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General discussion

Improve video performance on an old PC

Aug 18, 2004 4:39PM PDT

I recently bought a 20" flat panel and I want to improve my video performance.

These are the specs on my PC:
Pentium III 800 MHz
512 MB SDRAM 100 MHz
NVidia GeForce DDR 64 MB
AGP 1X/2X/4X

Would I see any noticeable improvement if I just added a mid-level video card like the ATI Radeon 9600 128 MB w/ DVI out or would the CPU/RAM require upgrading as well?

Thanks is advance,
P|<

Discussion is locked

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Re: Improve video performance on an old PC
Aug 18, 2004 5:20PM PDT

By video performance, do you mean gaming (I think not with a 800 mhz system)? Upgrading a video card for better "video-quality" is almost useless, unless your current video card doesn't support your monitors' native resolution.

You may get more options such as brightness controls or such, but that won't warrent the money for a new card.

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Re: Improve video performance on an old PC
Aug 18, 2004 11:09PM PDT

It's a marriage arrangement, that they have to be in par with each other for optimum output. If you can find a Geforce with increased ram of 128 or better of the same type video card, that's your best chance. YES, you will need to increase the system speed(cpu) to keep up with one of the newer cards. However, you can throttle down a new video card with its setup s/w for a less demanding but certainly better than old output. Check their support website for details. Also, newer AGP video may outstrip(added connection) the power supply as now they require 30W+ where as older units are 20-25W range, take that into condiration.

good luck -----Willy Happy

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Re: Improve video performance on an old PC
Aug 18, 2004 11:13PM PDT

Before I opened my wallet I would look into free stuff like finding the proper mobo and vid drivers that mated to the OS I was using and gave me the best perf.

Don't assume the newest drivers are best, you must test.

I don't know what type of vid perf your looking for but I suspect that 800cpu and 100memory are going to be a problem.