Jump to content

Best graphics card for 98SE?


PurplePenny

Recommended Posts

Hey, I hope I'm doing this right, because I(actually my 5 year old daughter) could sure use some help finding an AGP(or PCI) card for our computer as well!

1st. We are not gamers and don't intend to become ones

2nd. This computer was given to us free(so we're on a budget)

Problem: My daughter got the "Let's Ride Silver Buckle Stables" game for Christmas and it say that it requires the following: Win98/Me/2000/Xp, Pentium III 700mhz or 100% compatible, 256MB RAM, 32MB DirectX 8.1 compliant video card.

We have: Compaq Presario, Windows 98SE, AMD Athlon 700 mhz K7, 256 RAM (Max of 384 if we add another 128 chip), 250W PSU, 4 - PCI Slots(1open), 1 - AGP (1.0, 1X 2X, 3.3V)Slot currently with a 3dfx Vodoo3 16 MB card.

Question: Will our machine support a DirectX8.1 compliant card off of a 250W power supply and only a AGP 1.0 3.3V slot?

Thank You!

William

Link to comment
Share on other sites


-crap, tried the ati radeon 9800se (256-bit 128mb DDR; softmodded by OmegaDrivers to 9800xt/pro's 8 pipelines) in the p3-866 w98se puter (agp 4x, and it does have 512mb SDRAM, not 384) and it still couldn't handle cs:source... even at minimum settings, only getting 10-20 fps (25-30 fps in "empty" lan game, barely playable, but w/other net players in the game it crawls around 10-15 fps)... :no:

...

-WOW, didn't know Source was SUCH a (Micro$hit-like) HOG compared to cs 1.6 (which plays perfectly, 50+ fps with net players, even with the ancient TNT2 vid card or just intel i815e integrated graphics!)... this is REDICULOUS, since Source doesn't look/play THAT much better than 1.6 ! ... sigh... looks like she'll just have to stick to 1.6, or Condition Zero, etc...

...

(I did notice cheap < $20 cpu upgrades on ebay for this mobo, but max is around 1ghz, only + 15% from the 866, might gain 3 fps... I might be able to use a "Tualatin adapter" to shoehorn in a Tualatin-core p3, maybe up to 1.4ghz, but those things cost more, $60+ incl adapter, and we're already pushing the old 200W psu...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PsycoUnc, sorry you discovered the whole problem Win98 faces...

What mods have you made with the video drivers? Can you get a larger power supply? If you can get enough power for the fans, you may wish to try overclocking the hell outta your video card...

The problem here is specifically the fact that newer cards have a different DX support version... Have you tried using Source with DX7? DX8? or just DX9? This may further assist you in getting a few more FPS outta that box for THAT game....

have you looked at any MODS for SOURCE? You may be able to find a basic _unsupported_ gfx mod to make it work better on that PC... what I mean, is the graphic files may be the culprit- 98 may not directly support the package of the gfx, and thus cause greater lag (DX language doesn't match up? no problem, I can use the CPU to add the language... and the frame rate drops BIG TIME)

If you can find a replacement _BASE_ gfx file(s), perhaps this issue will resolve? I mean, since you say this is the point of the machine, why not try modding the software instead of the machine?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...