Graphics Help.

[Glorificus]

Hello everyone.

Sorry to bother you all just really need some help for my partners PC.
He has been given an old PC from my parents and even tho it's in amazing condition it needs some upgrades.

The current Graphics card is

Display
=====
Card name: SiS 650_651_M650_740
Manufacturer: SiS
Chip type: SiS 650 Rev 00
Display Memory: 8.0 MB


Now he's wanting to get it to 256MB so he can play a game called World Of Warcraft.
Not really sure about PC's but if you need any info please ask and I will try my very best to provide it.
I can also include pictures of inside the PC if thats any help at all.
As you can probs tell I'm abit of a newbie when it comes to computers other then ebay haha.
Just really need some help gettin his PC sorted.

So erm ask away cause I really don't know where to start with this issue.
Sorry for bothering you all.

Please note we are in UK.

Thanks!

[elsegundo]

i dont think thats a videocard. its a graphics driver/chip on your motherboard that does the video. can you take a picture of the inside of the computer, since you offered? i'd like to double check to see what type of cards will fit that rig.

[Glorificus]

Of course ^.^
Anything that will help.
Just give me afew moments to get my cam ^^

[Kalos]

Hello everyone.

Sorry to bother you all just really need some help for my partners PC.
He has been given an old PC from my parents and even tho it's in amazing condition it needs some upgrades.

The current Graphics card is

Display
=====
Card name: SiS 650_651_M650_740
Manufacturer: SiS
Chip type: SiS 650 Rev 00
Display Memory: 8.0 MB

Now he's wanting to get it to 256MB so he can play a game called World Of Warcraft.

It's not as simple as just cranking up the memory. The whole graphics card will need to be replaced, perhaps the whole machine.

From what I gathered online, the SiS 650 is a pretty old peice, early Pentium 4 era peice: http://www.sis.com/products/sis650_features.htm I don't think this machine can be upgraded well at all. The CPUs haven't been made in six years, the ram is capped at a very slow frequency on the old DDR1 makeup, and the graphics expansion port is AGP if available at all. Doubtful the PSU will have been manufactured with enough spare wattage for a proper graphics card, or the proper connectors to do so.

It may play WoW with a graphics card upgrade, but I'd be more tempted to bin it and begin again with a proper basis with modern formats used to lower costs.

[Glorificus]

Here ya go this is inside the PC.

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6205/image017mv4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6205/image017mv4.1324fada79.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=149&i=image017mv4.jpg)

[elsegundo]

=[...................

im sorry i cant see image shack... dumb work blocks the site. photobucket perhaps? or if kalos sees it and can confirm what you can actually upgrade to... im guessing agp or pci cards at best.


and dont worry about "bothering" us here. im at work and all im doing is inputting personal financial information and scanning a bunch of signed loan documents, financial statements, applications, and business agreements.

[Glorificus]

What about this?
http://www.cex.co.uk/products/Computing/Graphics%20Cards/SGRAAGP/index.php?sku=SGRAAA5JGT6A&name=Nvidia%20GeForceFX%205700%20LE%20256MB&mode=buy

The Stats on PC atm are
Ram: 256MB(Soon to be 2GB)
Processor: 2.4Ghz

thats all I know atm.

[Glorificus]

Does this work for the picture

http://i36.tinypic.com/xmr9fd.jpg

[elsegundo]

i wouldnt suggest buying it! but the card will get you very low framerate at a very low graphics level. anything "LE" is pretty bad. they should really call it LitE. it will let you play the game with cartoon graphics though, and not too high resolution. but im pretty sure it will let you play the game.

make sure you have an AGP slot! and im not sure what agp speed the card is. it doesnt have to match, but it will go at the slower rate of the card/slot.

ok i see picture. it does look like an agp slot. it will give you better graphics than the on-board graphics for sure. but remember, turn down your graphics. an LE model of the card will have the same processor, and the same memory, but the amount of data that transfers between computer, ram, and processor will be smaller than a normal version of the card.

[Glorificus]

So is that brown thing the AGP slot?
what about this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300253050500&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=020

[elsegundo]

yes the brown thing is an agp slot. i do not know the specifics for finding what version it is, and what cards you can support, since agp cards have different speeds (2x, 4x, 8x). i dont know the maximum speed your motherboard can support.

good luck with the memory. im guessing its a DDR1 module. the mainstream is DDR2 now. but you can get DDR1 easily still. there is one slot along the edge (divot), offset a bit from the middle, that tells me its DDR1.

my work also blocks ebay! so... hehe. sorry!

[Glorificus]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260275737999&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

Thats the correct ram yes?

[elsegundo]

cant view ebay stuffs.

for the Ram, make sure it says DDR1.

For the graphics card, just make sure its 128-bit, and not 64-bit.
try this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131014

[Glorificus]

Hey.
In all honesty is the PC worth upgradeing?
the Ram said DDR not DDR1

[elsegundo]

DDR = DDR1. im sorry. its with the introduction of DDR2 that DDR'ers need to specify that DDR is DDR1, so it will not be confused with DDR2. anyway... with that said... yes... its DDR, the first DDR. 184pins i think (if you want to count them! lol) (kinda like how "Back to the Future Pt.1" was originally called "Back to the Future" its used to differentiate between the sequels).

you're probably going to be spending $100 USD on the memory and graphics card. it will give you decent mid graphics at mid framerates. if you're not into graphics and all that, the play experience would be fine with that rig. you will see the difference between that computer and the one you already have (your 4 gig rig). it will play wow. if this is all you're aiming for, then it shouldnt be a problem. i played with a GeForce 6200LE for several months. it was always on medium graphics and the pfs rate was about 15-20. it was livable and i could play it no problems.

for me, i would not upgrade that computer. i'd leave it as an internet surfing machine and buy a new one. but that's just me. the computer is about 5 years old. im looking to upgrade my computer in about a year. its about 3 years old. but again.. thats just me.

[Glorificus]

So really it's pumpin more money in then it's worth?

[elsegundo]

if you think dumping $100 usd, or the british equivalent of that, into graphics and memory, for maybe 4-6 months until your partner decide he's fed up with marginal graphics is an ok investment, then sure, buy it. i spend $100 in a weekend. =/

how long are you thinking of keeping it? if its money that's the issue, you can even buy a new computer today and pay the rest off in a year. plenty of places do that. its really entirely up to you. others may chime in with their own opinions, but its really up to you. $100 is not that much to me, and for an upgrade i can live with for several months? sure. once you get into outlands, the graphics requirements go up a bit. and once WotLK comes out, im sure the graphics will only get better. so you might want to think about that also.

k...gtg. nice meeting you. good luck!

[Tunga]

The question is how much money are you prepared to spend? If the answer is ~£75 then your only real choice is to upgrade this, just don't expect great results. If the answer is a few hundred then you should probably look at getting a new machine (there's a sticky with some suggested hardware in it).

The only thing that worries me (as mentioned by Kalos) is that you've probably got a very cheap Power Suppy Unit in there and it might not having like a new graphics card added to it. There's also the possibility that this motherboard won't even run the card at full speed, it's impossible to say with knowing the components though.

[Kalos]

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=41Q5&CategorySelectedId=11150&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11150,4294959239,42670000,4294960195,40820000
Memory at the right speed for your motherboard (there's no point going faster, the motherboard can't take any memory speeds above 266 Mhz).

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4S3G&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11137,42220000,4294963789 A graphics card that should work well, an old Radeon 2600 Pro.

I'm really not sure if this is wise on the current PSU, if it blows it could destroy everything attached to it, including the components you just bought under the extra strain.

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4ZWQ&CategorySelectedId=11259&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11259 That PSU should hold it fine enough, possibly could be reused if you were building a new machine as well.

[Wintrow]

I've played wow on a GF4MX and it ran at a tolerable 13 to 15 fps (everything turned down as far as possible). No raiding off course, but I was still L2x (Stonetalon Mountains) at the time.