Video card does not support DirectX 8.1

[l_eclipse_l]

Originally Posted by Neutrino

They have also enojed a very good good lead over Nv in the very large laptop embedded graphics market

Which is still incredibly weak stuff for having such a dominant presence in the laptop world. I'm running the xpress 200m on my Athlon 64 4000+ laptop, and this thing couldn't even beat out a $40 graphics card you can throw in a desktop. They can't figure out (or choose not to) combine amazing processor power (which I have and is readily available) and a decent GPU for the life of them. Laptop graphics have progressed so slowly compared to everything else.

Granted laptops are not built for gaming, but it would be nice to atleast have the option without spending $2,500 on a XPS.

Sorry for the off-thread post, but I wanted to chime in and vent on that.

[Neutrino]

Originally Posted by l_eclipse_l

Which is still incredibly weak stuff for having such a dominant presence in the laptop world. I'm running the xpress 200m on my Athlon 64 4000+ laptop, and this thing couldn't even beat out a $40 graphics card you can throw in a desktop. They can't figure out (or choose not to) combine amazing processor power (which I have and is readily available) and a decent GPU for the life of them. Laptop graphics have progressed so slowly compared to everything else.

Granted laptops are not built for gaming, but it would be nice to atleast have the option without spending $2,500 on a XPS.

Sorry for the off-thread post, but I wanted to chime in and vent on that.

true that, there are some very bad tradeoffs with laptops. Good gaming laptops cost an arm and a leg and have garbage battery life especially when gaming plus they are huge and heavy. On the other hand proper portable laptops only have the most basic onboard GPUs that have to share main mem. very hard to find a happy medium.

Personally i tend towards smaller portable laptops with good battery life and leave the gaming to my main desktop.

I know that intel has been pushing for a laptop standard so maybe we might get sometime the flexibility of a self build laptop in the future.

[Knifeblade]

Originally Posted by hotrod_chevyz

Doesnt bother me, ive been called worse.

Heres what i think. A Dimension 2400 probably has a Intel 845 setup. That video doesnt meet the system requirements of the game thats trying to be played. Heres a note on that direct from the game site. This is what the say about video message error problems:

First, verify that your video card meets the minimum requirements for the game. You will need a 64mb video card with at least one of these chipsets or better:

ATI Radeon 8500, 9000 Pro, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800
ATI Radeon x300, x600, x800
Nvidia GeForce 3, GeForce3 Ti 200
Nvidia GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8X, GeForce Ti 4600, GeForce4 Ti 4800 SE
Nvidia GeForceFX 5200, 5300, 5500, 5600, 5700, 5750, 5800, 5900, and 5950
Nvidia GeForce 6800.

Does he have one of these or better. No he doesnt. That doesnt mean you cant get it to play. mine played it on a GeForce 2Ti.


That brings me to upgrading the version of DX. Upgrading DX can make you lose certain features on certain video cards. You can lose both or either D3D acceleration, and AGP texture acceleration when you upgrade direct x. This is true for a lot of barebones, HP, Compaq, and Dell towers that have intel chipsets and integrated graphics.

Next we have video drivers. You can lose or gain certain direct x features depending on what driver is loaded to some video cards. The features im talking about are D3d and texture aceleration. Ive noticed this problem more with intel chips than any other . Update the driver and boom no more texture aceleration.


The game site also said this:

1. If you have updated your drivers and still get this error, you must make sure that the DirectX features for your video card are enabled.
2. Click on Start.
3. Click on Run...
4. Type dxdiag into the box.
5. Click OK.
6. Click on the Display tab.
7. Find the DirectX Features box.
8. The first feature is DirectDraw Acceleration. It should say Enabled next to it. If it says Disabled, click the Enable button.
9. The second feature is Direct3D Acceleration. It should say Enabled next to it. If it says Disabled, click the Enable button.
10. The third feature is AGP Texture Acceleration. It should say Enabled next to it. If it says Disabled, click the Enable button.
11. Once all three are enabled, close the window.

You may now start your game. The error should no longer occur. If the features are Disabled and you do not have the option to Enable, you will want to contact your computer manufacturer or your video card manufacturer for further assistance.]


All they are going to say is your running outdated hardware for whatever it is your trying to do in software.


This brings me to upgrade. It may or may not be able to be upgraded be means of an AGP slot.

Here are some examples of Intel 845's that do not have AGP slots.
http://www.intel.com/products/mother...gvsr/index.htm
http://www-old.epox.nl/english/produ...ard/4gvm9i.htm

On this page you will find intel 845's that do. Scroll down the page and find the intel 845 chipset motheboards. Some have it some dont.
http://www-old.epox.nl/english/produ...rboard/478.htm

If his doesnt he will have to upgrade to a PCI video.

As for calling me names its not like i care.

Ayep, the above is precisely what I face, and what I've tried, thanks for putting that up, it exactly what I get and have tried.

Soooooooooooooooo................. Obviously a new card. Nuts, lol. [But I felt that would end up being the case, anyway]. My chip is an Intel 82845G.

With the above said, I really am a best-case NEWBIE at replacing this stuff, I really don't know wtf I am looking for. I am competent in replacing a card, but what card?
[i.e. geforce ATI upper cards, pci or agp]

What else really confuses me, as I don't want to buy something that won't work [and be stuck with it] is that since I have the onboard AGP, can I or should I go PCI? I was under the impression that the two are not plug-in compatible for this dinosaur Dell 2400.???????????????

I do really appreciate your willingness, all you folks, to help this confused newbie out!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also apologize for using so much space in this post. But, I've done some research, and it only seems to get me more doing a than steering me to the solution, sigh. And this may be irrelevant, but I got a similar rendereing error message on another new game I tried to play [WW11 sniper]. Obvious that a newrer card is the fix, ah well.

[Knifeblade]

[
>snip<
Anyway knife I should have posted this earlier before being caught in this BS, your problem might be caused by a simple game bug and not necessarily be related to the video card. Best thing would be to open up the comp, see if you do have an AGP slot and if you do borrow an AGP card from a friend and see if that solves your problem. This way you do not have to spend unnecessary money.[/quote]
>unsnip<

It's all good, I have already started to learn a great deal from the discourse happening here!!!!!!!!!!! It is obvious that I truly know enough to know I don't know enough, and I freely admit it. [no disparagement to any of the folks who were willing to try to answer my OP]. I said this was totally new to me, I've not the experience all of you have with this.

With that said, it IS a not-quite bare-bones older Dell 2400 Dimension, about 3 years old now. And please don't laugh to much at me, but how do I check for a AGP slot, as mentioned earlier? Don't get me wrong, I do know how to open a case and identify components, but this my first ever shot at trying to replace a video card. Sort of want to do it right the first time. It seems no doubt that the crummy card I have is strict on-board, and Dell isn't answering my ? about having a AGP slot yet, gggggggrrrrrrrr, LOL.

[hotrod_chevyz]

I would get a PCI video card, and i would go for nvidia over other brands like ATI. The reason i say this is when i had the 845 chipset computer, a friend gave me a 128mb ATI card and when i plugged it in, it wouldnt work with the onboard AGP. It would work as a standard adapter, but as soon as i loaded the software from the cd, the computer wouldnt boot, it would restart itself halfway through booting and automatically go into safe mode after it came back on. I eventually grew tired of trying it over and over .I tried it on win98se, 2000 pro, and xp pro, wich the computer had all three OS's at the same time on it. I gave it away to another person who installed it, still has it, and i think he wants it to have his baby, hes really wow'ed by it . As for me I got on ebay and bought a Nvidia card and it worked fine the first time out.


Not trying to say ATI or Nvidia is better, thats a different topic all together. But ATI is known for having some issues with "certain" VIA and INTEL chipsets. Ive dealt with this problem twice. The very first ATI card i ever bought was a 16MB ATI rage card and it wouldnt work with my VIA chipset Mobo. It did the same thing. And now that my new shuttle board has a VIA chipset, guess wich brand of card i will never buy.

Dont forget to check out minimum power supply requirements for the video card you choose. I believe the power supply you have is a 150-250 watt, wich you can read on the side and tell what it is. It will say somthing like "model atx250" or a phrase sort of like "max continuous output power is 250 watt". As long as you have at least 250 watts and havent added a lot of PCI cards, you should be good to add whatever you want.

EDIT: http://www.pcguide.com/byop/byop_Cha...ndPCICards.htm

The slot at the very top of the picture is what an agp slot looks like. It would be the slot thats closest to the processor.

[Neutrino]

Yes yes please by all means, even if you have an AGP slot available do get a PCI video card after all they are far more power efficient as its been proven earlier. And yes based on that anecdotal evidence presented earlier clearly ATI cards have huge issues with via and intel chipsets and nvidia cards never have any conflicts whatsoever. Their drivers are also quite an example of perfection (the nvidia access manager for NF4 chipsets is the best piece of software ever written).


In conclusion would go with that 7300 mentioned earlier since as you can see in benchmarks it is the best card for the money. Or even better an earlier Fx series card from Nvidia since back then they were so much superior to the 9700/9800 series from ATI who could blame them after all ATI has been gone apparently.

Anyway I'm done here, I have better things to do than waste my time arguing with a wall. Bye!

[hotrod_chevyz]

Here ye go>

Just scroll down and read these links im posting.

http://www.uk-shop-index.co.uk/Dell.html

quote:
Posted on 09 / 11 / 2003
Dell Dimension 2400
This computer can pack out the power.
The OS hardly crashes (win xp) and even though it has crashed it was partly down to me opening up to many apps, (ie. Microsoft Office XP, Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX, Explorer).
This computer is more for the Home / Small Buisness user as it has rather poor graphics performance (NO AGP SLOT).
The Dimension 2400 costs only (£450) as standard but with an up grade to the following specs you should have a very fast and reliable computer.
256 MB NON ECC 333MHZ DDR MEMORY (1*256)
Celeron 2.4GHZ PRO
80GB HARD DISK (7,200RPM)
4 * DVD-R/RW
2400 Celeron 2.4GHZ Integrated Sound , Vi
I would rate this product 5 out of 5 for the following reasons:-
Price,
Design,
Tidy Build,
Great choice of monitors,
Upgradable to your needs,
and Dells Support and Servicing is great.
end quote.

Once again no agp slot. Right from the mouth of another 2400 owner.

heres sombody else with dell 2400 problems.

http://forums.pcworld.com/forums/vie...c43b4d37c74fcd b1fa2709

Another...

http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/43104

Bleh>

If he upgrades to ATI might be a better choice.

As for what i was talking about earlier. Via and ATI issues.

http://forums.viaarena.com/messagevi...3601&enterthre ad=y

http://forums.viaarena.com/messagevi...4525&enterthre ad=y

http://forums.viaarena.com/messagevi...4355&enterthre ad=y

http://forums.viaarena.com/messagevi...4256&enterthre ad=y


The list goes on and on. This is just a couple examples. these issues are known by both companies. and it goes back years. Ive seen Intel chipsets do the same thing and spit out ATI cards. no workie workie.

I myself have good luck with Nvidia. To each his own. But any way he goes hes still going to have to upgrade his power supply. His (like many dells) have unstable power supplies that are not even a 300 watt. As cheap as video cards are thats the only thing holding him back.

Heres an upgrade power supply for dell dimension 2300-4600 models for dirt cheap. It upgrades them from whatever they have to 300 watt. You can get a even higher watt power supply if need be.

http://www.affordablesurplus.com/del...wer-supply.asp

I would get a power supply before i start doing any serious upgrading. Thats just how i am. Ive heard more bad about factory dell power supplies, than i have good.

>Nobody is arguing with you Neutrino. Ive done nothing but give the facts i know of that could help with the issues knifeblade is having. Every time sombody has shot at what i was saying ive replied, trying to explain what im saying with fact as oppose to attitude. Im finished explaining myself. Knifeblade has an idea of what hes looking at now, based on fact. I didnt just spout somthing off the top of my head without looking into it first. Really i already knew all i have said. Been there done that its old news. I simply dug around and found proof of what i was talking about, in defense of being called stupid. This thread isnt productive anymore. All has been said that needs to be said. Good luck knifeblade.

[Neutrino]

Originally Posted by hotrod_chevyz

>Nobody is arguing with you Neutrino. Ive done nothing but give the facts i know of that could help with the issues knifeblade is having. Every time sombody has shot at what i was saying ive replied, trying to explain what im saying with fact as oppose to attitude. Im finished explaining myself. Knifeblade has an idea of what hes looking at now, based on fact. I didnt just spout somthing off the top of my head without looking into it first. Really i already knew all i have said. Been there done that its old news. I simply dug around and found proof of what i was talking about, in defense of being called stupid. This thread isnt productive anymore. All has been said that needs to be said. Good luck knifeblade.

No what you did was become a google scientist. want to find problems with ATI or nvidia, thousand are only a google search away.

nvidia video card problems: Results 1 - 10 of about 3,510,000 for nvidia video card problems.

nvidia video card problems: Results 1 - 10 of about 3,650,000 for ati video card problems.



With a bit of patience anyone can claim to be an expert. Want to claim you are an expert in bose einstein condensate----->Google then you can spew technical info for ages: instant cold atom scientist.


With all that amazing expertise you claim to have I still have yet to see reasonable explanations for the gross errors you have posted. And somehow all your extensive pots are based on searches.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

As a last piece of advice knife you may take it or leave it as it is: Do not start waiting your money yet on components. The problem could be caused by an unrelated problem, you do not want to start blowing money just yet before isolating the issue. And since you are not comfortable messing around the inside of the comp find a knowledgeable friend to help or a local reputable comp shop that will not rip you off. They will have the parts to isolate the issues in minutes.

Furthermore if you actually want a computer that is decently futureproof (as much as a computer can be)and can play current games at decent settings find someone to do a custom-build for you using standard components. Its simply not worth it to waste money on completely outdated AGP or far worse PCI video cards. not to mention that since DX10 cards are arriving in a few days (Nvidia G80) you could purchase a very powerful current gen video card for quite cheap very soon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway all that is beside the point right now, I though that in my years of posting in this section helping people I would have established that I have some adequate knowledge. Anyway its clear from the flack I have been receiving for this thread my presence is no longer welcomed in "Computer/Electronics/Technology" so as far as I'm concerned I bid farewell to everyone.

[hotrod_chevyz]

Good lord, can i get a witness?

Originally Posted by Neutrino

No what you did was become a google scientist.

Yeah thats it, i know nothing . It was all google your right.

Originally Posted by Neutrino

With a bit of patience anyone can claim to be an expert. Want to claim you are an expert in bose einstein condensate----->Google then you can spew technical info for ages: instant cold atom scientist.

Yeah thats it. I "claimed" to be an "expert" cause i can google stuff. Although that part of the thread evades me..could you please show me where i claimed this?

Originally Posted by Neutrino

With all that amazing expertise you claim to have I still have yet to see reasonable explanations for the gross errors you have posted. And somehow all your extensive pots are based on searches..

Oh yeah i forgot i claimed to have "amazing expertise". Care to show where i said that. Ive worked on computers for almost ten years, and went to OSU for computers back in 2002. But i never anywhere claimed to be any kind of computer expert.

Neutrino, i have no beef with you. But at the same time im not going to just sit here and be treated as if i were stupid. I dont care how much longer you have been on AF than me, no member on here deserves this sort of treatment. Its disrespectful, and frankly you dont know me like that. If a regular member treated other members like you do, they would be banned. Yourself is guilty of giving bad info on this thread, among others. So what big deal.

THIS THREAD IS BEYOND THE POINT OF NO RETURN!!!

[Knifeblade]

Well, I think it's time to close, LOL. I certainly didn't intend any animosity to arise, for that I apologize [although I don't feel I need to].

I thank everyone so very much for the help and advice, regardless!!!!!!!!!!!!! I now have a MUCH clearer idea of what I need to do, and what my options likely are, as well as other areas that I wasn't even aware of.

My sincere thanks and gratitude to all of you for helping, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

Tam [aka Knifeblade_03]

[Knifeblade]

K, decided to open this thread again for update from all the great advice I received.

1] I have PCI slots available.

2] I need more RAM, that's a separate issue, sheesh, lol. Maybe not, though, thinking a 128 or 256 RAM card might cover the weak 256 RAM I have.

3] Regardless of what Dell responded, I understand I can pci a good graphics card, and disable the onboard AGP graphics via BIOS or Device Manager.

Man, this has really been a learning and research experience, but it all good for the learning!!!!!!!!!!

[hotrod_chevyz]

Originally Posted by Knifeblade_03

K, decided to open this thread again for update from all the great advice I received.

1] I have PCI slots available.

2] I need more RAM, that's a separate issue, sheesh, lol. Maybe not, though, thinking a 128 or 256 RAM card might cover the weak 256 RAM I have.

3] Regardless of what Dell responded, I understand I can pci a good graphics card, and disable the onboard AGP graphics via BIOS or Device Manager.

Man, this has really been a learning and research experience, but it all good for the learning!!!!!!!!!!

Your built in video is feeding off the 256 ram you have. The system reserves either 32mb or 64mb of your systems ram to run the onboard video so when you replace the video your overall system performance should improve.

Glad you have it figured out now. A lot of different companies make good quailty PCI video cards. When you buy one make sure its dx9 compliant and will work with your operating system, or you could spend money and be back to square one. Oh and good luck.

I dont plan on posting on this section of the forum anymore. Neutrino, sorry you feel you have to "bid farewell" or whatever it was. Seems kinda extreme if you ask me. Obviously you know people who hang out here in this section of the forum, ive only posted twice here and got treated rudely, and was made out to be stupid (or at least the attempt was made). I have better things to do besides that anyways so dont let me stand in your way (or however else i could put it).

[Knifeblade]

[quote=hotrod_chevyz]Your built in video is feeding off the 256 ram you have. The system reserves either 32mb or 64mb of your systems ram to run the onboard video so when you replace the video your overall system performance should improve.


Exactly correct!!!!!!!!! A pci card not only can be put in, but it will have choice of 128 or 256 Ram built-in. That will release my primary RAM's draw-off for video and graphics. And, you were correct, my Dell has no AGP slot, but has three PCI slots available. . Whether an ATI or NVidia, well, I have to decide that. Re potential power-supply issues, I have found that there is no problem with putting in a pci, as far as I have determined. Once I disable the onboard graphics, it seems that some power required gets released, and can then be used for the card. [As far as I have determined so far].

I have, however, determined that the problem is not within the game itself. My g/f ran it on her Viao with sans problems, but she is diddling around trying to find what video card she has, ggggggrrrrr, LOL. That would point me one direction. Either that, or go to her place and play the game . Prob. is, she'll want to play "games" when I'm there, so while enjoyable, it doesn't let me play what I want to at the time . Well, maybe it does, but that's not for anyone else's biz, LOL.

I really learned a lot, and I again thank everyone for their thoughts and suggestions.

[Knifeblade]

well, quick update. Bought a GeForce FX 5200 [supported by this comp.] and a 512 RAM to add to the 256. Here we go, do or die, LOL.

[Knifeblade]

Dell is silly. They stated I could not do what I wanted to do to upgrade. According to Dell, I "need a new system", yeah, right, what a crock.

Granted, this is a base 2400. However, I have put in a GeForce FX 5200 pci card, disabled the onboard graphics, and the card is doing very well, thanks for nada, Dell, LOL. My games [the original issue I was having, they weren't playing] now come up and play great. I also put 512 Mb RAM to boost RAM total 768 Mb. Not a full Gig, but another RAM at 512 is in my future, LOL.

Essentially, thanks again, everyone. Problem solved, and I am one happy camper, for a while . Next projects are another 512 RAM to replace the 256 original, an external HD for more storage, and possibly a more updated video card [but that's way away, yet, those suckers can be expensive, LOL]. Sometimes it truly works not to listen to manufacturers spiel as gospel.