video card ???? I hope this is the right place for this question, How do I find out what graphics/video card is installed in my comp? I haven't even purchased my sims2 game yet, wanted to be sure it would work with my computer. Thank's and sorry if I posted in the wrong area. I have xp and plenty of memory on my computer.
No need for apologies as this is the section where questions about your computer and its parts goes. Go to start, click on run and type "dxdiag" (without the quotes) in the box. Then go to the display or display devices tab. It should tell you what video card you have installed. Card name: Manufacturer: Chip type: and then a few lines down: Display Memory:
ok here's what I found....... S3 graphics Pro Savage DDR S3 graphics, inc memory 16.0 mb will this work?
Ok, next week I'm taking my computer to Circuit City where they're going to help me find the right video card for my machine and install it for me. (For $39.00) I told the guy that I'm working with a tight budget. Hopefully I'll walk out of there with my new Sims 2 game also (and you guy's will be buying the expansion! lucky) Here's a little bit about my computer, any suggestions before I go shopping would be great. My computer is used for surfing mainly, and pogo, ion, nick.com, That sort of thing. Processor- AMD Athlon xp2000, 3DNOW,~1.7GHz Memory-112mb RAM page file-22mb used, 377mb availible Direct X version 9.0 Thank's in advance for your help! Have a great day!
The Prosavage cards are not supported by Maxis. They sometimes work, but sometimes don't work. But you need an upgrade anyway because it definitely won't work with a processor like yours. (You need at least 2.0ghz to run a non-T&L card, and the prosavage are all non-T&L cards. And it's much harder to change a processor than a video card.) You'll also need more RAM, as the absolute minimum needed is 256mb but people who don't have at least 512mb of RAM have limited abilties in the game. (Settings must all be on low, all background processes turned off and still you will have problems with slowing when you are on larger lots or have many people in the family. Look through some of the other messages here in this forum section to see what people are seeing with the computers in the bottom ranks of ability.) Which version of direct X 9.0 do you have. It requires 9.0C. (It replaced 9.0b.But that's pretty easy to upgrade.) It's good to take it to the store with you. That will prevent you coming home with an AGP video card when you only have the older PCI slots (which limit your card selection to the PCI FX5200 and the PCI Radeon 9200, both of which still require a lot of compromises to get reasonable performance.) Good luck!
I have the AGP slots in my computer and it's running Direct x 9.0. When I purchased this computer I knew nothing about it, I just wanted one and I figured I could upgrade this if I had to. I'm begining to think I won't be buying the sims 2, I can't afford all this right now. Just replaceing the video card and adding memory was going to cost almost $200.00 plus the $50.00 for the game. It's only 2 1/2 years old.
Yes, it does sound like you will want to put it off until you can afford a new computer. But a 2 1/2 year old computer is considered old. At least you have an AGP slot, so that you aren't stuck with low end cards. Shoot, for a high end game, a 6 month old computer is considered old! Mine is only 6 months old and already I'm wishing for new stuff for it (or wishing I'd sprung for a PCX compatible motherboard. Birthday list: I want another gb of RAM and a faster processor...)
