Game crashes; video card needs replacement?

[I'm goin' down]

I gave my nephew SH4 v. 1.5 for Christmas. It is crashing right after it loads a mission. We think the problem may be caused by the video card.

Here are his computer specs.

1. Dell Model # 5150.
2 Display: Intel(R) 82945G Exoress Chipset Family [Display Adapter] (2x)
and his monitor is a Dell E196FP.
3. The screen display is set at 1024 x 768 pixels, with a refresh rate of 60 hertz.
4. System Model: Dell DM051.
5. Processor is 2.67 gigahertz Intel Pentium D.
6. 76.41 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
7. 32.07 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space after SH4 installed
8. Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition, Service Pack 3. (All Microsoft updates are current as of this post)
9. Main circuit Board: Dell INc. 0HJ054; Bus Clock: 533 megahertz; BIOS: Dell Inc. A05 03/31/2006

Do we need a new video card? If not, what is the problem. Further information will be provided upon request.

If a video card is the solution, what do you recommend that is reasonably priced?

Thanks for looking into this.

[FIREWALL]

You put down every spec but the Vid card you have now.

[gimpy117]

"2 Display: Intel(R) 82945G Exoress Chipset Family"

your running integrated?? or are you on a discrete solution??

If it's integrated check what version direct X you have etc. and also see if your onboard chip set is actually up to the test.

[Rockin Robbins]

Looks like integrated video with shared memory. A vid card is in the cards! I have an nVidia 7600 GT which does ok. An 8600 is almost exactly the same speed. Anything better will run the game even better. There is no reason you can't get a video card that won't run the game with graphics settings wide open at 1280x1040 for under $100.

How much RAM do you have. 2 gig recommended. It makes a tremendous difference over 1 gig.

[Soundman]

My guess would be your video card does not have enough dedicated memory to run the game. Again, my guess. Check the specs on your card to see what kind of ram is available and I can't remember off hand, but the game needs a minimum of 128M of ram (video card) and the recommended is 256M. I suggest you have 256 or you will only be able to run the game with minimum settings. It's a hungry game video wise, but man is it gorgeous.

[I'm goin' down]

(2x)
and his monitor is a Dell E196FP.

Typo in the quote regarding the display: The word "Exoress" should be "Express."
My son says the system is integrated.

My nephew's parents are going away for a week, so I am not sure there is much to do before then. I downloaded and tried to run the game with the most recent version of DirectX 9. Doesn't it incorporate the preious versions?

I will send these posts to his parents and get the amount of available RAM. It should be listed on the Belarc Adivsor program that I downloaded on to their computer. I used it so scan their machine and issue a report on all the operating systems, etc., some of which I copied in the original post.

[Soundman]

To get some good video info from your computer, from the start menu....select run...and type in "dxdiag.exe" (without the quote marks) and hit the enter key. This will give you all the sound and video info on your computer. Again, your video card must have a minimum of 128M of memory and should have 256M. The 128 is the MINIMUM requirement to run the game. As Rockin Robbins said, there are some very nice cards out there for under $100.00. When puchasing a card, make sure you know whether you need a VGA, PCI or PCI Express. More than likely a PCI Express. If you know your computers model number, the guy at the store can tell you what you need.

[Webster]

just right click on "my computer" and select "properties"

it will show you the processor and ram for your computer

because it is a dell you need to be carefull you buy the correct type of ram as not all generic ram works for dells

to get specific help about dells try this dell help forum so you are sure your getting the right ram for your system. http://en.community.dell.com/

ps- dont buy your ram from dell, just let them tell you what specific type you need then buy it from a supplier like newegg.com to get the best price on it.

i havent found a better sight i trust more than newegg and the prices are almost never better anywhere else. http://www.newegg.com/Store/Computer.aspx?name=Computer-Hardware

[gimpy117]

yea, buy the card...
heck ATI has some cheap but good cards on the market now

I just got a sapphire Radeon 4850 with a gig of graphics mem for around $160.00
so lower ends rigs are cheaper

[Webster]

yea, but the card...
heck ATI has some cheap but good cards on the market now

I just got a sapphire Radeon 4850 with a gig of graphics mem for around $160.00
so lower ends rigs are cheaper

well in my opinion his rig isnt worth more than $150 so i definately wouldnt suggest spending that much money on such an outdated rig. he needs a better cpu, ram, and mobo so i would say dont spend money on that old rig and just keep it for bookkeeping and records and build or buy an updated computer that you can properly run todays games on.

[AVGWarhawk]

yea, but the card...
heck ATI has some cheap but good cards on the market now

I just got a sapphire Radeon 4850 with a gig of graphics mem for around $160.00
so lower ends rigs are cheaper

well in my opinion his rig isnt worth more than $150 so i definately wouldnt suggest spending that much money on such an outdated rig. he needs a better cpu, ram, and mobo so i would say dont spend money on that old rig and just keep it for bookkeeping and records and build or buy an updated computer that you can properly run todays games on.

If a new rig is out of the question, your base computer that you have will run the game with a videocard. Also, as mentioned, 2 gig of RAM. RAM is very cheap these days as well as a decent vid card. Go no less than a Nvidia 7600 vid card. Also, check your power supply to run the card. I suspect Dell jammed in a 300 watt pile of worn parts.

I recommend Tigerdirect.com for the purchases of these items. Great prices with reviews by users and they are have great sales on the items you need.

[gimpy117]

oh I know I was just demonstrating that you can get some good cards on newegg for not too much cash.

[Soundman]

oh I know I was just demonstrating that you can get some good cards on newegg for not too much cash.

Heck, I was browsing New Egg yesterday and they have some pretty decent complete gaming computers for under 1000.00. Surprised the hell outta me!

[Webster]

yep the best two out there IMHO are tiger direct and newegg but i find you have to use rebates with tiger direct where newegg does not often do rebates and instead lowers the price to give the same deals without you having waiting on the rebate. as long as you compare those two sites against each other you should always have the best possible price.

[SteamWake]

I can vouch for New Egg.

Done buisness with them no issues :up:

[Fish40]

yea, but the card...
heck ATI has some cheap but good cards on the market now

I just got a sapphire Radeon 4850 with a gig of graphics mem for around $160.00
so lower ends rigs are cheaper

well in my opinion his rig isnt worth more than $150 so i definately wouldnt suggest spending that much money on such an outdated rig. he needs a better cpu, ram, and mobo so i would say dont spend money on that old rig and just keep it for bookkeeping and records and build or buy an updated computer that you can properly run todays games on.

If a new rig is out of the question, your base computer that you have will run the game with a videocard. Also, as mentioned, 2 gig of RAM. RAM is very cheap these days as well as a decent vid card. Go no less than a Nvidia 7600 vid card. Also, check your power supply to run the card. I suspect Dell jammed in a 300 watt pile of worn parts.

I recommend Tigerdirect.com for the purchases of these items. Great prices with reviews by users and they are have great sales on the items you need.



I agree about Tigerdirect, as well as Newegg. I've used both with no probs. As for replaceing the PSU on a Dell, you need to be careful. A standard formfactor off the shelf PSU will not fit in the Dell case. At least that's the experience I had with my Dimension 8250. I went here: www.pcpowerandcooling.com (http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com) They have PSU's that are made especially for Dells. They're not cheap, but they are well made. I've upgraded several things in my Dell, all of which I was told by Dell couldn't be done.

[gimpy117]

yea, but the card...
heck ATI has some cheap but good cards on the market now

I just got a sapphire Radeon 4850 with a gig of graphics mem for around $160.00
so lower ends rigs are cheaper
well in my opinion his rig isnt worth more than $150 so i definately wouldnt suggest spending that much money on such an outdated rig. he needs a better cpu, ram, and mobo so i would say dont spend money on that old rig and just keep it for bookkeeping and records and build or buy an updated computer that you can properly run todays games on.
If a new rig is out of the question, your base computer that you have will run the game with a videocard. Also, as mentioned, 2 gig of RAM. RAM is very cheap these days as well as a decent vid card. Go no less than a Nvidia 7600 vid card. Also, check your power supply to run the card. I suspect Dell jammed in a 300 watt pile of worn parts.

I recommend Tigerdirect.com for the purchases of these items. Great prices with reviews by users and they are have great sales on the items you need.


I agree about Tigerdirect, as well as Newegg. I've used both with no probs. As for replaceing the PSU on a Dell, you need to be careful. A standard formfactor off the shelf PSU will not fit in the Dell case. At least that's the experience I had with my Dimension 8250. I went here: www.pcpowerandcooling.com (http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com) They have PSU's that are made especially for Dells. They're not cheap, but they are well made. I've upgraded several things in my Dell, all of which I was told by Dell couldn't be done.

Yes, I agree If your gonna game you need a new PSU!! a cheap board you can get away with if you don't overclock or anything, but when your PSU wonks out and kills your whole PC you'll be sorry (happened to me on an Emachines)

[old_tex]

Isn't the Dell 5150 a laptop computer? If so, you are probably stuck with the video. I don't believe there is any option for adding a video card. If it does not do shading, etc., it will not run SH4. I have a nice wide-screen Toshiba with the same problem. They are not extensable. That is probably the issue here. You will have to get another computer that is capable of expansion. (Other than memory chips). :down: Old_tex

[gimpy117]

I think your right....

it's too bad but he's right....you'll need a whole new computer to play SHIV

[I'm goin' down]

It is a desktop. We are going to take it in to a repariman for evaluation after we see if the drivers need updating. Intel has program that will do that task for us.

[Webster]

It is a desktop. We are going to take it in to a repariman for evaluation after we see if the drivers need updating. Intel has program that will do that task for us.

be very carefull sir, i have never met a repairman yet that didnt want to talk you into buying one part then another promising just one more thing will do it then at the end of the process you spent $1000 and even if it does work when your done, the end result is your still stuck with an old slow computer that barely runs games at decent frame rates. think about it, if you buy parts he makes money installing them so he has his best intrest in mind not yours.

please sir think carefully at the full complete list of everything plus labor costs then consider any old parts you keep can and might fail soon after. if this happens you will be stuck with some parts made only for certain dells making then extremely hard to sell if not worthless.

for $800 to $1000 you can build a completely brand new rig that you can plug your keyboard and monitor into. in march 2008 i built an intel q6600 2.4ghz quad core processor, gigabyte p35 mobo, samsung dvd/cd, 320gb hdd, nvidia 8800gt 512mb video card. 600 watt psu, and centurian aluminum mid tower case all for only $914 including shipping and handling. prices have come down a lot since then so i could probably built it for under $800 now

if you want to try building your own look here for help: http://forums.techpowerup.com/forumdisplay.php?f=61

they will help you select the right equipt in your price range for the type of computer you want. its a good place for help and advice.

if your not ready to build your own then ask that repairman for a price to build you a gaming computer.

[AVGWarhawk]

I would take Websters advise here. My folks took their machine to a tech shop. It disappeared for 3 weeks and then given back, with a charge of course, as banished of all the slow down demons. Yeah, sure...it was the same when they brought it in:shifty: .


In short, I just purchased a Cyberpower gamer. Phenom 7850 Black Edition quad cores with the new three step cache, 600 watt PS, 4 gig DDR 800, Nvidia 9800GT, Vista 64bit (asus M2N mobo with all kinds of overclocking options) in a gaming case already set up to keep things cool. $925.00 that included shipping.

[Wolfehunter]

"2 Display: Intel(R) 82945G Exoress Chipset Family"

your running integrated?? or are you on a discrete solution??

If it's integrated check what version direct X you have etc. and also see if your onboard chip set is actually up to the test.Also go to intel.com to see the latest drivers for the onboard vid card.

Its possible it may not support the game...

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2102&lang=eng

Here you go...:up: