Graphics Cards - Argh

[Trifle]

I have been going round and round in circles trying to determine what graphics card:

a. is sufficient to run Rome Total War
b. is PCI interfaced (hey, that makes it sound like I know what I'm talking about!!??)

On the back of the box it gives all sorts of ATI cards that should work but I still can't source the exact model numbers for PCI.

Activision support tell me that the Inno3D GeForce4 MX4000 128MB will work, but they imply that it may not run newer games.
Also, in my searches, I read about overheating and overclocking?? If I get a card upgrade, do I need anything else to go with it?

I actually bought the game last Christmas for my poor child who is still patiently waiting for the opportunity to play it!

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[mark19632]

Scan do a range of PCI graphics cards (I assume you don;t have a AGP slot)

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...Thumbnails=yes

the FX5200 will run Rome total war happly as my little bro plays it on one of these.

Whats the rest of you rsystem like in terms of CPU and RAM?

[Trifle]

Scan do a range of PCI graphics cards (I assume you don;t have a AGP slot)

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...Thumbnails=yes

the FX5200 will run Rome total war happly as my little bro plays it on one of these.

Whats the rest of you rsystem like in terms of CPU and RAM?

Thanks Mark.
Yep, no AGP slot.
I plan to buy a new PC Package next year, but my son has just been given a PC and I haven't really looked at what the spec is yet. RTW loads, but breaks up Norman Collier stylee when you try to play it.

I've seen the FX5200 for sale on lots of sites but was worried that it would not work as it is not listed on suitable accelerator cards on the back of the box.

Thanks for the link, I'll have a look.

[ch9lss]

No one makes a great PCI card any more. Its actually getting harder and harder to even get a high performance AGP one.

[Trifle]

I spent more valuable time (is there any other type?) today searching.

Just to satisfy anyone's idle curiosity .... I think I am going to go for PNY Geforce FX5500. Cheapest I could find was on ebuy, but couldn't register on their website! So I am going with Amazon at about £43.

Fingers crossed.

Will probably go through the same hell for my next purchase .... a wireless router.

[fredered]

fx5500? i didnt realise that was on pci, did you mean 5200?

[Trifle]

http://www.pny.com/products/verto/value/5500pci.asp

That's PNY's US website, which shows a 5500 PCI card.

But you may be right cos this is the item on Amazon...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

And although it's advertised as PCI, under "features" it states:

Brand of Graphic Chip: nVIDIA
Bus Size in Bit: 128
Direct 3D Compatible: Yes
Firewire: No
GPU Model (Graphic Card): Geforce Fx 5500
Open GL Compatible: Yes
RAM in MB: 128
RAMDAC Frequency in MHz: 400
TV Input: No
TV Output: Yes
Type: Graphic Card
Type of Bus: AGP
Type of Card: Internal
Type of Memory: DDR-RAM

Does Type of Bus mean the same as interface? ie is it not PCI after all?

[Trifle]

Sorry... no worries... Just found the same item on PCWorld website and it too states PCI (but nearly 20 quid more!).

[ch9lss]

The type of bus is the slot it fits in, so yes that card on amazon is an AGP one not a PCI one

[nvening]

With big sites like amazon it is very easy to just have errors like that, thats why its always good to cheack other places with the exact item code