Graphics Card Advice

[PhilD]

This may be the wrong forum for this, if it is, apologies in advance! Wasn't sure where to put it, if I'm wrong I'd appreciate it if a mod could kindly put it where it should be. Anyway, the problem..

Basically all I'm after is advice as to whether I need to purchase a new graphics card altogether. I'd like to play a few games online but when I attempt to do so the frames per second is very low which results in lag. The main game I'd like to be able to play is Wolfenstein Enemy Territory.

These are my specs:

Dell Dimension 2400
Operating system: XP Home Edition
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS VERSION 1.10 A05
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.60GHz
Memory: 254MB RAM
Graphics Card: Intel(R) 82845G Graphics Controller

From what I understand Intel no longer supports/produces that graphics card. Ultimately I'd like to know firstly, if the lag is caused by the graphics card as I expect it is (I have 1mb broadband, I therefore doubt it's the internet connection causing lag?). Secondly is there anything I can do to the existing card to improve performance. Or do I simply need to buy another one? If I do have to buy another I don't want to spend a fortune but recommendations would be appreciated.

Maybe it isn't the grapics card at all but that's what I suspect it is. I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to computer so I'm in need of abit of help here.

Thanks in advance for any help. If there's any other information you need etc I'll be happy to provide it.

Cheers.

 

[peterhuang913]

Welcome to Tech Forums!
First off, the lag is caused by the Dell. 254 MB ram is unacceptable for games. I also have a Dell 2400 and it only has 3 pci, so no luck unless you can find a pci g/c which is still slow. The Dell doesn't have a g/c, it has a embedded chip and they usually are locked.

 

[ShackledPhoenix]

Newegg.com - DIAMOND X1550PRO256PSB Radeon X1550 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Video Card - Retail

X1550 is the best I've seen as a PCI graphics card. Any of the ATI X1300's would run that game also. Either should give you pretty decent graphics and framerate on wolfenstein, but newer games will still lag on both cards.

Also you'd want to get atleast another 256mb of memory like peter suggested, going to 512 will be the biggest speed boost you can do for that PC. 1GB is preferable.

 

[PhilD]

Thanks for the replies.

The gc that Shackled posted was roughly the price I was expecting to pay. I assume that's reasonable? How easy is the installation of that gc in particular or any gc? I've never done any DIY work to do with computers so to speak..

As for the RAM upgrade I'd be more than happy to go to 512 since it'd help with others things too. How much would that be likely to cost me?

 

[joshd]

Newegg.com - DIAMOND X1550PRO256PSB Radeon X1550 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Video Card - Retail

X1550 is the best I've seen as a PCI graphics card. Any of the ATI X1300's would run that game also. Either should give you pretty decent graphics and framerate on wolfenstein, but newer games will still lag on both cards.

Also you'd want to get atleast another 256mb of memory like peter suggested, going to 512 will be the biggest speed boost you can do for that PC. 1GB is preferable.

Believe it or not, DIAMOND are releasing a PCI HD2400PRO fairly soon