So you only have PCI slots and want to game?

Your only "slots" are for pc card(s). Your laptop's graphics are not upgradeable. This is the case with 99% of laptops, you're locked into what you buy originally with the machine.

If you can wait awhile for its release and have the cash to afford it, the MSI Luxium will allow you to use a desktop graphics card for your lappie.

Yeah the luxium could be a solution for some, except his laptop doesn't have the expresscard slot that the luxium requires. Asus is also making (supposedly anyway) their "XG Station," which does the same thing. The bad thing about both products is that they run the graphics card in pci-e x1 mode, which degrades performance quite a bit, and also are going to be pricey.

They need to get with the program and put external pci-express connectors on all the laptops so they can be upgraded.

Ordered a HIS on Friday.

frus said:

i need some help here
we already know something about the diamond x1550 pci but what about the his?
specs:

Maximum Resolution
2560 x 1600 (Digital)
GPU/VPU
Radeon X1550
RAMDAC
400 MHz
Fill Rate per Second
2.2 billion pixels
Pixel Pipelines
4
Memory Type
GDDR2
Video Memory
256MB
Core Clock
550 MHz
Memory Clock
800 MHz
Memory Bandwidth
6.4GB/sec.
Memory Bus
64-bit

Will this beat the diamond x1550
im asking this because im about to buy a pci card and i cant decide whic one, i dont care about the money, i just want the best
thanks for the help

Click to expand...

I just ordered a HIS X1550 from ZipZoomFly on Friday. I should receive it any day now. I'll report on it asap.

My HIS is arriving tomorrow, however I've been reading that I need a better power supply. The recommended Wattage for my PSU should be 450w or greater, according to Tiger Direct.

I am currently running a Dell Dimension 2400 with the following specs:

PSU: 250 Watts
Processor: Intel Celeron 2.4 GHz (Northwood) processor, 400Mhz FSB
Chipset: Intel 845GV chipset
Videocard: Integrated Intel Extreme graphics
Sound: Integrated Soundmax Sound
Memory: 640MB PC-2700 DDR memory (two modules)
Networking: Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 40GB ATA/100 7200RPM hard drive
CDROM: Hitachi 48X CD-ROM drive
Monitor: 17" Dell brand E773c monitor (max 1600x1200 @ 75Hz, .24 Dot pitch)
Software Setup: Windows XP Home Edition

I'm obviously going to have to upgrade my PSU, right? I've also read that most Dells do not come with Standard PSU's, and that I have to get a new PSU from Dell. Is this true? I've heard some people have had success with regular ATX PSU's. Can anyone who has had success upgrading their Dell PSU provide some light?

It may work on the dell psu. There's no way ANY pci card could need a 450w power supply. Pci cards draw so little power(like <25W) that I think that any average system with a 250-300w power supply would be able to run it.
According to the PSU Calc, you would need about 215W with the new card.

Also, you say you have 1 stick of 640mb, that's not likely. To get 640mb you'd need 512+128.

Let us know how it runs, don't expect great scores with a celeron though.

Aye, typo, 2 modules.

Okay, good. That saved me the headache of having to buy a new PSU. Tiger states that the recommended wattage should be 450w, I too tried the calculator and don't see why I would need so much power.

The only difference between this card and the X1300 is really just the memory clock, and I've heard plenty of people have been able to install it with just the standard Dell PSU.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2918660&CatId=1603

Ugh, just what I need.

I have installed the card and the drivers for it. However, I cannot change my screen resolution and color quality. It is stuck on 4 bit colors, and 640 by 480 resolution. I've tried both the drivers on the CD which came with the Video card, and the most up to date drivers found on this website. Neither work.

I've already disabled my onboard video card in my device manager. Additionally, in the Bios I switched it from Onboard to Auto.

In my device manager, the primary adapter's display properties states: This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)

If you want to use this device, you will need to disable one of the other devices on this system.

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device." I attempted to troubleshoot it, but found no solution.


I therefore attempted to use the Secondary display adapter which display properties stated, "This device is working properly." However, I still can't change my screen resolution or color quality.

Additionally, I cannot seem to open the Catalyst Control center.

I would greatly appreciate some help, because I'm stumped.

Thank you,
Steve

Can you test the card in another computer to see if the card is faulty?

Hi Steve,

I wonder if the problem is with IRQ's (or lack of them ). You don't mention the model of PC or Card, but I certainly found I got different iRQ settings with different PCI slots. I'd try changing the slot and see if things improved. You can see the IRQ's from Control Panel -> Device Manager -> sort by tpe then select IRQ. Do you have any PCI cards you don't need like a modem. Might be worth removing, even temporarily.

You're getting something from the card as your monitor is plugged into the PCI card (yes ?) but it sounds like the generic windows VGA driver. With nVidia I install the card, reboot, 'Cancel ' out of windows "Add new hardware" and mannually run the nVidia driver program

OKAY! I finally got everything working. One problem though, the card is supposed to have an 800mhz memory clock.

However, in the Catalyst Control Center, the card only reads 396mhz.

Here's a screen shot: http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4396/hisclockspeedzh5.png
Shot

Here's the card's specs:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2918660&CatId=1603

What the heck is going on?!

Okay, so even though the Memory Clock Speed is all f'd up, I decided to run 3D Mark 05 and check out my current score.

I got a 1488.

Here's a Screen shot:
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9286/his3dmark05xg3.png

How do I fix this damn card though? 404mhz is quite a lot, and would change my score dramatically.

I think your memory is correct. It's probably reporting the correct frequency and the memory is "effectively" 800mhz because it's ddr memory. For example my ddr400 ram actually runs at 200mhz, but is effectively 400mhz due to ddr.

Awws, you sure? I just sent in a RMA request :/

yep´he is right
and ur benchmark show that the best pci graphic card right now is the his x1550 because the diamond x1550 scored just 1257 on 3dmark 2005

Tell me more...

How did you get everything working? Was it the IRQs? I ask, because I will be doing somethng similar with an Optiplex GX1. I already have a Sapphire 9200SE and an Audigy 2 ZS Gamer installed (as well as a USB2 card), and I am starting to wonder if I do not have IRQ issues... performance is not always what I think it should be... doesn't feel like the cards are taking on their loads as efficiently as they might be.

If anybody knows anything about it... I have a PIII 800 installed, Windows 98SE, 640MB RAM, this is the mini-tower case. The USB2 card is in slot 1, the sound card in slot 2, the video card in slot 5. I have am ISA Modem in the bottem slot. Internet is through the onboard ethernet.

Can I re-assign IRQs? I seem to have one or two vacant...

The onboard video is disabled, but still shows up on the resouces and IRQ.

Looks like the USB2 card and the sound card share an IRQ, and the video card and the ethernet are also sharing an IRQ (along with the defunct onboard video).

[File "GX1 MT 800+.nfo"]

Microsoft Windows 98 4.10.2222 A
Upgrade using Full OEM CD /SrcDir=D:\WIN98 /IQ /U:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
IE 5 6.0.2800.1106
Uptime: 1:14:04:12
Normal mode
On "X4Q6I8" as ""

GenuineIntel x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 3
640MB RAM
12% system resources free
Custom swap file on drive C (480MB free)
Available space on drive C: 479MB of 9631MB (FAT32)
Available space on drive E: 18673MB of 76297MB (FAT32)


[Hardware Resources]

[IRQs]

0 System timer
1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
2 Programmable interrupt controller
3 Communications Port (COM2)
4 Communications Port (COM1)
5 3Com Windows Modem TI
6 Standard Floppy Disk Controller
7 ECP Printer Port (LPT1)
8 System CMOS/real time clock
10 Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WDM)
10 NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller
10 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
11 PCI OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
11 3Com Fast EtherLink XL 10/100Mb TX Ethernet NIC (3C905B-TX)
11 RADEON 9200 SERIES
11 ATI 3D Rage Pro (atir3)
11 NEC USB Open Host Controller
11 NEC USB Open Host Controller
11 Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
11 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
11 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
11 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
12 Logitech-compatible Mouse (PS/2)
13 Numeric data processor
14 Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
14 Intel 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
15 Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
15 Intel 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
9 (free)


[Memory]

x00000000 - x0009FFFF System board extension for PnP BIOS
x000A0000 - x000AFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
x000B0000 - x000BFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
x000C0000 - x000CCFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
x000D0000 - x000D7FFF 3Com Fast EtherLink XL 10/100Mb TX Ethernet NIC (3C905B-TX)
x000F0000 - x000FFFFF System board extension for PnP BIOS
x00100000 - x27FFFFFF System board extension for PnP BIOS
xD8000000 - xEFFFFFFF DEC 21152 PCI to PCI bridge
xE0000000 - xE7FFFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES - Secondary
xE8000000 - xEFFFFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
xF0000000 - xF3FFFFFF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to PCI bridge (with GART support)
xF5000000 - xF5FFFFFF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP controller
xFA000000 - xFA01FFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
xFA000000 - xFBFFFFFF DEC 21152 PCI to PCI bridge
xFAFE0000 - xFAFEFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES - Secondary
xFAFF0000 - xFAFFFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
xFC000000 - xFCFFFFFF ATI 3D Rage Pro (atir3)
xFC000000 - xFEFFFFFF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP controller
xFD000000 - xFD01FFFF ATI 3D Rage Pro (atir3)
xFD020000 - xFD020FFF ATI 3D Rage Pro (atir3)
xFF000000 - xFF003FFF PCI OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
xFF004000 - xFF004FFF NEC USB Open Host Controller
xFF005000 - xFF005FFF NEC USB Open Host Controller
xFF006000 - xFF00607F 3Com Fast EtherLink XL 10/100Mb TX Ethernet NIC (3C905B-TX)
xFF006400 - xFF0064FF NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller
xFF006800 - xFF006FFF PCI OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
xFFE00000 - xFFFFFFFF System board extension for PnP BIOS

SteveAwad said:

OKAY! I finally got everything working. One problem though, the card is supposed to have an 800mhz memory clock.

However, in the Catalyst Control Center, the card only reads 396mhz.

Here's a screen shot: http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4396/hisclockspeedzh5.png
Shot

Here's the card's specs:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2918660&CatId=1603

What the heck is going on?!

Click to expand...

Tell me more...

How did you get everything working? Was it the IRQs? I ask, because I will be doing somethng similar with an Optiplex GX1. I already have a Sapphire 9200SE and an Audigy 2 ZS Gamer installed (as well as a USB2 card), and I am starting to wonder if I do not have IRQ issues... performance is not always what I think it should be... doesn't feel like the cards are taking on their loads as efficiently as they might be.

If anybody knows anything about it... I have a PIII 800 installed, Windows 98SE, 640MB RAM, this is the mini-tower case. The USB2 card is in slot 1, the sound card in slot 2, the video card in slot 5. I have am ISA Modem in the bottem slot. Internet is through the onboard ethernet.

Can I re-assign IRQs? I seem to have one or two vacant...

The onboard video is disabled, but still shows up on the resouces and IRQ.

Looks like the USB2 card and the sound card share an IRQ, and the video card and the ethernet are also sharing an IRQ (along with the defunct onboard video).

[File "GX1 MT 800+.nfo"]

Microsoft Windows 98 4.10.2222 A
Upgrade using Full OEM CD /SrcDir=D:\WIN98 /IQ /U:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
IE 5 6.0.2800.1106
Uptime: 1:14:04:12
Normal mode
On "X4Q6I8" as ""

GenuineIntel x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 3
640MB RAM
12% system resources free
Custom swap file on drive C (480MB free)
Available space on drive C: 479MB of 9631MB (FAT32)
Available space on drive E: 18673MB of 76297MB (FAT32)


[Hardware Resources]

[IRQs]

0 System timer
1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
2 Programmable interrupt controller
3 Communications Port (COM2)
4 Communications Port (COM1)
5 3Com Windows Modem TI
6 Standard Floppy Disk Controller
7 ECP Printer Port (LPT1)
8 System CMOS/real time clock
10 Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WDM)
10 NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller
10 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
11 PCI OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
11 3Com Fast EtherLink XL 10/100Mb TX Ethernet NIC (3C905B-TX)
11 RADEON 9200 SERIES
11 ATI 3D Rage Pro (atir3)
11 NEC USB Open Host Controller
11 NEC USB Open Host Controller
11 Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
11 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
11 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
11 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
12 Logitech-compatible Mouse (PS/2)
13 Numeric data processor
14 Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
14 Intel 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
15 Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
15 Intel 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
9 (free)


[Memory]

x00000000 - x0009FFFF System board extension for PnP BIOS
x000A0000 - x000AFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
x000B0000 - x000BFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
x000C0000 - x000CCFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
x000D0000 - x000D7FFF 3Com Fast EtherLink XL 10/100Mb TX Ethernet NIC (3C905B-TX)
x000F0000 - x000FFFFF System board extension for PnP BIOS
x00100000 - x27FFFFFF System board extension for PnP BIOS
xD8000000 - xEFFFFFFF DEC 21152 PCI to PCI bridge
xE0000000 - xE7FFFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES - Secondary
xE8000000 - xEFFFFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
xF0000000 - xF3FFFFFF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to PCI bridge (with GART support)
xF5000000 - xF5FFFFFF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP controller
xFA000000 - xFA01FFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
xFA000000 - xFBFFFFFF DEC 21152 PCI to PCI bridge
xFAFE0000 - xFAFEFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES - Secondary
xFAFF0000 - xFAFFFFFF RADEON 9200 SERIES
xFC000000 - xFCFFFFFF ATI 3D Rage Pro (atir3)
xFC000000 - xFEFFFFFF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP controller
xFD000000 - xFD01FFFF ATI 3D Rage Pro (atir3)
xFD020000 - xFD020FFF ATI 3D Rage Pro (atir3)
xFF000000 - xFF003FFF PCI OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
xFF004000 - xFF004FFF NEC USB Open Host Controller
xFF005000 - xFF005FFF NEC USB Open Host Controller
xFF006000 - xFF00607F 3Com Fast EtherLink XL 10/100Mb TX Ethernet NIC (3C905B-TX)
xFF006400 - xFF0064FF NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller
xFF006800 - xFF006FFF PCI OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
xFFE00000 - xFFFFFFFF System board extension for PnP BIOS

SteveAwad said:

OKAY! I finally got everything working. One problem though, the card is supposed to have an 800mhz memory clock.

However, in the Catalyst Control Center, the card only reads 396mhz.

Here's a screen shot: http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4396/hisclockspeedzh5.png
Shot

Here's the card's specs:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2918660&CatId=1603

What the heck is going on?!

Click to expand...

hmmm

I guess this settles the 64 vs 128 bit memory question....

frus said:

yep´he is right
and ur benchmark show that the best pci graphic card right now is the his x1550 because the diamond x1550 scored just 1257 on 3dmark 2005

Click to expand...

sruli said:

How did you get everything working? Was it the IRQs? I ask, because I will be doing somethng similar with an Optiplex GX1. I already have a Sapphire 9200SE and an Audigy 2 ZS Gamer installed (as well as a USB2 card), and I am starting to wonder if I do not have IRQ issues... performance is not always what I think it should be... doesn't feel like the cards are taking on their loads as efficiently as they might be.

Click to expand...

I have no clue what the hell an IRQ is. When I go to device manager I don't see IRQ anywhere. I completely ignored Jive's post because he's an ***** who failed to read the post above his where I did mention my system specs, and card specs.

The following is what I did to get my x1550 working.
1.) I uninstalled absolutely all of the video drivers I had (through Add Remove Programs), I then removed my video card, and ran Registry Mechanic to make sure absolutely everything was cleared.

2.) I then went to my BIOS and switched it from Onboard Video to Auto, saved settings, and let my computer load.

3.) I then went to device manager and disabled my integrated card, and SHUT DOWN my computer. (This is an important step)

4.) I pulled out all the wires in the computer, and I placed the new PCI card into one of my open pci slots (I have 3), and hooked my monitor into it.

5.) I rehooked everything else, and booted windows.

6.) When my computer started back up, everything was at 640 by 480 resolution and 4bit color. However, I recieved 4 different, "New Hardware Found" messages. I closed all of those. Placed the Driver CD I got with the card into my computer, and ran it.

7.) I restarted my computer, and all was well.

SteveAwad said:

I have no clue what the hell an IRQ is. When I go to device manager I don't see IRQ anywhere. I completely ignored Jive's post because he's an ***** who failed to read the post above his where I did mention my system specs, and card specs.

Click to expand...

A tad harsh I feel. Unobservant - guilty as charged, keen to help - mostly, ***** ? well I do know what an IRQ is after all, but we'll let that pass shall we ?

IRQs (Interrupt Requests) are the way which all of your system devices get the CPU's attention. There are at least 16 IRQ's (0-15), some newer PC's have 23+. To view current IRQ's

Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager and under the view menu select 'View Resources by Type'. While XP is designed to allow multiple devices to share the same IRQ, you will have issues with performance if too many CPU intensive devices share the same IRQ. One PCI slot on my dell Dimension caused XP to share an IRQ between PCI graphics Card, on-board Sound and on-board Network Card. Not a very good idea. So IRQ's are important.

I am pleased that you have got your graphics card working. The next step is trying to squeeze as much performance out of it as the PCI will allow.

I thought I had an IRQ conflict with the diamon x1550 card. My comp shows that irq 22 is shared with my diamond card and something called "pci standard pci-to-pci bridge." However, I'm pretty sure this bridge driver is part of the ati driver set and is needed for my graphics card to function. I'm 99 per cent positive because the pci-to-pci bridge is automatically installed with the diamond drivers. Does anyone else have this card? Can you confirm with a x1300 perhaps?

SteveAwad said:

When I go to device manager I don't see IRQ anywhere.

Click to expand...

You have to select "Resources by type" from "View" menu in Device Manager.