What do I need

[zimmers]

Im not going to be in to serious computer gaming just sports games and maybe on a occasion a RPG. Anyways I have all original parts in my Computer except RAM and need to put a graphics card in. DO I need PCI or AGP? Here is my specs

Field Value
CPU Properties
CPU Type DualCore Intel Pentium E2140
CPU Alias Conroe-1M
CPU Stepping L2
Engineering Sample No
CPUID CPU Name Genuine Intel(R) CPU 2140 @ 1.60GHz
CPUID Revision 000006F2h
CPU VID 1.1875 V

CPU Speed
CPU Clock 1200.1 MHz (original: [ TRIAL VERSION ] MHz)
CPU Multiplier 6x
CPU FSB 200.0 MHz (original: 200 MHz)
Memory Bus 266.7 MHz
DRAM:FSB Ratio 8:6

CPU Cache
L1 Code Cache 32 KB per core
L1 Data Cache [ TRIAL VERSION ]
L2 Cache 1 MB (On-Die, ECC, ASC, Full-Speed)

Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 63-0100-009999-00101111-050707-Lakeport$945GCTHM_BIOS DATE: 05/07/07 11:52:05 VER: 08.00.13
Motherboard Name ECS Livermore

Chipset Properties
Motherboard Chipset Intel Lakeport-G i945GC
Memory Timings 4-4-4-12 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
DIMM1: 256X64M-80E 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-15 @ 400 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 333 MHz) (3-3-3-10 @ 266 MHz)
DIMM3: Transcend JM800QLU-2G [ TRIAL VERSION ]

BIOS Properties
System BIOS Date 05/07/07
Video BIOS Date 02/17/06
DMI BIOS Version 5.13

Graphics Processor Properties
Video Adapter Intel 82945G/GC/GZ Graphics Controller 0 [A-2]
GPU Code Name Lakeport-G (Integrated 8086 / 2772, Rev 02)
GPU Clock 400 MHz

 

[EXCellR8]

CPU = Central Processing Unit (your computer's processor)

I'm guessing you mean to ask what you need in order to play games on your computer? You want a dedicated graphics card for better graphics in games, but you need to find what video bus type your motherboard uses. It's an older system, so it's probably an AGP slot. If you only have a PCI slot, I recommend taking a look at this thread:

https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic51437.html

 

[zimmers]

Heres my motherboard info

Field Value
Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 63-0100-009999-00101111-050707-Lakeport$945GCTHM_BIOS DATE: 05/07/07 11:52:05 VER: 08.00.13
Motherboard Name ECS Livermore

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel AGTL+
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 200 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 800 MHz
Bandwidth 6400 MB/s

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type Dual DDR2 SDRAM
Bus Width 128-bit
DRAM:FSB Ratio 8:6
Real Clock 267 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 533 MHz
Bandwidth [ TRIAL VERSION ] MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel Direct Media Interface

Motherboard Manufacturer
Company Name Elitegroup Computer Systems

 

[EXCellR8]

If you can verify that this is your motherboard then you actually have one PCIe x16 slot available to use:

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...goryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=44&LanID=8

If so, you will have many choices for a dedicated graphics card...

 

[mailpup]

In googling for ECS Livermore, it appears that the motherboard has a PCI-E x16 slot. So it is neither a PCI or AGP but rather a PCI-E slot.

Edit: EXCellR8 just beat me to it.

 

[EXCellR8]

That's okay i think this is actually the motherboard:

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...=1&DetailName=Specification&MenuID=44&LanID=8

even so, there is still a PCIe slot available...

 

[captaincranky]

That's okay i think this is actually the motherboard:

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...=1&DetailName=Specification&MenuID=44&LanID=8

even so, there is still a PCIe slot available...

Just for future reference, Intel implemented PCI-E at the 915 chipset. (Although Emachines had a whole run of 915 GAG boards made without the PCI-Esocket! At least the holes for it were present).

The E2140 "Pentium Dual Core" (65 nm Conroe) should be well overclockable.

Disclaimer; I don't overclock, nor am I recommending it, I'm jus' sayin'.

 

[EXCellR8]

Good to know, I was using an AMD chipset when PCI express was introduced so I really had no knowledge of the Intel chipsets in which it was first implemented. Regardless, I keep forgetting how old AGP and PCI really are... although I still use AGP in one of my shop computers lol.

 

[zimmers]

Thanks guys I haven't done any upgrading or kept in the know for about 5 years now. I will be checking this out today. Thanks again

 

[EXCellR8]

No problem, but before you go shopping... would you care to provide the specs of your power supply? That information can be extremely useful when looking to upgrade a graphics card.

 

[zimmers]

Just wanted to let you know I went today(Australia) and bought a ECS NGT240 PCI-E Graphics Card. Was easy to install and works great. Thanks again