Graphics card question...

a reply to: Jakal26

You could always stick it in a rig provided its working of course and then run a freeware application like GPUZ to reveal the cards specifications make and model, memory, clock speed, etc.

I think I've found what you're looking for. It seems that it's an ATI HD 4350 512MB PCIe from a Dell Computer.

www.amazon.com...

a reply to: TheLotLizard

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is the one. Some others (and me included) seem to think so. It's an exact match, really.

Here's the thing though. Last night, I I opened my case and though the gpu in question is PCI-e, it appears from a glance to be smaller. It seems that where it slots into the rail it is a bit shorter. Now, granted, I didn't actually take out my 6200...but just holding it up there, it looks to be at least a half inch shorter.

I'm pretty sure there are different length rails when it comes to PCI-e...am I wrong about that? Am I just looking at it wrong or what?

I might get into it again, if there is a possibility that it will fit the rail, but don't want to take out my current gpu if it isn't going to fit.
If it's a bit shorter, it wouldn't work, even if it would "fit into" the rail, right?

(As you can see, I am no pro with this stuff. Amateur, at best...using even that term loosely...LOL)

Thanks for the help.

a reply to: andy06shake

I have a program called speccy....it works well too.
Thank you for the help, as well.

Also, if you don't care, take a look at my post to lotlizard....few questions that I asked there that maybe you could answer as well, if you would be so kind.

(I really appreciate the help and fast responses guys....it's the reason I post in this forum on this site rather than some random computer forum where I know no one.....really awesome to get such great feedback from those I trust far more than "randoms" on some pc forum...I see a LOT of bad advice floating around those from time to time)

Also, can someone give me some dumbed down explanation of the difference between AGP and PCI-E....is the thing that slots into the rail (I don't know the correct terminology here) different?

And, I believe this card is a 64bit deal....my "rig" (potato) is a 32 bit, so that kinda kills any hope of using this thing, aye?

a reply to: Jakal26

If the card is to long for the PCIE slot then you are screwed(it wont be through), if however the card is to short it may still be able to slot in to the PCIE port but not use all the pins, probably because its an older type card.

If you list your system specs CPU type, Motherboard version and DDR memory type i may be able to tell you if indeed the card is compatible with your mainboard, but if its an older AGP card its not going to fit in a PCIE port im afraid.

AGP is an old type port configuration where as PCIE is the current standard. Pretty much AGP cards are obsolete im afraid.

Nevermind! Looks like I missed the post where LotLizard already found it.

a reply to: Jakal26

Nope 64bit is the GFX card GPU architecture where as your main board memory type may still be 32bit. Its like main boards use DDR3/DDR4 architecture where as modern GPUs utilize DDR5.

Your CPU type and how much DDR memory you have is mainly the definitive factor as to whether or not you can run a 64bit version of Windows OS.

a reply to: andy06shake

PM'd you some of my specs.
Sorry that it showed up in the message as a wall of text

a reply to: Jakal26

Wow those are a lot of specs!

At a quick glance your board supports PCIE 2.0 and i think we have established the GFX card is an ATI 512mb PCIE. So i cant see a problem, it should work.

Let us know how you get on?

PS as to drivers just get the latest ones, if they are problematic you can always do a rollback/clean install.

I suppose I'm late with my answer, but as it applies to any card that you can plug inside a computer I will add it anyway.

Look for an FCC ID sticker or printed on the card itself and, if it has one, search it here, it will show you who made the card.

a reply to: andy06shake

Figured I'd come back to thread to let you and everyone else that helped know how things went.

Took the plunge last night and changed cards and am very glad I did. Holy cow, what an improvement over the 6200. I mean, it's not some awesome most up to date card but it is running the racing sim (Stock Car Extreme...which is a really well done sim, btw) far better and more consistently than I thought it would. I figured I'd have a bit of improvement with fps and such, I did not figure such a huge improvement. First benchmark tests with graphics and such set the way I had them with the 6200 (low and medium and such) and I was running a consistent 100 to 105 fps! The old 6200 was barely moving along at around 20 to 25 (and that's without any other cars on the track.
With the 6200 about a 10 car grid was all I could go, and even then the framerate was often so laggy I was having severe input lag issues. With this 4350 I put 25 cars on track, moved all my settings up to high or medium depending, turned AA and AF on, and was still pushing well over 40 fps!...and I can deal with that. Anything over 30 consistently and I am fine. Was even able to turn my mirrors on and see what was behind me on the track (I'm sure the AI is happy I won't be banging them around any longer...well, not intentionally anyways ) I turn the mirrors off and I'm in the 50+ fps range consistently. Was able to go from using the old 800x600 resolution to my display's native of 1900 x 600 which, obviously helped a ton with the way the sim looks and feels. Plan on setting it back a bit and seeing if I can improve over the framerates I'm getting now, but right now just content to race the way it was intended.

So nice! Really glad you guys convinced me to just take the chance and go for it.
Thanks a TON for all the help everyone. Just another reason I love this place so much. I can get my conspiracy fill and upgrade my pc in the same place, just awesome.

I'm also glad I dug into speccy a bit more and checked out some of my system specs and the like (in much more detail than I had previously)....learned a lot over the course of this discussion.

So, again, thanks to everyone who helped out in this thread....it is very appreciated. Hopefully one day someone will come along needing some help here and I can repay the favor by paying it forward.

a reply to: Jakal26

Glad to have been of some assistance.

Just confirming it was a Dell HD4350, I Googled the first serial numbers rather than the whole thing.

www.ascendtech.us...