Xpress ATI Radeon upgrade for 3Dcontent-creation a
I have a re-furbished HP Pavilion A1514N machine from 2005 that uses the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chipset. P4 3.06MHz, 512DDR2RAM, 300W? or 350W PS ?, PCI-E output, PCI output, Win XP. I need to upgrade this machine to a dedicated graphics card that will work better (than the Xpress 200) with 3D content-creation programs such as Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Mudbox, Silo. The sculpting features in some of these programs beg for high memory on the card. I would like to upgrade to something which also enables stereo output. I am unfamiliar with what nVidia offers for stereo but I have heard something about Quattro cards.

1)Please suggest a dedicated stereo card for this modest machine.

2)Also suggest a modest dedicated graphics upgrade that does [b]not[/b] include stereo capability (in case I can't afford the stereo card ^_^ ). Thanks.
I have a re-furbished HP Pavilion A1514N machine from 2005 that uses the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chipset. P4 3.06MHz, 512DDR2RAM, 300W? or 350W PS ?, PCI-E output, PCI output, Win XP. I need to upgrade this machine to a dedicated graphics card that will work better (than the Xpress 200) with 3D content-creation programs such as Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Mudbox, Silo. The sculpting features in some of these programs beg for high memory on the card. I would like to upgrade to something which also enables stereo output. I am unfamiliar with what nVidia offers for stereo but I have heard something about Quattro cards.



1)Please suggest a dedicated stereo card for this modest machine.



2)Also suggest a modest dedicated graphics upgrade that does not include stereo capability (in case I can't afford the stereo card ^_^ ). Thanks.

#1
Posted 02/12/2008 06:49 PM   
ok firstly you will want more ram as well so factor that into your budget, i would get at least another gig - it is cheaper than it used to be so shouldnt be much.

i know nothing about stereo so can only advise a good card for rendering - the 8800 gt with lots of stream procesors is a beats when it comes to rendering and isnt stupidly expensive. it also sports 512mb of ram - the same as you current pc :P

also gotta say a p4 isnt a gonna be lightening fast but at least its a fast p4.
ok firstly you will want more ram as well so factor that into your budget, i would get at least another gig - it is cheaper than it used to be so shouldnt be much.



i know nothing about stereo so can only advise a good card for rendering - the 8800 gt with lots of stream procesors is a beats when it comes to rendering and isnt stupidly expensive. it also sports 512mb of ram - the same as you current pc :P



also gotta say a p4 isnt a gonna be lightening fast but at least its a fast p4.

_ NVLDDMKM problems_ | _ problems getting a driver for a laptop graphics card_ | _What PSU do I need?_

[quote name='The Professor' date='11 August 2011 - 10:33 AM' timestamp='1313055223' post='1277858']

I think Qazax is a pretty cool guy. eh kills aleins and doesnt afraid of anything.

#2
Posted 02/12/2008 07:30 PM   
[quote name='shokan' date='Feb 12 2008, 11:49 AM']I have a re-furbished HP Pavilion A1514N machine from 2005 that uses the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chipset. P4 3.06MHz, 512DDR2RAM, 300W? or 350W PS ?, PCI-E output, PCI output, Win XP. I need to upgrade this machine to a dedicated graphics card that will work better (than the Xpress 200) with 3D content-creation programs such as Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Mudbox, Silo. The sculpting features in some of these programs beg for high memory on the card. I would like to upgrade to something which also enables stereo output. I am unfamiliar with what nVidia offers for stereo but I have heard something about Quattro cards.

1)Please suggest a dedicated stereo card for this modest machine.

2)Also suggest a modest dedicated graphics upgrade that does [b]not[/b] include stereo capability (in case I can't afford the stereo card ^_^ ). Thanks.
[right][snapback]325274[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

[b]1.[/b] [b]Video card[/b] (since you are on a budget you probably shouldn't do an 8800, they don't do stereo anyway.) [b]7900GS for under $100[/b]: [url="http://search.ebay.com/7900GS_W0QQcatrefZC6QQfbfmtZ1QQfobfmtZ1QQfromZR10QQfrppZ50QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ34QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQmaxrecordsreturnedZ300QQsabfmtsZ2QQsacatZQ2d1QQsaobfmtsZinsifQQsascsZ2QQsbrsrtZd"]http://search.ebay.com/7900GS_W0QQcatrefZC...scsZ2QQsbrsrtZd[/url]

If you want a cheaper card I suggest a [b]6600GT[/b], they are around[b] $40-50[/b] right now: [url="http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&catref=C6&maxrecordsreturned=300&frpp=50&from=R10&satitle=6600gt&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=&fbfmt=1&sabfmts=2&fobfmt=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=34%26fsoo%3D1"]http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?s...p=34%26fsoo%3D1[/url]

Stay away from cards with DDR2, make sure that the card has DDR3.

Use [b]RivaTuner to enable Soft Quadro[/b], this will make the drivers identify a Quadro and enable Quadro Functions. [url="http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163#download"]http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163#download[/url]

[b]

2.[/b] Bare minimum is 1GB of [b]RAM[/b], you should investigate [b]2GB[/b] for your usage:

$40 for 2GB of RAM: [url="http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147+1052308477+1052108080&name=240-Pin+DDR2+SDRAM"]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....-Pin+DDR2+SDRAM[/url]

At least consider another [b]512MB of ram for $11[/b] :

[url="http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147+1052307857+1052108080&name=240-Pin+DDR2+SDRAM"]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....-Pin+DDR2+SDRAM[/url]


[b]3.[/b] I think you may get a huge boost from upgrading to a [b]proper CPU[/b], the Dual-Core Celerons start at $60:

[url="http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2+50001157+40000343+1051707842+1302820275&name=Dual-Core"]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....&name=Dual-Core[/url]

Even the 1.6Ghz Single-core Celeron Conroe-L should beat your current CPU (starting at $43), and it will overclock with the cooler it comes with well past 2 ghz:

[url="http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2+50001157+40000343+1051707842+1050929160&name=Conroe-L"]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....0&name=Conroe-L[/url]
[quote name='shokan' date='Feb 12 2008, 11:49 AM']I have a re-furbished HP Pavilion A1514N machine from 2005 that uses the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chipset. P4 3.06MHz, 512DDR2RAM, 300W? or 350W PS ?, PCI-E output, PCI output, Win XP. I need to upgrade this machine to a dedicated graphics card that will work better (than the Xpress 200) with 3D content-creation programs such as Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Mudbox, Silo. The sculpting features in some of these programs beg for high memory on the card. I would like to upgrade to something which also enables stereo output. I am unfamiliar with what nVidia offers for stereo but I have heard something about Quattro cards.



1)Please suggest a dedicated stereo card for this modest machine.



2)Also suggest a modest dedicated graphics upgrade that does not include stereo capability (in case I can't afford the stereo card ^_^ ). Thanks.

[snapback]325274[/snapback]






1. Video card (since you are on a budget you probably shouldn't do an 8800, they don't do stereo anyway.) 7900GS for under $100: http://search.ebay.com/7900GS_W0QQcatrefZC...scsZ2QQsbrsrtZd



If you want a cheaper card I suggest a 6600GT, they are around $40-50 right now: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?s...p=34%26fsoo%3D1



Stay away from cards with DDR2, make sure that the card has DDR3.



Use RivaTuner to enable Soft Quadro, this will make the drivers identify a Quadro and enable Quadro Functions. http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163#download







2.
Bare minimum is 1GB of RAM, you should investigate 2GB for your usage:



$40 for 2GB of RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....-Pin+DDR2+SDRAM



At least consider another 512MB of ram for $11 :



http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....-Pin+DDR2+SDRAM





3. I think you may get a huge boost from upgrading to a proper CPU, the Dual-Core Celerons start at $60:



http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....&name=Dual-Core



Even the 1.6Ghz Single-core Celeron Conroe-L should beat your current CPU (starting at $43), and it will overclock with the cooler it comes with well past 2 ghz:



http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....0&name=Conroe-L

#3
Posted 02/13/2008 09:37 PM   
Scroll To Top