Video questions, please.

[PhilShowalter]

My son is using a Dell Optiplex GX260 small form factor system that he uses for games. He's got Doom 3 installed, and the frame rate is so slow that it's completely unplayable. The processor is a 2gig Intel P4 and the system has 760 meg of RAM. Video is the orginal on board with, I would guess, 32 or 64 meg of RAM.

I was wondering if upgrading the video will make this game (and others like it) playable. The video card would have to be low profile, and I've got PCI, AGP and PCI Express slots available.

I'd rather not spend more than $100. If you think upgrading the video will make this work, what card would you recommend that I get and what interface? I'd like a minimum of 128 meg of RAM and would really prefer 256.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Twinfun2]

I dont really think thats possible

Doom 3 requires a high end video card for descent performance,
almost a minimum of 150$ must be spent on the video card for descent performance. But a great video card i recommend for not only doom 3
is the "visiontek xtasy radeon 256mb (Available in 512mb, but about 50 buks more) x1300". Ive had it for awhile and made a huge difference from my older video card. If ure computer uses a basic video card, this is the perfect video card for budget gamers. If u want a video card that will play doom 3 at a framerate of 60 and over hand down, ure lookin at the cost scale of 400$ plus.

 

[Twinfun2]

the cost of 512mb is 180$. The 256 mb cost is 130$

 

[b1gapl]

Yea definitely the video card is holding you down with the games. I also suggest you get more ram, at least a 1 gig of ram. For the graphic card the PCI-e slot would be the best, and according to your budget, this could do you good:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150152
I think it would do better then the X1300 mentioned before, because it has a faster memory clock and a higher memory interface....the amount of memory isn't everything.
Or I suggest this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150130....same card but 256mb....higher price, almost $40 more but after rebates it's only $102. That I would suggest.

 

[PhilShowalter]

My thanks to both of you for the responses. b1gapl, I like the specs on what you posted, but I didn't see any reference to it being low profile, and that's essential for the system.

Are they low profile and I just missed it? I know that limits things, but for now that's what I'm have to work with.

Thanks again.

(edit) One other thing, $100 was just an arbitrary limit. If there's good reason to go over that, then that's fine too. I would be very reluctant to spend over $200, but something below that is fine.

 

[b1gapl]

I'm not sure if that's low profile but those are very good cards, and I'm sure you can run Doom 3 nicely with those. I have a GeForce FX5500 and it's nothing compared to the 6800XT, but I'm able to play Doom 3 on high settings with decent FPS.

edit: Oh and if you're willing to spend 200, I suggest get the 6800XT 256mb and add more ram.

 

[PhilShowalter]

Unfortunately, from the photo, it doesn't appear that the card is available in low profile. That's a shame, otherwise I would get it.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[vaderpro]

Yah, im wondering the limitations of upgrading that unit. Ram shoudlnt be a problem, but the card??? And it looks like you dont have a pci-e slot....its a 2.2 ghz P4 socket 478....no offense but quite outdated...u may want to start from scratch to play DOOM3 well....

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/desktops/0,39023849,10001560,00.htm


Looking at the specs there, it appears there is only a pci slot not a pci-e slot...there is a huge difference...pci video cards will not get you good performnace for games like DooM3...

 

[PhilShowalter]

My thoughts as well vaderpro. I'm limited to Dell or Gateway in replacing the system, I work for a state school and although we have good pricing on some units, we're limited on what we can choose. The dollar amount isn't limited, but the choices are.

I've always been partial to Dell because of the support but I'm not married to them. Between Dell and Gateway, what would any of you suggest?

I've worked in IT for 20+ years, but I haven't messed with hardware in a long time, so I'm way out of date on what's available. In other words, I don't have a clue.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[vaderpro]

Both companies design there systems so its difficult to upgrade...therefore you buy a new one every few years...if youve used dell then go with them again...whats the budget for a new system?