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Old August 4th 03, 06:36 AM
oodler
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You're not helping me by telling me this is my fault. I didn't come to be
ridiculed for making a mistake; I came here to learn how to rectify it.
"Dave" wrote in message
newslgXa.56942$Ho3.8501@sccrnsc03...

"oodler" wrote in message
...
went ahead and purchased an Nvidia GEForce2 MX-400 for my semi-old

system.
The problem became, once the card arrived, I
realized it wasn't the right _type_ of AGP card; apparently, cards made

for
newer AGP slots in newer computers won't physically fit in slots from

1999
motherboards; it has somethiing to do with the way different "speeds" of

AGP
card are manufactured- something about how cards made for 4x won't
physically fit in 1 or 2x slots.


You wouldn't wanna put it into a 1x slot, but the BX chipset on your mobo
supports 2x AGP 2.0. So if the AGP slot is there, that card would
undoubtedly work. No question.

I only read this warning after purchasing
the card.


The slot was short 'n' brown, right, not short 'n' white or long 'n'

black,
right? ;-) FFS, even the Radeon 9700 (supposedly not the 9800 tho...)

works
in a 2x AGP 2.0 slot (might have something to do with the external power
connector, yathink?)! I installed a NP in a BX board for someone not too
long ago (believe me, I tried to get him to return it for a certain

Sapphire
9500 NP, it was serious overkill...), and it actually worked with a

300-watt
power supply, go figure! All MX's I've ever seen have two cutouts on the

AGP
connector. This is so they'll fit in 4x (and 4x/8x)-only slots as well as

2x
(and 4x/2x). The vast majority of 4x video cards out there are
backwards-compatible with 2x (SOL on the LX and other 1x boards); a few
(such as some GF4s) like a little more power than is normally fed to the

AGP
slot on some older mobos. The MX2s even work with some Socket 7 mobos

(MVP3
northbridge, not so well with the VP3 or ALI boards) in AGP mode with
drivers below 6.31 (using Detonator 6.18's, which is the last really

stable
set before AGP functions with Super 7 chipsets were given the

heave-ho...).
At that time the BX was about the best chipset avaliable. Well, didja try
the damn card in the slot? Tell the truth...

When I angrily Returned To Sender the item and asked www.tcwo.com to

send
me
a compatible card, they informed me that "the age of your motherboard is

the
issue" and that there was nothing they could do except recredit my

account
and let that be the end of it.


So they gave you Pat Answer #65 and made good on their end? I don't see
anything wrong here...

I'm forced to accept their decision but I still think it's bull****.


Yes it is. That card would have worked in there, provided there even was

an
AGP slot, and you didn't have to return it. That's where the bull****
starts.

I know
several people with computers two or three years older than mine who are
able to use Nvidia AGP cards. So it boggles my mind that TCWO would not

have
the proper type of AGP card in stock.


Not their fault someone didn't figure out the hardware in question. Who

made
the order? Whaddyamean it doesn't work? I do this sort of thing all the
frickin' time!
All together now: "God didn't do that, man! YOU did!"

I've got a Dell XPS-T600. And no, I'm not getting rid of
it and getting a new box; thanks anyway in advance. According to the

Belarc
System Profile Advisor, my motherboard's an Intel SE440BX-3

AA722396-108.

The only way that card would not work in there is if there was the typical
onboard video (usually ATI Rage Pro) and NO AGP SLOT. In that case, youse
gets a PCI FX5200 or MX4 and lives with it. Just remember to set the damn
thing to boot with PCI video before installing the card, please...no need
for another RMA based on lack of information...

What's the proper "speed" of GeForce2 MX-400 to get for my computer?


GF3 Ti-200, GF3 plain, GF3 Ti-500, older GF4 64-meg (unless there's an
under-$100 128-megger TBF), Radeon 7500 (much better than the MX card even
if equally dated), Radeon 8500 LE thru 9100 (best choice). Or even a

64-meg
MX4 440 SE 128-bit for under $50. I wouldn't waste my time with the MX2,
even with a 600 MHz box. Just make sure it says something about AGP 2x
compatibility in the manufacturer's specs and you're pretty much good to
go...

BTW, a $20 Upgradeware Slot T card (www.strattoncomputer.com) and $50
Tualatin Celeron 1400 will fit right in there, the (latest) BIOS will ID

it
as a Pentium Pro, but it will work just fine in Windows. Been going thru a
lot of these Upgradeware slockets lately. Then the GF3 will be a halfway
decent companion...