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The Radeon 9250 graphics card that I bought to enhance my gaming is not compatible with DirectX 9.0, it has DirectX 8. I bought this card in order to play the new Sims 2 game, which will only work with DirectX 9.0. When I go to play the game I get an error message reading: Failed to find any compatible graphics adapters in this system.......install latest driver from manufacturer.

I've looked all over the net trying to find an updated driver or any other solution to my problem. I've checked ATI's website, HP's website and Microsoft's website....nothing. Does anyone know how I can fix this problem without having to go out any buy another card?

My system is a HP Pavilion 7935. I have upgraded the memory to 256. The last upgrade was the graphics card. I'm learning as I go.......

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just want to play my new game!

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

If as you say your card does not support Direct X9.0 and in particular Direct X9.0c then there is nothing you can do except get another graphics card.

Regards Howard

Have you tried the latest drivers from ATI, Catalyst 11? Is DirectX 9 installed on your system? You can check that by going to Windows Update. Simms should play on a DX8 card, you just wont get the extra visual features.

Hello Vegas.

Jenegil is trying to play Sims 2 which does require directx 9.0c

Regards Howard

I didnt know there were any games that required DX9 to run.

Thank you for all of your repsonses.......I have not tried Catalyst 11.....and yes, I do have DirectX 9.0 installed, however, the graphics card that I bought won't support it. I was hoping there was some way to download a driver that would help me out......thanks for all the good advice, keep it coming!

EA Games - Customer Support

It would appear your card is compatible (so you can't tell the wife you just gotta upgrade to play the game) Try the latest driver from ATI, DirextX9 support is a product of the driver. You may not have all the DirectX 9.0c features but you should be able to play the games.

According to HP you should have disabled the onboard video before you installed the card. Did you do that?

Yes, I followed all the guidelines while installing a new graphics card.

After installing the Catalyst Radeon Display Driver, I uninstalled, then reinstalled the Sims 2 game. Once the installation was complete, it started up but, all I had was sound, no picture. So, now I am downloading an update for DirectX. I feel like I'm really close to getting this to work.

Thanks again for all comments!

I'd be interested to know how this worked out for you, as I was just about to go out and buy the PCI Radeon 9520 from Best Buy tomorrow, specifically to play TS2.

What is a graphics card anyways? How do I get 1? How do I put it on/in my computer? My computer is also a HP Pavilion and it has 98 version of Windows.

You already have a graphics card, it's the thing that displays something on your monitor.

i mean how do i get a new 1 that'll work 4 SIMS

I recently bought the Sims 2 game and when i want to play it, it telles me that it has 'failed to find any DirectX9.0c compatible graphics adapters in this system.' and it says that i need to 'make sure you have a DirectX9.oc compatible graphics adapter and have installed the latest drivers provided by the manufacturer'.
I read on this forum, alot of other people who had the same problem, so i tried to get the latest drivers by going on the website and installing it. But that has not worked, and i think it's because i dont understand what one install.
(I have installed DirectX9.oc by the way!)

My driver says it is: s3sav2k.dll

Pleaseeeee help!!!

Well, I got up the courage to go out and buy it. I had the same problem too - but I was able to fix it.

These are brief directions since I'm in the middle of another project...

Find the shortcut to your sims game (probably on your desktop or your start menu). Right-click it and choose "proerties". At the end of the "target" box (outside of the quotes), type " -w" (without quotes). That will run the game in window mode. If you want to have it in full screen mode, you need to disable your onboard video card. Undo the changes you just made (if you want it back in full screen), right-click "My Computer", choose "Manage", and find the device manager. Open "Graphics Adapters" and look for something that has intel in it. Disable or uninstall that driver and it should work.

Tiger, Which card did you make work with Sims 2? Was it the the Radeon 9250 card.

I'll probably pick it up.

What is the cheapest PCI graphics adapter that will work with Sims 2??

Yes, it was the 9250. It works like a charm, too - I've cranked up the graphics and am running at 1024x768. There is noticable lag when important things are happening, but not to the point where it's unplayable. When the game is paused panning around is quite smooth. I imagine if you turned your graphic settings the whole way down it would run like a dream.