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Please help...OT computer question.

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Last year I bought an AMD900 system with VIA mobo and a TNT2 M64 32meg video card. It says in the specs that it is 4XAGP. When I look up specs using NVMAX, it says my system max is 1X and 1X is selected, though in bios it says 4X is selected. Also, NVmax says the card is set to 1X. Both bus and card AGP settings are grayed out and not changable in NVMAX.So....do I have only 1X AGP on my board or is NVMAX reading this wrong because my card is only 1X or what?? Really need to know as if my mobo doesn't go above 1X AGP then there's no point in upgrading my vid card, right??Many thanks for all help and replies.michael(ps. using WinME)

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Just a guess here, but do you have a Compaq. If so, no matter what your vid card does, you may only have 1x agp on the MOBO. So I am screwed in that department. I messed up and bought a Compaq. But Lesson learned. I have a decent vid card. 1.2ghz Athlon 512 ram, and a GefOrce2 GTS Pro 64mb vid card and if you have seen any of my screenshots, it performs pretty well on my system.I also can't get into portions of my bios to even change things as Compaq used a Via board, but rigged it so we could not change things.Get rid of that TNT though, even a Basic GeForce 3 will do wonders for you with that setup.Regards,Joe :-wavehttp://home.attbi.com/~jranos/mysig.jpg http://avsim.com/hangar/air/bfu/logo70.gif


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Guest

Not a Compaq, Aopen system. A little scared to dump the TNT2 as I seem to get way, way better FPS then people with twice my system. never makes sense on a 900 with such an old card, but the mobo is a Via K7vza with a KT133 chipset. this should do more than 1X, no?And really, a basic GEforce would improve things? I really have no complaints except for blurries in the distance and a bit of struggle with certain cloud types ... usually 25fps in the mountains with max textures and autogen...michael

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Guest Max Cowgill

>Not a Compaq, Aopen system. A little scared to dump the >TNT2 as I seem to get way, way better FPS then people with >twice my system. never makes sense on a 900 with such an >old card, but the mobo is a Via K7vza with a KT133 chipset. >this should do more than 1X, no? I really have no complaints except for blurries in the distance and a >bit of struggle with certain cloud types ... usually 25fps >in the mountains with max textures and autogen... >If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why complain if you said you're satisfied with performance except for blurries (which everyone has to some degree)? Granted, your system should do more than AGP 1x but if everything's working fine and you're getting great performance, why worry over such a minor issue? Max Cowgill

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Why worry?? Normally I'd agree with you, but I have the $$ to upgrade but I could also improve my marriage by spending money on something NOT related to flight sim :) , so, it's rather relevant to me whether at some future point I'd be able to upgrade my card, chip, etc. If my mobo is limited, then I may upgrade now because I have the means and tho I'm happy with the way things are in FS2002 at the moment, my system will not be up to future tasks.SO, I'm trying to determine the future expandability of my system to help me decide whether to stick with it or not.Thanks..

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Hi Again,I had the same TNT card and I can tell you two things that made a difference. T&L on the GeForce2 that you are not getting now, and textures showed greater detail.Again, It may not be an FPS gain, but more of a quality gain. It may seem difficult to quantify, but I still believe that with your system, the quality improvement in a newer card will be worthwhile. Your system is not that far down from mine, so If you saw my screenshots, I get pretty good quality. But like it says in the MSFT manuals that shipped on the CD's. It is a compromise between quality and FPS.You may want to check pricewatch and list what your budget is. and how much Ram you have. I am pretty confident we can help you out on this one.I do agree with Max as far as the "If it aint broke, don't fix it theory"But an upgrade with that same card for me made quite a difference on my system.You can get a GeForce3 TI200 for as little as $104 plus shipping. Here is a link from pricewatch. Others have said this card performs pretty well. Me, I'm happy with my GeForce2 GTS Pro 64mb card.http://www.pricewatch.com/1/37/4129-1.htmRegards,Joe :-wavePS - Sorry I can't help you out on the AGP question. You may want to check out the Hardware boards over at http://anandtech.comhttp://home.attbi.com/~jranos/mysig.jpg http://avsim.com/hangar/air/bfu/logo70.gif


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Guest Max Cowgill

I hear ya... I wouldn't stick with that mobo anyway, as you'll be limited to using SDRAM. Even if you can stick an AthlonXP 2500+ on it you'd be crippling it by using SDRAM. PC components in general are extremely cheap nowadays. You could build a brand-new system for well under $1000 that will decimate your current system performance-wise.Max Cowgill

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Thank you both so much for your help. I'm checking the links now, and am certainly interested in the quality/T&L upgrades -- it's fine if the FPS stay the same. and yeah, Max, the mobo's yesterday's tech, but I have to laugh because today we called a guy to come haul a bunch of junk away which I've for some reason stored all these years, and one of those items was my old IBM XT and my monochrome (amber!) monitor. Thinking my system is out of date when that XT cost me $1500 and here I am now surfing and playing F2002 ... aren't we all luckily spoiled!michael

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