Video card shopping help
 

let me tell y'all how it started. My mom bought me spore for my birthday In my joy i couldn't install it till today...but i get the dreaded 2001 error. which on the Read me says, YOUR FUCKING VIDEO CARD IS OLD GET A NEW ONE GAHH!...so now i have to use my 50 bucks that i got for my B-day to buy a new Video card...
So...
know somewhere i can get a good card for cheap? So i can play spore?
i looked at my card...(Radeon 9200 agp) It has the memory and stuff to its specifications it just wont work for it

before you spend money.

Update your video card drivers. this can be done at the video card's website.

ps you're using an AGP card, I don't know off the top of my head but I feel like that's a bit older now.

pps this should give a head start on drivers. http://ati.amd.com/products/radeon92...200/specs.html

Yeah, the oldest card supported by Spore is Radeon 9500, so you're probably going to need an upgrade.

Nikose is also right. AGP is old and outdated, and you're not going to be getting the best bang for your buck. Unfortunately, the other option is a new computer/motherboard which probably runs you into WAY more money than you want just for Spore.

If you're willing to go a little over $50, I'd recommend the Radeon X1650 Pro AGP.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102781

Its your best option in this price range, and will run Spore reasonably well. Its also a MASSIVE upgrade over the 9200, so you should notice a dramatic gaming improvement all the way around.

If you don't want to go that high, the HD 3450 should also fulfill your needs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121273

Its a much newer card than the x1650, but is designed to be a multimedia card more so than a gaming card. It will have less gaming performance than the x1650, but should be quieter, cooler, less power draw, and better imaging. Still a huge upgrade over the 9200, though, and should run Spore fairly well.

AGP is still a valid technology for a reason. It's actually faster for video processing than PCI formats. So while it's been around for a while, that doesn't make it automatically suck. ;)

That said, try newer drivers, see if that fools it. If it doesn't (and I wouldn't hold my breath), the worst you've probably done is gotten better performance out of the card you have. After that, a new card will become possible. Don't shy away from keeping AGP cards an option. If you've got it, flaunt it. There ain't much else that goes in there, so you may as well get the extra nudge with your new card if you can. Also, you may want to spend a little more money for a lot more card.

Funny i learned that In my Comp maintenance class just the other day. I'm going to try (white-knuckle through it) installing the drivers. (and thanks to the admin for fixin' me engrish)

Of course its faster than PCI. PCI is terrible for video processing. Only the cheapest oldest of computers use PCI video cards. It isn't faster than PCI-E x16, however. Its roughly equivalent to a PCI-E x8 in terms of processing capability.

However, I did not say it sucked. I said it wasn't the best bang for the buck. Meaning, an AGP card will cost roughly 25% more than the equivalent PCI-Ex16 card (which won't perform exactly faster, but will work on more current motherboards). Also, AGP has a limit to how fast it can go. You won't see a Geforce GTX 280 with an AGP model, for instance, simply because the AGP bus isn't fast enough.

Updating drivers won't hurt, but the minimum card listed as supported on the Spore box is the Radeon 9500. That suggests to me they didn't include 9200 support in the game itself, and if a driver update does work, the game will run terribly.

Also, the reason the AGP technology is still valid is because there's consumer demand from people who don't want to buy a new motherboard as well. If the demand stopped, so would AGP production. In fact, Nvidia hasn't released an AGP card since the 7000 series, and ATi said the HD 3850 would be their last AGP card released (whether they hold true to that or not will remain to be seen).

COMPLETE FAILURE! Stupid SPORE and its STUPID REQUIREMENTS...hmm i wonder if my card can now do DX9?

Otherwise, that sucks for you and Spore.
 

I won't argue with that, but the next question is whether he has the slots for all his PCIe x16 devices with the video card included. I'd say on rough average that a computer generally comes with 5 slots or so. That means, assuming he isn't using anything on-board, a video card (which he has in AGP right now), a sound card, a NIC (since he's online) and two slots left over. Past that, I don't have his MB, so I can't vouch for what slots he has or even how many.

Actually, before this devolves into an argument, maybe you could supply what you've got in there, Ock.

I'm not really sure what you think there could possibly be an argument about. He has an AGP slot, not a PCI-Ex16. He already stated that. Motherboards usually have one or the other, not both. Generally only the ASRock motherboards have both.

If he's looking to only spend $50, he's clearly going to have to go with an AGP card. If he was up for spending $300, it would actually be better to go with a new motherboard and a PCI-E card than an AGP card.

So.... in conclusion, AGP is better than PCI (which isn't even really a video slot), PCI-E is better than AGP, he doesn't have PCI-E, but going with AGP means he'll get a weaker card for $50 than he otherwise would. Alas, its still more affordable than a complete overhaul.

*looks back over it* Yeah, I'm really not seeing the arguing point here. Its all non-debatable facts.