"low rise" pci video card??

[enhanced08]

do they make a low rise pci video card? my buddy went and bought some cheap dell thats only got 1 slot in it and its pci. he's been complaining that it wont play battlefield 2 very well because of the onboard video. i told him his only hope is a pci video card.... i found him one and then realized his computer is one of those compact jobs.... a normal sized card wont fit!

any ideas?

[jer888]

Don't expect much of anything with PCI graphics, even if it did fit. If he just bought it he could try to get his money back I guess.

[enhanced08]

yeah, i know.... but its better than his onboard video and thats his only option...

[homer15]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130255

don't expect too much from it, but it should play a few games. i would dumb down the graphic options, though.

[jer888]

You could also get a new case maybe. (that fits full sized expansion cards)

[freakitchen]

If he's looking for anything like acceptable gaming performance from a system like that, he'll have to pay over the odds

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161074

That's a low profile card but if you look at the pictures, it's quite long - you may have to get the tape measure out.

All that said, if it were me, I'd tell him that what he's bought is fundamentally not a gaming machine. Even spending money like that might not bring him the performance he wants.

[enhanced08]

thanks homer, that may work.

FK, i told him that BEFORE he ever bought it but he doesnt like to listen to anyone. that video card wont work because he only has 1 expansion slot.

thanks guys

[glc]

I don't think there's a PCI video card in existence, full or half height, that will play BF2 well. He is paying for his stubbornness. He bought an office machine and web surfer. Max out the system ram and allocate the max system ram possible to video. Today's onboard video - either Intel or Nvidia - will do just as good a job as a PCI card.

[enhanced08]

Thats exactly what i told him to do, upgrade his ram. he says it plays better but "not what he was expecting" after playing BF2 on his Xbox 360. some people you just cant reason with. thanks guys!

[Chazell29]

OK, so going with a low profile card is pretty much is best option here. I used a regular PCI GeForce 6200, and was able to play BF2 on all low, with 1GB of RAM. So if he gets about 2GB of RAM, and buys this low profile PCI 6200, he MIGHT be able to play bf2. No gurentees, it worked for me, but that wasn't a low profile.

JATON VIDEO-338PCI-DVI GeForce 6200 256MB
Search that on Newegg, I'm working right now at circuit city and our browser doesn't have a URL bar (to prevent you to go to sites other than circuitcity.com or competitors websites, but we can get on amazon and we can do a websearch there.

Does he have any AGP slots? If so, or if he wants PCI card that can run bf2, his other option is transfer everything to a new case, which might however require a new power supply because he probably has a micro power supply.

[glc]

Onboard is as good as a 6200.

[Chazell29]

Originally Posted by glc Onboard is as good as a 6200.

Oh, well maybe in his case, it wasn't in my case. Because on my old PC, the onboard wouldn't even let BF2 start up. After installing my 6200, it allowed me to play on all low. so, i guess its just a case by case basis then.

[glc]

You cannot compare an "old" PC to a new PC. Current Dells use either the Nvidia 6150 or Intel GMA 3100 onboard video. Those are both as good as a PCI 6200, if not better. They run on a PCI-E bus internally.