How to tell if I have AGP or PCI slots

[Andrew]

I don't know anything about hardware.

I'm looking to maybe buy BFG Tech GeForce FX 5500 OC 128MB AGP Graphics Card

as according to Red flag deals it is suppposed to be really cheap. Which of the cards at the red flag deals link is best? Although I can only find the card that I linked to at staples.

Now I don't know if I have AGP, PCI card slot or if any are free (I would assume so as I haven't installed anything before)

How hard would it be to install a graphics card?

I've been wanting a new graphics card as my current 32 mb tnt is a piece of crap. I know these models are older, but I just want a cheap graphics card that will work better than my current one. I would assume having a better graphics card will make everything (desktop applications) run more smoothly (not just games, as I don't play games)?

Attached is dxdiag

[attachment deleted by Gobalopper]

[veK]

whatever you do, don't buy a FX 5... series card

if you don't have much money, watch out for the 6600GT oder the 6800 (the default ones, not the GT or Ultra).

that .txt has so much stuff in it. why don't you just get "everest" so you can see everything on you pc. and you should just look up the mainboard specs and see the available slots, how much pci slots you have got left and if there is an agp port (but there probably should). just don't buy a pci-e card, because your board definitely has no pci-express slot :)

[Andrew]

Ya but they cost $200 more than I would pay for the ones on sale.

GeForce 6600 GT OC 128MB AGP $269.95

cheapest of any 6600/6800 at staples and futureshop OR I can get

GeForce FX 5500 OC 128MB AGP ~$49.95

I'd rather pay for something $200 cheaper. Like I said I wont be playing games that require good video cards.

I assume this GeForce FX 5500 OC 128MB AGP is a big step up from my 32mb tnt2 ?

Would simply buying another 256 ram to add to my current 512 ram be a better choice than getting a better graphics card to make it run faster?

I can't use everest as it discontinued its free version and I would have to pay for it.

I found it on some freeware sites such as softpedia. will get back to this in 2 hours.

[veK]

wtf? either you are looking at the wrong shops or canada is the most expensive country ever.

you get 6600GTs over here fpr about 100 EUR.

They didn't even cost more than 200 EUR when they were released back then.

FX 5... cards were a big constructional defect.

these pics express it very good:

http://www.3dchip.de/Grafikkartenmodds/Grafixmodds/fxfun06.jpg

http://www.3dchip.de/Grafikkartenmodds/Grafixmodds/fxfun10.jpg

http://www.3dchip.de/Grafikkartenmodds/Grafixmodds/fxfun04.jpg

;)

[Andrew]

Here is some everest reports. I'm not sure what to look for specifically.

[attachment deleted by Gobalopper]

[erjin999]

FX 5... cards were a big constructional defect.

these pics express it very good:

;)

LOL !!!

I get the picture !

I got a 6600GT for

[veK]

there ya go, it's right in the first file:

  Motherboard Physical Info:

      CPU Sockets/Slots                                1

      Expansion Slots                                  3 PCI, 1 AGP <-- !!!  ;)

      RAM Slots                                        3 DIMM

      Integrated Devices                                Audio, LAN

      Form Factor                                      Micro ATX

      Motherboard Chipset                              i845

[Acriku]

Did you guys pay for Everest, since the free one is down?

I use an alternatively free one: http://www3.sympatico.ca/gtopala/about_siw.html

[Andrew]

Everest free version at softpedia

I thought that Re-veK. Would it be easy to identify which one is the ago when installing?

Don't think I will be getting the ones I first linked to. Need to know someone at staples to get it cheap.

[veK]

yes it's probably very easy.

it should be that slot where the old gfx card is in  ;D

because I think this is aan agp card too.

if not, you will see the agp port anyway. just open you pc right now and take a look. the first slot below your cpu socket should be the agp port it's usually in a different color than the pci slots and also placed a bit different.

if I remember correct it was an ASUS board you have, they should definitely have a different color for the slots too (e.g. brown agp, white pci). just take a look.

and try to get a 6600 (GT) card for around 100-125$ somewhere. they are definitely available for that price over here in europe (e.g. aopen or asus 6600GT for ~120 EUR). they have got the best price/performance rate right now and even if you don't play gfx demanding games it's still worth it. maybe you should also take a look at ebay...