What video card for a win98 computer?

[Qeldroma]

What video card should I get for my sons Windows 98 Computer? Heres his specs...

Celeron 133Mhz, 64MB Ram, 8Gb HD, 8X CD-Rom, 15" Monitor......

I was looking at the Radeon 9250 PCI or is that a waste of money? I know there will be alot of bottlenecks. The games he will be playing are like starcraft and alot of Unreal Tourament 1999. Wich runs off of DirectX 8 if Im not mistaken.

Other Choices would Radeon 7000, Geforce 2 MX400, Geforce FX4000, etc.

Thanks for the Input.

 

[Slappy_Slime]

ya didnt say what video card that ya have now, im assuming that ya got an agp 4x slot, so the radeon 7000 will work, ya can pick one up for $30.00 at newegg.
and while your addit, pick up some cheap memory like a 256 mg stick, ya can get one low as $30.00 bucks. assuming you have the 168 pin sdram? then later down the road when your son gets a stronger computer, ya can use this one as a file server, or a firewall/router(just an idea). hope this helps :?:

Windows 98 Computer?

now that brings back memories!

 

[prozac26]

Something like a 9600Pro would be a good choice if you were to add some memory.

9250 will work also.

 

[pauldh]

Celeron 133Mhz, 64MB Ram, 8Gb HD, 8X CD-Rom, 15" Monitor

Do you mean Celeron 333MHz? Starcraft and the original UT...two of my old favorites. Don't get a Radeon 7000, no hardware T&L. A Radeon 7200 or above is fine. The GF2MX400 or MX4000 would be fine also. I hope that you are getting these cards for next to nothing though.

Here is an AGP GF2Ti for $15 shipped. Still only a DX7 card, but much faster than the GF2MX and Radeon 7200.
http://www.pcdirect.com/product.asp?promo=pricewatch&PID=1&Sku=VICM-AGP786

If you need PCI, a new MX4000 is probably $35. You may want to look used.

 

[NightlySputnik]

For StarCraft, just about any of the mentionned video card should do the trick.

For UT1999 (bring back found memory ), I'd say your system will be border line anyway because of your cpu. That depend tough, is it Pentium 133 or Celeron 333? Because Celeron 133 doesn't exist as far as I know. Anyway, first cpu is too slow, second one should do with any of the mentionned VPU.

I played that game myself on a Pentium 233 MMX overclock to 262.5 mhz (75*3,5=max available on my system then), 64 MB RAM (also max for my system) and a PCI Radeon with 16MB memory (Rage 128, but not sure). Setting were low (like at the very bottom of the pit ), but no lag whatsoever.

If you own a Pentium 133 tough, like I said, it's gonna be border line in any cases.

 

[The_OGS]

Celeron 133Mhz, 64MB Ram, 8Gb HD, 8X CD-Rom, 15" Monitor......

I doubt it. Run CPU-Z for accurate info!
I have a sweet Celeron 400MHz rig here, 512MB RAM, 10GB HD, CD Burner, that I would gladly sell to someone for $150 bucks, complete. (It'll still get a kid through University, y'know?)
But the thing is, it's late-90's and uses PC133 SDRAM. Only double-sided 256MB sticks will work...
Also, the video is probably AGP 2x (or even AGP 1x) as only the newest stuff from circa 2000 (ie. Pentium-III on 133FSB or Athlon) will have AGP 4x.
Go to a local computer shop and they will have many ancient vidcards about - old ATI Rage and GeForce TNT etc...
If you could improve the old rig for minimum $$ that would be great.
Hey I still run massive Unreal Tournament GOTY tournaments on my LAN here! Lots of fun and still runs good on old rigs,
Regards

 

[cisco]

quite honestly I would buy whatever is the cheapsest. All those cards should run those games without a problem. And really the whole system is a bottleneck so spending the extra cash on a faster card will not yeild much in the way of performance. If you can find a nice used card that may be an option as well.

 

[Qeldroma]

Ok Im an idiot. It has a PCI Slot. I think Im just gonna do the cheapest Nvidia card available. BTW It must be the 333mhz. I wasnt paying much attention to it. Thanks for the help. Ill let you guys know what I get.

 

[NightlySputnik]

Ok Im an idiot. It has a PCI Slot. I think Im just gonna do the cheapest Nvidia card available. BTW It must be the 333mhz. I wasnt paying much attention to it. Thanks for the help. Ill let you guys know what I get.

Only stupid one is the one that doesn't ask .

Most Celeron board didn't have AGP slot then. This was reserved to more "high end" system. Kind a like SLI system today I guess. For PCI card, get one for no more than 30$, otherwise it's probably gonna be too powerful for your cpu anyway. To stay balanced is the best way to invest. Just like buying a Core2Duo cpu with 256MB memory doesn't make any sense, so is putting a Radeon 9800 PCI on a Celeron 333 system (if that video card ever existed at all).

Your best chances is to look at sparepart shop close to where you live. You'll most of the time find them in the classified ads section of your local newspaper. Or flee market. Or EBay even, altough you'll have better chance to find a 5000+$ PS3 right now .

 

[pauldh]

Most Celeron board didn't have AGP slot then

Well, many oems with integrated video maybe. But 440LX and 440BX had AGP. AGP slots on slot 1 mobos were very common/standard.

 

[NightlySputnik]

I agree with you on this. But most Celeron computer sold "as is" didn't have AGP. I'm not saying it wasn't common place, but less then 50% on board had it I'd say.

Remember, even in the days of Pentium 3, the i810 chipset didn't have AGP, and this chipset was more common on overall sales than either i815 or any other chipset. These i810 chipset were usually sold by OEM with Celeron. This way they could probably save 10-15$ on overall system cost, and more considering the integrated graphics.

A friend of mine had exactly this kind of board if I'm not wrong. i810, with both Slot1 and socket370 and no AGP slot. His cpu was a Celeron 333 on slot1, then upgrade to a Celeron 533 and again to Celeron 800, both on socket 370. The good old days. . He finally put in a Radeon9200 on PCI in it and use it has second hand computetr exactly for Starcraft and especially Diablo. And let's not forget some LAN Quake3 we had with it's new system... 8)

Qeldroma, to you, maybe use Sandra. It's free and tell you anything you need to know about your cpu and motherboard, including available slot.

 

[cisco]

I didn't think a celeron was available at the speed but I wasn't for sure that was a long time ago. You might check ebay and see what is available as well as newegg and zipzoomfly. Get the cheapest card you can and maybe look on ebay for some used ram. A bump in ram to 256mb would make a huge difference. I know from when I had a system with 64mb ram that even games back then like age of empires would start to choke a little due to lack of ram.

 

[Qeldroma]

The problem with the ram is I assume it is maxed out. I will find the model number of the computer right now and find out. Because I agree.

I just found this

"Requirements
Minimum system requirement:

233 MHz Pentium MMX or AMD K6 class computer.
32 megabytes of RAM.
4 megabyte video card.
Typical system:

300 MHz Pentium II or AMD K6-3.
64 megabytes of RAM.
3dfx Voodoo 2 / Riva TNT class 3d accelerator.
Awesome system:

Pentium III 500 or AMD Athlon 550 or faster PC.
128 megabytes of RAM.
3dfx Voodoo3 / Riva TNT2 class 3D accelerator."

ROFL I feel old.
It also says it only needs direct-x 7. So that helps narrow it down to the $30 cards on newegg. So Im just gonna get a $30 Radeon 7000 and see if I can get some better ram, maybe a better processor.

Thanks for the help guys. I should be ordering this stuff tonight, so Ill let you know what I get.

 

[Qeldroma]

Ok heres the specs of the computer.

General
Type: PC

Recommended Use: Small business, corporate business

Product Form Factor: Desktop

Width: 45 cm

Depth: 45 cm

Height: 12.8 cm

Weight: 11.4 kg

Localisation: French / France

Processor
Type: Intel Celeron 333 MHz

Installed Qty: 1

Max Supported Qty: 1

Upgradability: Upgradeable

Cache Memory
Type: L2 Cache - Pipeline Burst

Installed Size: 128 KB

Mainboard
Data Bus Speed: 66 MHz

RAM
Installed Size: 32 MB ( 0 MB soldered) / 256 MB (max)

Technology: CDRAM

Form Factor: DIMM 168-PIN

Storage Controller
Type: 1 x IDE - integrated

Controller Interface Type: ATA-33

Storage
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB floppy

Hard Drive: 1 x 3.2 GB - standard - ATA-33

Monitor
Monitor Type: None

Graphics Controller
Type: AGP - integrated

Graphics Processor / Vendor: S3 Trio3D

Video Memory: SGRAM

Installed Size: 2 MB / 4 MB (max)

Max Resolution (external): 1600 x 1200 / 8-bit (256 colours) <-- 8O

Video Output Supported: RGB

Input Device
Type: Mouse, keyboard
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think Im gonna upgrade the ram with one 128mb stick. Then I think I will get a new $30 radeon 7000 video card and be done with it. Thanks guys.

 

[Qeldroma]

Just totally out of curiosity, would this processor work in this system?

Pentium III Slot one Processor 1Ghz.

Here is the link

 

[Qeldroma]

Ok heres what Im getting... All from newegg.

Mushkin PC100 128MB 168Pin Ram Stick

Saphire Radeon 7000 Pci Card Direct-X 7 64MB 64Bit

Foxconn Wireless Adapter Pci 54MBPS

DCT Factory Speakers

I-Rocks Mouse

$70... Its all for the children. LOL.

 

[NightlySputnik]

It won't push the limit of known computer performances, but it's gonna be more than enough for what you plan.

My saying is: Why buy a Ferrari when you can do with a Honda Civic

 

[GeneticWeapon]

What video card should I get for my sons Windows 98 Computer?

I found one!

 

[ragemonkey]

Only if 3 things were possible on your motherboard:

1) The motherboard supports the new proc at all

2) It needs to support pc133 memory and a 133mhz FSB or there's no point

3) the multiplier can go high enough to run this proc at full speed (7.5x I think)

 

[BustedSony]

Ok heres the specs of the computer.


Mainboard
Data Bus Speed: 66 MHz

The most important thing is the one item you didn't tell us: what is the motherboard chipset? That can be found out in Device manager. If indeed it is a max 66Mhz Bus then it's an LX (or FX) That means a maximum PII-400. No possible P3 support. (well, a P3 CAN be used but it's underclocked, and may be unstable) If it's a BX then the bus can be 66, 100 Mhz, or even 133 in late hack boards (One of which I'm on now) and the max is a P3 1000, which is rare in Slot 1, 600 and 733 being the most popular P3 slot 1 CPUs. Thus you WOULD have an upgrade option to a $20 P3-600, at a considerable increase in performance.

LX could use up to 512megs of ram, though were often limited to 256 Meg. Only the first 64 megs are cached. BX boards could all use 512 Megs though they could be particular to card type (number of chips, single/double-sided etc.

All component market AT and ATX slot 1 boards had AGP. Small form boards and Dell etc. budget systems often did not.

 

[cisco]

Ok heres what Im getting... All from newegg.

Mushkin PC100 128MB 168Pin Ram Stick

Saphire Radeon 7000 Pci Card Direct-X 7 64MB 64Bit

Foxconn Wireless Adapter Pci 54MBPS

DCT Factory Speakers

I-Rocks Mouse

$70... Its all for the children. LOL.

You might want to make sure that the wireless adapter will work with win98. I can't remember if it will or not.

 

[ragemonkey]

$70 to upgrade what you have is nice... but consider the alternative that you could concievably rebuild your system for about that.

Just a thought here but using newegg as a guide you could do something like this:
----------

amd duron 1.8 ghz $28

256mb kingston valueram ddr 266 - $29

asrock k7vm3 atx motherboard with integrated via gfx - $41

----------

All in all not much more than you're spending now and should fit in whatever case you're currently using. Also, you can use the integrated gfx as dx7 apps should run just fine on it... until you feel like stepping up, and when you do it'll be agp.

... just a suggestion

 

[pauldh]

I am still not a fan of the radeon 7000. I had a 64MB one and in some games a 32MB Radeon DDR (7200) destoyed it. But worse than that is a total lack of support for it in titles that require Hardware T&L.
http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-games-that-require-hardware-transform-and-lighting

 

[GeneticWeapon]

Pauls right. Even though the 7000 uses T&L via the cpu instead of hardware, most games will not run on a machine that does not support it through hardware.