intel Core i5
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3

It is on sale now at Frys for $249.99!

I would grab that and get a 4670 HIS ICE or a 9800gt Green edition.

 

[LinkedKube]

I would grab that and get a 4670 HIS ICE or a 9800gt Green edition.

Make sure you tell people that the green edition doesnt come with a power connector when you recommend it. Its a very noticeable performance difference.

 

[Yukikaze]

I would grab that and get a 4670 HIS ICE or a 9800gt Green edition.

Why cripple an i5 with a weakling card like the HD4670 ?

Get a HD5770 and OC the heck out of it.

 

[godson]

.
you can cut out the back end of your PCI-e x1 slot and put a PCI-ex16 1.1 or 2.0 card in that slot and it will work at x1 speeds.

I did just that with my dell e310's pcie x1 slot... i used a soldering iron it took a while but i finally did it... i installed a Sapphire 4650 on it... its playing all my games pretty decently so far...

 

[jojodancer]

HD5770 is nice...but a bit pricy.

I am getting dried for this new built!

 

[jojodancer]

Get a HD5770 and OC the heck out of it.

You are bad!

I just ordered a HD5770 ($156.95 delivered).

Btw, when you guys replaced the mobos/cpu, would it boot the existing drive, or have to reinstall Window?

 

[Tha General]

This is your first time using PCIE?
If so, be prepared to be blown away in performance and be prepared to play any game at amazing performance, no more stuttering, pausing, awww the joy of pcie lol.

Btw, um dont oc your card, leave everything at stock man. stock is fine, trust me. Also you pay over 100 dollars for a card, you would want to keep it for a long time

 

[jojodancer]

ok, my Dell 2400 now is using the onboard card and surprisingly it plays DVD and HD movies downloaded from YouTube very well. Remember, downloaded YouTube HD movies looked like god damn slow motion or slide show with all these fancy $100 PCI cards! Anyway, goodbye stock made computers.......and PCI video cards forever

Well, after cash backs and rebates, these are what I have settled and will start to build my first comp after Christmas

- Cooler Master Elite 335 case
- Intel i7 860 with stock fan
- Gigabyte ga-p55A-ud4p mobo
- Kingston 2x2GB DDR3 2000MHz CL9 HyperX ram
- XFX Radeon 5770
- Corsair 750HX power supply
- WD Black 1TB 7200 36MB
- LG 8X blu-ray rewritter
- LG 22x DVD+R rewritter
- floppy
- existing XP Pro SP3

what I need next:

Window 7 Ultimate 64bits...to run more than 4GB ram!

sage to be continued....