Graphic Cards

[Standardliving]

Might be in the wrong forum...? I apologize if so.
I'm anxious for answers from people who actually know what they are talking about.  ):

This past christmas I purchased a Dell Dimension E521. An ok computer made for gaming/dowloading. It came with an 256MB PCI ExpressTM NVIDIA GeForce 7300LE TurboCache, which I believe the version is causing that infamous 'Blue Screen death'. (Correct me if I'm wrong)


1. Is the card glitchy? (I really know nothing about it, other than it doesn't run TS2 well :/) Does anyone have it and like it?

2. Should I have bought the 256MB ATI X1300 Pro instead (came as the other choice)? Is it better than NVidia? Out of all cards which are the better, trusting brand, Radeon, Nvidia, etc.?

3. What is the BEST card to run with my computer? I run TS2 with all settings high for the most part, the game set it that way. However, I have to turn the Shaders off (otherwise my screen would freeze blue) and turn down the smooth edges close to none (To stop the camera lagging). Which card will help me run my game quick with speed, all settings high, SHADERS enabled with smooth edges at medium? Is that possible


:/ A lot of questions, I know...

[Rose Outlaw]

Welcome to the club of the Bluescreen-casualties

I'm a real amateur in hardware issues, but I'm affected myself - I tried to upgrade my old computer with a NVidia AGP card and got confronted with the infamous Bluescreen all the time, my new computer has an ATI Asus x1950 PCIe card and still crashes, now even when installing. Well, my personal conclusion is that there is no actual graphic card guaranteed to run the game perfectly fine.

However, in most cases, trying different driver versions from most actual to older ones is the first way to go.
You could try and google for the error code given in the Bluescreen (usually, there is a line at the bottom saying something like '****STOP at (lots of numbers)') to check for other error reports. The last option should be a BIOS update, which could destroy the whole machine if it goes wrong. Better get technical support to do it, if you want to keep any warranty claims.

I heard that Dell computers are pretty expensive to upgrade, but the practical aspects of changing a graphic card is pretty easy, if you want to do it yourself.
If you change from Nvidia to ATI, be sure to uninstall the current driver completely. Then switch off the computer, pull the power supply cable and other cables, touch the case to , degauss yourself, then open up the case. The graphic card should be mounted in a clip and fixed to the case with a screw. It is usually a little hard to move the clip, just try to switch it firmly, but carefully. Remove the screw and pull out the card. Insert the new card and arrest it in the clip and the screw and so on. You could only run into a problem if there are not enough free cables coming from the power supply.  But most cards should have a so-called Y-adapter to 'split' an occupied cable for two hardware parts.   

When you deal with the cards, be real careful not to break off or scratch anything, that could easily destroy the whole piece.

As for the settings, try not to rely on the game settings. Instead, modify the settings of the card. Smooth edges can be replaced by anti aliasing (I read it all the time, still can't spell it, sorry) - set it to 4x, just don't set it on application control. There is a guide on MTS2 based on Nvidia cards, it can be used as a guide for ATI cards as well.

That's pretty much all I know about graphics

[purplehaze]

I have two systems running ATI Radeon X850's with AMD dual cores. I haven't experienced a hiccup. I am also running 1 year old drivers. I have never updated them. I don't fix what's not broke.  Your milage may vary.

[ZiggyDoodle]

I took Hegelian's advice posted at http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,4293.0.html

Installed an ATI Radeon X850XT card on my Dell (Pentium 4 w/HT)  last year. Awesome graphics and handles Seasons with ease. 

That thread is well worth reading from the start.  Lots of good info, especially the PSU link as the card required higher wattage than what came with the rig.

[Rose Outlaw]

I have two systems running ATI Radeon X850's with AMD dual cores. I haven't experienced a hiccup. I am also running 1 year old drivers. I have never updated them. I don't fix what's not broke. 

Care to change? 

[purplehaze]

Sure, just let me compress it and squeeeeeze it through my  modem! 

[Standardliving]

Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it. (:

A lot of the tec. information DID go over my head though.  I'm not really computer savvy, needless to say.
..
.

.

I just don't understand why I have to go through all of this with a five month old computer.  I don't necessarily want to fix anything, more like replace it.

I was sick and tired of my old computer formulating errors, so I bought a new one. Oddly enough, my old computer ran a hellva lot better and its graphic card and storage capacity was older/lower.

Can someone explain to me what points I should bring up in my complaints about the graphic card & blue screen? Or what questions I should have answered? I plan to call Dell tomorrow and hopefully get somewhere.

Urgh. I hate being needy like this.

[KatEnigma]

You can't just buy a computer and expect it to run everything perfectly without any maintenance on your part. That means you have to update your drivers and such.

Start at This Page

Also, what processor did you put into it, and how much RAM?

[Khan of Wyrms]

nVidia and ATi graphics are both decent and comparable quality and both run TS2 adequately when all things are considered, from my experience.  Be careful not to fall into the assumption that so many people have made that video cards and/or graphics drivers are the root of your problems with TS2.  Independent testing has been done by several sites which show that TS2 is not particularly graphics intensive, surprisingly, and that CPU muscle and RAM capacity are far more important.  In fact, the tests showed that even systems with basic on-board graphics were able to run TS2 well with sufficient CPU power and RAM.  This means that CPU or RAM issues should be considered much more of a factor when troubleshooting problems with TS2 than graphics cards/drivers.  Also realize that Windows may seem to put the blame for a system crash on the graphics driver when the actual offender may very well be another piece of hardware, or a problematic system setting.  In some ways, what you get to see in Windows' 'error reporting' may only be the end result of your problem, the consequences, not necessarily the root cause.

Of course, your problem could actually be with your graphics adapter/drivers, but from my own personal experience I think it is unlikely and would look elsewhere first.

[purplehaze]

Spot on Khan. I am at a different home ( don't ask) right now and am running a somewhat crappy Compaq. Pentium 4 3Ghz and an onboard Intel chipset. I shoved 2 G RAM into it, and it runs fast and flawlessly. I don't have the worlds best graphics, but they aren't "that" bad. I'm sure when I get to my gaming computers in a few weeks, I'll regret posting this because the game is so much crisper on those machines and I have reflective water, etc. But it zips along nicely. And that's with all EP's installed and a ton of CC. At least I can play the game, which is more than a lot of people can say; and they're probably running better systems than I.

And you are right about the graphics. It's not an graphically intense game. Processor and RAM have more to do with performance than video cards. I'd update this machine, but the MB sucks. It would be cheaper to have my fav geek build me one and then bring it down here with me in the fall. I could probably foist it off on some unsuspecting buyer.

[Standardliving]

You can't just buy a computer and expect it to run everything perfectly without any maintenance on your part. That means you have to update your drivers and such.

Start at This Page

Also, what processor did you put into it, and how much RAM?

No, you're right. I shouldn't expect it to be perfect, but I can at least except a new computer not to give me that crazy Blue Screen error, right?

Processor- AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
Memory- 1022MB RAM


How does that look?



Which Driver SHOULD (as is, the best, updated one) I really be using for a NVidia GeForce 7300 LE? Maybe its the driver I'm using that sucks.I tried updating it three times already and all its doing is replacing the old errors with new ones. ):


EDIT: Should I download and install ALL of those fixes (that applies, of course) that you linked me too? That's extreme... Should I install the nVidia SMBus fix since I have a nVidia card? Or it doesn't work that way?

(Thank you for all the replies, everyone. I'm really learning a lot as I go. Each and everyone of you are really informative.)

[Standardliving]

Sorry for the double post. ACK!

As for the settings, try not to rely on the game settings. Instead, modify the settings of the card. Smooth edges can be replaced by anti aliasing (I read it all the time, still can't spell it, sorry) - set it to 4x, just don't set it on application control. There is a guide on MTS2 based on Nvidia cards, it can be used as a guide for ATI cards as well.

That's pretty much all I know about graphics

If I did that, is there any bad outcomes. I.E. would things still slow down? Am I better off not doing this?

Because right now, even with smooth edges set on MAX.. it is slow as hell--REALLY SLOW (zooming in and out with the camera, and a sim's genreal movement)...AND I can still see a lot of jaggered edges. ... Which defeats the point...



Right now my Anisotrophic filtering is set to 8X (Crispness of textures)
And my Antialiasing settings are 4X (Handles smooth edges) ... I guess it is maxed out already D: wthhh..

[KatEnigma]

I definitely would update all the drivers that are marked urgent. I'd also probably do the relevant recommended ones. Yes, definitely do the NVidia SMBus one. Even if you had an ATI card, you'd need that. It's the chipset/motherboard driver, not a video card driver. Nvidia does more than video cards. It doesn't matter who you buy from or if you build it yourself, there are always a zillion things that need updated immediately, and you need to watch for more in the future.

[Standardliving]

I tried to install the fix for my NVidia card from Dell, but when installing, it said I had to create a folder because it doesn't exist? Is that because I have a new driver which I download from Nvidia, not dell?


ALSO



Ok. Something funny is happening with my graphic's card. SATAN'S SPAWN... It freaking scary and screwing with me D:<

[ZiggyDoodle]

While you didn't say which EPs you have installed, I took a look at Seasons readme file and found the following. 

FORCED ANTI-ALIASING: The Sims 2 will have graphical problems if anti-aliasing is forced on in display properties. To fix this:
   * Right click on your windows desktop and select Properties.
   * Choose the Settings tab and press the "advanced" button.
   * Select the 3D tab and make sure SmoothVision is set to Application Preference.
   * If not, press the Custom... button and change the anti-aliasing setting to Application Preference.

Not sure if this even applies to your current settings but thought I'd mention the readme files that are installed with each EP contain helpful information.

[KatEnigma]

Something is definitely odd with your driver. Have you tried uninstalling them and then installing the new one? Does Nvidia have an uninstall tool to make sure everything really gets uninstalled?

[Standardliving]

I took a visit over to NVidia's website and re-downloaded its lastest driver. I went back in my game, and the sim's faces are still rolling around this heads with gorged out eye balls... which leads me to believe that I already had the lastest driver installed from them.

I should make a horror movie of this.

How do you roll back to your original driver that came with the computer? Does anyone know the instructions...?

[Rose Outlaw]

Doesn't Dell ship their products with any support discs? Or are there backups on another hard drive partition?
Or did you check their website for a support topic?

But telling from your postings, I get the impression that you install the new driver right on top of the currently installed one, is that true?
You must uninstall the old one first, then reboot, then install the new one (and reboot again).
Don't worry that your display will revert back to most basic settings after unstalling - typically, 640x480 screen size, low refresh rate etc. - it won't hurt as you can set the options back to high levels with the new driver.