which graphic card does my mobo supporT?

[Furashu]

i have a MSI i845 motherboard

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=879&page=2

but i dont know what kind of graphic card my mobo can support please help

im only a teenager so i have about 65 dollars to spend on an "okay" graphic card

please help:cold:

also how do i find that out for future reference? and how do i know what kind of ram it supports?

[dwhelan]

Ram == 3GB of PC133 SDRAM. it says it in the title of the pcstat page.

Now you have a AGP card slot, so you could pick up an AGP 4x/8x. I would recommend a little extra money (20 bucks) and pick this up.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133013

The only problem is with any higher graphics card, you maybe have to replace your power supply, but that is not to bad.

[SOSTrooper]

Well, referring to the same website you just linked, I'll quote off the components on your motherboards to answer your questions:

but i dont know what kind of graphic card my mobo can support please help
Answer: The AGP 2.0 interface uses a nice little retention clip to lock the (1X, 2X, 4X) 1.5V AGP card solidly in place. To remove the card from the slot, simply press down on the little white lever and the rear part of the card will pop out. 3.3V AGP cards are not supported.
Looks like it only supports AGP 4X, you can get a Sapphire 9800SE AGP, (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102587) or something like a eVGA 6200 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130008). As for your future reference, I don't think you'll be able to do much more upgrades than this, since AGP slot is obsolete. There are faster AGP cards that costs a few $100s, but they're not worth the investment for you. Rather, in the future when you have the money, you should just get an entirely new computer with the new PCI-Express slot (faster) that has replaced the old AGP slot (slower).





and how do i know what kind of ram it supports?
Answer: The 845Pro2-R supports up to three PC133 SDRAM modules of 1.0GB in size, for a total of up to 3GB. The i845 chipset doesn't do the best job of supporting PC100 so you'd be taking your chances using such dated memory on this board.
It seems like it uses the old 168 pin PC133 SDRAM memory. Something like this on newegg. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141515)

[Furashu]

well im currently learning about computers but what kind of mobo can i get for about under 100 because i know u have to get a mobo before u choose the ram and video card and ect.

this seems like a good deal?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138247

[Vinny]

That mobo's barely better than your current mobo... no PCIe x16, only 2 184 DIMMs, and socket 754.

If you're going to build a computer from the ground up then figure out how much money you have to spend first before picking out your parts.

[Furashu]

id say about 350 dollars
i already have all the other things( ie the case, mouse, monitor, speakers, keyboard)

[dwhelan]

Honestly, I would hold off and save some more. With 350 it is going to be tough to get a decent MoBo, CPU, Ram, and Graphics card. I would say either suffer through with the current card or pick up one of the suggested ones.

p.s. The one I suggested runs in 4X mode, sorry did not realize I wrote 8x

[Furashu]

what if i got 500? lol

[ofacto]

Do you have a Fry's near you? They have great deals on motherboard combos.

For example this week they had AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 939 and ECS mobo with Radeon Xpress on board video (good enough to play Counterstrike or Guild Wars and simliar games) for $140, pair that with the 1gb DDR ram they had on sale for $70 and you have a decent system for way less than your $350 budget. Spend the rest of the money on a better video card now or save up for one of the DirectX 10 video cards which are coming out in a few months.

[dwhelan]

Do you have a Fry's near you? They have great deals on motherboard combos.

For example this week they had AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 939 and ECS mobo with Radeon Xpress on board video (good enough to play Counterstrike or Guild Wars and similar games) for $140, pair that with the 1gb DDR ram they had on sale for $70 and you have a decent system for way less than your $350 budget. Spend the rest of the money on a better video card now or save up for one of the DirectX 10 video cards which are coming out in a few months.

What about a case and decent power supply, not to mention if you want the other computer to be functional you need an optical drive, hard drive, monitor, and input devices. Plus, with the EULA from Microsoft, you’re supposed to by a new license, because it is a new computer.

I am going to assume from a quick google search, this is a pre-fab computer (Hp, Compaq, Dell, Etc.) so most likely they were using a custom case, and if it is old enough to be one of the standard company cases, then the power supply will not support the AMD64 processor.

Honestly, I am going to give you the words Leo Laporte gave me, save your money until you have enough to by the whole system at once, or else you will be mismatching parts. Plus, use Robert Heron's advice; spend approximately the same on the video card as you do on the processor, (thought now that is tough with the AMD price slashes)

[ofacto]

What about a case and decent power supply, not to mention if you want the other computer to be functional you need an optical drive, hard drive, monitor, and input devices. Plus, with the EULA from Microsoft, you’re supposed to by a new license, because it is a new computer.

I am going to assume from a quick google search, this is a pre-fab computer (Hp, Compaq, Dell, Etc.) so most likely they were using a custom case, and if it is old enough to be one of the standard company cases, then the power supply will not support the AMD64 processor.

Honestly, I am going to give you the words Leo Laporte gave me, save your money until you have enough to by the whole system at once, or else you will be mismatching parts. Plus, use Robert Heron's advice; spend approximately the same on the video card as you do on the processor, (thought now that is tough with the AMD price slashes)

The WinXP EULA is not that strict, you can transfer the OS to another computer as long as you completely remove it from the old one.

He said he already had all the other stuff, if they aren't compatible they also have a great Antec Case with a 350 Smart Power PSU (good enough for A64 + the PSU itself is worth $50) for $30 AR at Fry's.

I love Fry's great deals plus they have pretty good return policy.

[dwhelan]

The WinXP EULA is not that strict, you can transfer the OS to another computer as long as you completely remove it from the old one.

He said he already had all the other stuff, if they aren't compatible they also have a great Antec Case with a 350 Smart Power PSU (good enough for A64 + the PSU itself is worth $50) for $30 AR at Fry's.

I love Fry's great deals plus they have pretty good return policy.

Usually, I would agree, but as I said they changed the EULA. Once the motherboard is changed, you need a whole new license, no matter the fact if the old computer is functioning or not.

Links
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/oemeula.htm

http://oem.microsoft.com/downloads/Public/sblicense/English_SB_License.pdf

As for getting the 350 PSU. Whats the point of buying a PSU that any graphic card upgrade will require it to be replaced, assuming he wants to be able to use his hard drive and optical drives at the same time. I agree Antec is a good buy, but buying below 400 is not wise and honestly when I build systems now I stick with 500 or higher.

[SpreadTheWord]

How come every time someone asks for a cheap graphics card people tell him to get something that will play Crysis at 1600x1200?

I have that MB/CPU combo from Newegg that the OP posted and it works great with only 512mb RAM and a GeForce4MX! I'm getting another half gig of memory and a 6600 graphics card that will let me play games like Age of Empires 3, Quake 4 and Half-Life 2 easily.

To the OP. You have $300 to spend on a system, so what kind of games are you going to play on your PC? If all you want is to play Counter Strike 1.6 @ 1042x768 with 60fps then an ATI 9000 series card (such as 9600 or 9800) and 512 to 1042mb of memory will do fine. But if you want to play FEAR and Battlefield 2 at high settings then you'll need a much more powerful rig.