Drivers

[MaglorD]

The only reason why I recommened the FX series is because of budget and the fact that even a 66000 is going to be overkill given this guys current specs. He's going to be bottlenecking a 6600 more (with his CPU) than he would a 5900.

 

Since the 6600 and 5900(XT) are about the same price, I would definitely not go for the inferior 5900(XT) regardless of bottlenecking or whatever else.

[Can't Think Of A Name]

So I have to install this Service Pack 2 having 266 Mb??

Do then this proper?

 

You should install SP2 as a matter of basic computing safety, although it is a large DL. You can order it on CD from MS at their SP2 webpage; You'll have to look around since I don't know too much about whether or not there will be language problems. I doubt that you are having problems running TSL because of that.

 

It's definetly the video card. TSL requires a Radeon 9200 or better [i think] and it sounds like there's no way around it. A 7500 is just too old for TSL...You *could* try contacting LA Tech Support, but I think you are outta luck. Sorry!

 

:ph34r:

[T.R.O.N.]

My point is that I don't know if TRON is a hardcore gamer, casual gamer, or just getting into games, but his specs are ancient in terms of gaming hardware and is almost like an XBox -- And I mean no disrespect when I say this. Technically, it is true given his current specs.

 

This is why I said a 5900 series first taking into consideration his current specs and that he might NOT be able to upgrade anything else.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Heh... Not every has so many cash.

 

So which GeForce is the best upon such budget?

[Russki Bear]

With any consumer product in a fast moving industry, buy the best you can afford at the time. This includes video cards, if you can get a decent 6xxx series, do so. That way if you decide you can afford an update later on it will serve you better than an FX card will.

 

It will not be the card bottlenecking the system, it will be the rest of it, so it doesn't matter to your current system what card you buy, but it might to any future system you have.

 

Secondly, try to find out what version AGP port you have. It should be under the system devices in the device manager. If you don't know where that is, ask. You will want no less than AGP2 or AGP3.

 

SP2 is pretty much essential for your system - it tidies XP up a fair bit in general, meaning that it is harder for your system to be compromised while on the internet. If you have a software firewall, and there are good free ones available like Sygate Personal Firewall, and a good free virus scanner like AVG 7 Free Edition (www.grisoft.com) SP2 is less important, but you are still going to be vulnerable to certain threats. I have SP2 installed but I use SPF instead of Windows Firewall which SP2 includes just because it is easier to manage yet still has all of the features Windows Firewall has.

 

Only the newer Athlon and P4 chips support an NX flag, so that part of SP2 won't bother you. It just allows Windows to make sure some parts of memory which are not intended to be executed actually unable to do so. Viruses can exploit older versions of Windows and hardware that doesn't have this feature.

 

Russki Bear

[Can't Think Of A Name]

TRON-

 

You may want to check out www.NewEgg.com - they have some of the best prices I've seen on computer stuff, and they *should* be able to ship overseas. I got my Radeon 9600 with 256 MB Video Ram for a touch over 100.00 USD, an extremely good deal at the time.

 

Just figured I'd try and help you out.

 

:ph34r:

[T.R.O.N.]

Secondly, try to find out what version AGP port you have. It should be under the system devices in the device manager. If you don't know where that is, ask. You will want no less than AGP2 or AGP3.

 

SP2 is pretty much essential for your system - it tidies XP up a fair bit in general, meaning that it is harder for your system to be compromised while on the internet. If you have a software firewall, and there are good free ones available like Sygate Personal Firewall, and a good free virus scanner like AVG 7 Free Edition (www.grisoft.com) SP2 is less important, but you are still going to be vulnerable to certain threats. I have SP2 installed but I use SPF instead of Windows Firewall which SP2 includes just because it is easier to manage yet still has all of the features Windows Firewall has.

 

Only the newer Athlon and P4 chips support an NX flag, so that part of SP2 won't bother you. It just allows Windows to make sure some parts of memory which are not intended to be executed actually unable to do so. Viruses can exploit older versions of Windows and hardware that doesn't have this feature.

 

Russki Bear

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

1. AGP = Where is this ??

 

2. When I buy new graphic card, then czy I will have to install SP2 ? My colleague has GeForce 2MX ( !!! ) and there is no access to Internetu, but it despite all KotOR 2 acts at him without problem.

[Russki Bear]

No, SP2 is not required for your graphics card. If SP2 is too big, just go and get the firewall and virus scanner I mentioned and run them whenever you are on the internet if you don't already have anything.

 

 

To find your AGP version:

 

Go into your Control Panel. Make sure you are in classic view, and find the system icon. Open it and click the hardware tab. There should be a button named Device Manager. Hit it.

It will list the categories of all hardware installed in your system. You need to open the System Devices category. You should see something with AGP in there, and hopefully with a revision number.

 

If not, go to www.cpuid.com and download CPU-Z. It is free and small. Run that on your system and look on the Mainboard tab. There is a Graphic Interface section and the first field under that is your AGP version.

 

If it is AGP2 your new card should work at the 4x rate. If it is AGP3 then it will work at 8x. If it is AGP1, a new card will not work at all. This is because the AGP1 standard calls for a 3.3V supply where 2 and 3 are 1.5V and 0.8V. Newer cards draw their power from a standard power connector the same as you have connected to your hard disk, and only work under AGP2/3.

 

Good Luck!

 

Ask, if you have any other questions.

 

Russki Bear