Looking for a GeForce 3

On Mon, 1 Oct 2007 21:32:42 -0400, "First of One"
brought the following to our attention:

wrote in message

I looked at some fx 5200 yesterday at the local techie store.
The smallest one had 128MB but needed a AGP 2.0 socket.


Says who? Is the AGP connector physically keyed to be unusable
in your motherboard?

Thanks for replying. I'm determined to find an nVidia board that will
work in my AGP slot, provide 64 to 128 MB of video memory, possibly
support dx9, and even do some AA or other filtering/processing. How-
ever not to over-burden the dual Xeon CPUs and busses.


The fx 5200 box said.. Min Requirements: AGP 2.0 slot


Since it was in the retail box, I didn't have the opportunity to look at
the connector or keys.



Here are the system specs from Dell support page:


Specifications: Dell Precision™ WorkStation 610 Mini Tower Systems

Pentium III Xeon (dual)
500 MHz internally/100 MHz externally
550 MHz internally/100 MHz externally

System chipset: Intel Slot 2/440GX AGPset

Primary SCSI controller: Adaptec AIC-7890 Ultra2/Wide LVD
(Adaptec 2940 U2W-equivalent)

Secondary SCSI controller: Adaptec AIC-7880 internal Ultra/Narrow
and external Ultra/Wide (Adaptec 2940 UW-equivalent)


Video:

AGP Bus speed: 133 MHz

AGP expansion-card connector size: 124 pins
AGP expansion-card connector data width: 32 bits (maximum)

Video type: 2X AGP or PCI graphics adapter card
(see manufacturer’s specifications)



{ scroll down }




ok.. so it says 2x AGP.. how doest THAT open things up????


-G

* :

I looked at some fx 5200 yesterday at the local techie store. The
smallest one had 128MB but needed a AGP 2.0 socket.

No, it doesn't. The FX5200 doesn't need AGP 2.0. Some card maker refuse
to support that old computer (they want to avoid support requests) so
they raise the minimum specs written on the cardbox to AGP 2.0.

Ok.. will be checking into that. And the AGP 1.0 slot will be ok?

Yes, sure. But I'd strongly recommend to buy there where you can
return the card for cash if you see no benefit from it.

I'd like to find one at the PC show for 20-bucks.

I don't know where you live and what the usual price level for hardware
is where you are, but usually it's not worth spending 20 bucks for a
several years old gfx card with fan that probably already has reached
the zenith of its life when new and much better cards start at around 40
quids.

Will still look around for a semi-old 128MB nVidia card, maybe of the
dx9 type, to replace the 32MB Riva TNT2 (Diamond Viper 770)

The oldest Nvidia DX9 card series is the Geforce FX series, and this one
supports AGP1.0

Benjamin

* :

Thanks for replying. I'm determined to find an nVidia board that will
work in my AGP slot, provide 64 to 128 MB of video memory, possibly
support dx9, and even do some AA or other filtering/processing.

Sorry, but not with your low-spec system. Better forget about AA/AF.

Here are the system specs from Dell support page:


Specifications: Dell Precision™ WorkStation 610 Mini Tower Systems

Pentium III Xeon (dual)
500 MHz internally/100 MHz externally
550 MHz internally/100 MHz externally

System chipset: Intel Slot 2/440GX AGPset

My Kayak XW has the same chipset, and the Geforce FX5200 works just fine
in there.

Benjamin

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:56:34 +0200, Benjamin Gawert
brought the following to our attention:

* :

Thanks for replying. I'm determined to find an nVidia board that will
work in my AGP slot, provide 64 to 128 MB of video memory, possibly
support dx9, and even do some AA or other filtering/processing.

Sorry, but not with your low-spec system. Better forget about AA/AF.


You mean.. sorry about AA, or the card in general?


Here are the system specs from Dell support page:


Specifications: Dell Precision™ WorkStation 610 Mini Tower Systems

Pentium III Xeon (dual)
500 MHz internally/100 MHz externally
550 MHz internally/100 MHz externally

System chipset: Intel Slot 2/440GX AGPset


Ok.. will be picking up a fx 5200 at the show. Do you think 128MB
is overkill for this application? 64MB ok?

Notice the Dell spec is 2x AGP.


My Kayak XW has the same chipset, and the Geforce FX5200 works
just fine in there.

Benjamin

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:53:53 +0200, Benjamin Gawert
brought the following to our attention:

* :

I looked at some fx 5200 yesterday at the local techie store. The
smallest one had 128MB but needed a AGP 2.0 socket.

No, it doesn't. The FX5200 doesn't need AGP 2.0. Some card maker refuse
to support that old computer (they want to avoid support requests) so
they raise the minimum specs written on the cardbox to AGP 2.0.

Ok.. will be checking into that. And the AGP 1.0 slot will be ok?

Yes, sure. But I'd strongly recommend to buy there where you can
return the card for cash if you see no benefit from it.

I'd like to find one at the PC show for 20-bucks.

I don't know where you live and what the usual price level for hardware
is where you are, but usually it's not worth spending 20 bucks for a
several years old gfx card with fan that probably already has reached
the zenith of its life when new and much better cards start at around 40
quids.


It will probably go for 40 bucks.


Will still look around for a semi-old 128MB nVidia card, maybe of the
dx9 type, to replace the 32MB Riva TNT2 (Diamond Viper 770)

The oldest Nvidia DX9 card series is the Geforce FX series, and this one
supports AGP1.0

That means FX 5200, FX 5500, and FX5700? Which of these will fit?

-G


Benjamin

* :

Will still look around for a semi-old 128MB nVidia card, maybe of the
dx9 type, to replace the 32MB Riva TNT2 (Diamond Viper 770)
The oldest Nvidia DX9 card series is the Geforce FX series, and this one
supports AGP1.0

That means FX 5200, FX 5500, and FX5700? Which of these will fit?

Basically all of them (the whole Geforce FX series). There are some few
cards that lack the necessary mechanical coding in the AGP connector,
though, in this case the card simply won't fit in your computer. That's
very rare, but to avoid troubles I'd recommend to buy where you can
return the card if you get one that lacks the necessary coding.

Because of the low performance of your computer I'd go with the cheapest
one.

Benjamin

* :

Thanks for replying. I'm determined to find an nVidia board that will
work in my AGP slot, provide 64 to 128 MB of video memory, possibly
support dx9, and even do some AA or other filtering/processing.
Sorry, but not with your low-spec system. Better forget about AA/AF.

You mean.. sorry about AA, or the card in general?

No, about AA/AF. With your computer you never will be able to use AA
and/or AF and get more than a slideshow - no matter what gfx card you use.

Ok.. will be picking up a fx 5200 at the show. Do you think 128MB
is overkill for this application? 64MB ok?

It simply doesn't matter. Most FX5200 cards today are 128MB, though.

Notice the Dell spec is 2x AGP.

Yes, I know. the i440GX chipset always comes with AGP 2x.

Benjamin

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:34:14 +0200, Benjamin Gawert
brought the following to our attention:

* :

Thanks for replying. I'm determined to find an nVidia board that will
work in my AGP slot, provide 64 to 128 MB of video memory, possibly
support dx9, and even do some AA or other filtering/processing.
Sorry, but not with your low-spec system. Better forget about AA/AF.

You mean.. sorry about AA, or the card in general?

No, about AA/AF. With your computer you never will be able to use AA
and/or AF and get more than a slideshow - no matter what gfx card you use.

Ok.. will be picking up a fx 5200 at the show. Do you think 128MB
is overkill for this application? 64MB ok?

It simply doesn't matter. Most FX5200 cards today are 128MB, though.

BTW.. there were two fx5200, 128MB on ebay for $.01 (1 cent) last
night, Dell OEMs. One had a fan, and the other had two big heat sinks.


Notice the Dell spec is 2x AGP.

Yes, I know. the i440GX chipset always comes with AGP 2x.

I think we can wrap-up this discussion soon. Thanks for bearing with
my ignorance and stubbornness. Can you make a blanket statement
(in summary) about the i440GX chipset, the 2x AGP spec, and the
compatibility of nVidia AGP cards? I'll be pulling my Viper 770, TNT2
and inspecting the slot, and the card pins. (see pics below)

http://www.rivastation.com/review/v7...v770_board.gif

http://homepage.uvt.nl/~s207209/100_0506.JPG


note: currently using 44.03 drivers with no problems!

- G


Benjamin

* :

BTW.. there were two fx5200, 128MB on ebay for $.01 (1 cent) last
night, Dell OEMs. One had a fan, and the other had two big heat sinks.

Basically, the Geforce FX5200 doesn't need a fan, it can be cooled with
a relative small heat sink. Some have also fans, though.

Notice the Dell spec is 2x AGP.
Yes, I know. the i440GX chipset always comes with AGP 2x.

I think we can wrap-up this discussion soon. Thanks for bearing with
my ignorance and stubbornness.

This has nothing to do with ignorance or stubbornness. It's just that
not everyone is interested in the innards of its computer, the majority
of users probably see the computer as what it really is: a tool for a
certain task. Same as not everyone is a car mechanic or a nuclear energy
engineer, no-one can know all about everything. It's totally fine that
you ask here for help, that's what these groups are for.

Can you make a blanket statement
(in summary) about the i440GX chipset, the 2x AGP spec, and the
compatibility of nVidia AGP cards?

Sure. Basically, all AGP gfx cards that use an Nvidia or ATI GPU with
native AGP interface (i.e. all Geforce up to and including the Geforce
FX series, some Geforce 6 models, all Radeons up to and including the
Radeon 9xxx series (Radeon 9000 to Radeon 9800), some Radeon X8x0) are
compatible with the AGP 2x slot of your computer. Not compatible are AGP
gfx cards that use an ATI or Nvidia GPU with native PCIe (PCI Express)
interface and that connect to AGP via an AGP-to-PCIe bridge chip (i.e.
some Geforce 6 models, all Geforce 7/8 models, some ATI Radeon X8x0
models, all X1xxx and X2xxx models) since these bridge chips don't
support the voltage levels of AGP 2x any more.

But due to the age and (by todays standards) limited performance of your
computer there is no reason to waste money on something better than a
Geforce FX5200/5500 or ATI Radeon 9200/9250.

Benjamin

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:31:41 +0200, Benjamin Gawert
brought the following to our attention:

* :

Will still look around for a semi-old 128MB nVidia card, maybe of the
dx9 type, to replace the 32MB Riva TNT2 (Diamond Viper 770)
The oldest Nvidia DX9 card series is the Geforce FX series, and this one
supports AGP1.0

That means FX 5200, FX 5500, and FX5700? Which of these will fit?

Basically all of them (the whole Geforce FX series). There are some few
cards that lack the necessary mechanical coding in the AGP connector,
though, in this case the card simply won't fit in your computer. That's
very rare, but to avoid troubles I'd recommend to buy where you can
return the card if you get one that lacks the necessary coding.

Because of the low performance of your computer I'd go with the cheapest
one.

Benjamin


Well.. I went ahead and bought one on ebay today.. for $12.52 )
A basic 128MB GeForce fx 5200 AGP Dell OEM.

http://i10.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/b9/b4/a495_1.JPG

It has an oversized heatsink.. no fan. Should be ok for experimenting.
What would be a good, conservative, lean and mean driver version?
I run 44.03 in the Riva TNT2.

-G