Despair

[JCKnife]

Okay, my cab project has hit a horriffic snag.

My brand new Dell PC has no AGP Port for my AVGA card.

Guys, I used to be fairly "in the know" about PC hardware but I've gotten out of touch. Is there anything I can do to add my AVGA card to this system? It's a Dell Dimension 3000.

Otherwise I guess I've gotta find some way to sell it and start all over.

I've got a WG-D9200 on the way, too, so using the AVGA is a must.

[JustMichael]

Which 9200 is it because can't they do more than the 15khz?

[paigeoliver]

You can get by with the onboard dell video until you replace your motherboard.

Luckily you can probably get some bucks for your dell mobo on ebay.

All you need is a new motherboard which supports the same processor your old one did, be sure and get one that HAS an AGP port, insead of onboard video.

Name brand computers hardly ever have AGP ports.

[JCKnife]

Okay, that sounds sensible enough.

I read somewhere that Dell cases are somewhat proprietary...will an ordinary motherboard fit in one?

I haven't cracked this case open yet. I assume the integrated audio is part of the mobo so I either need to find a replacement that has it or get a sound card, I guess.

Any recommendations? What else do I need to be looking for?

Processor is a P4 3GHz.

What abou the memory? I transfer it over?

Geez it's been over a decade since I mucked about inside a PC case.

[civic83]

In general only dell supplied parts will fit most of their cases.

[paigeoliver]

Okay, that sounds sensible enough.

I read somewhere that Dell cases are somewhat proprietary...will an ordinary motherboard fit in one?

I haven't cracked this case open yet. I assume the integrated audio is part of the mobo so I either need to find a replacement that has it or get a sound card, I guess.

Any recommendations? What else do I need to be looking for?

Processor is a P4 3GHz.

What abou the memory? I transfer it over?

Geez it's been over a decade since I mucked about inside a PC case.

In the last decade the STANDARDS of what the stuff in the case does has changed, but the basic stuff in the case has not. Just note what all your motherboard has onboard and buy another one the same, except WITHOUT the onboard video.

You can reuse your ram and your processor and all that.

Just make sure the new motherboard isn't bigger than the old one, otherwise it should fit,as they aren't as proprietary as they used to be.

I always build AMD systems, so I can't recommend a model, but perhaps someone else can.

Someone else, pick out this dude a mobo, he needs P4 support at 3 GHZ, onboard sound and lan, without onboard video.

[paigeoliver]

In general only dell supplied parts will fit most of their cases.  usually the mounting points are either moved or not there at all ( some use clips to hold the board in).  Also, alot of dell machines use custom power supplies.  The ATX plug is the same but the pinout is different.  usually it results in a fried motherboard and power supply.  You would be better off buying a 50-75 dollar board and a cheap cpu form somewhere and building yourself something wiht AGP rather than trying to get the dell to accomodate your card.  Also, dont you have a limited time to return the system to dell?  if so, see if you can return it and upgrade to a system that does have an AGP port in it.

I haven't run into that problem with recent Dells. I replaced the power supply in one recently with an off the shelf model.

[civic83]

might be ok with the new p4's, havnt checked in a while.

[JCKnife]

I'll open the case when I get home and see what I can figure out. At this point I'm leaning towards selling the whole system to a co-worker at like a $50 loss and starting over, but I'm probably over-reacting.

[Lilwolf]

If it was new try and see if you can return it and upgrade to another dell

Dell (and all(?)) named major brands..

They sell the cheapest motherboard which has the video card on the motherboard..

[whammoed]

I've noticed that the agp slot in general is going ByeBye.  Seems that Intel's 925 chipset boards have the new PCI Express x16 which is meant for the video.  I wonder if Andy has any plans for this?

[NoOne=NBA=]

Actually most of the NEW Dells are using PCI-X slots for their video now.
The 3000 was their budget model, and had onboard video only.

[pointdablame]

Agp slots won't disappear for quite a while still, but they will probably become harder to find.  Dell is a perfect example as I think they are switching everything but their lower end models (with onboard video) to PCI-Express.

You'll be able to find mobos with AGP slots for quite a while now, so I don't think Andy has to rush out and create a new AVGA just yet.

[Chris]

Anything Athlon-based is probably going to be AGP for a while...

[JCKnife]

Someone else, pick out this dude a mobo, he needs P4 support at 3 GHZ, onboard sound and lan, without onboard video.

Why would I need onbaord LAN?

At this point I'm leaning towards selling the system I have and assembling components from scratch for my cab. 4 co-workers have expressed SOME interest in buying my Dell.

[Snarbald]

One thing no one here has said - if you got windows with the computer,  you probably need a dell motherboard to be able to reinstall in the future. Every Dell OEM windows cd I've ever had checked for Dell parts.

[paigeoliver]

Someone else, pick out this dude a mobo, he needs P4 support at 3 GHZ, onboard sound and lan, without onboard video.

Why would I need onbaord LAN?

At this point I'm leaning towards selling the system I have and assembling components from scratch for my cab. 4 co-workers have expressed SOME interest in buying my Dell.

I always get onboard lan, it doesn't seem to add anything to the price of the motherboard, so why not get it? Actually, the only features I have seen that REALLY seem to crank up the prices are more memory slots, for some reason having more 4 memory slots costs a ton more money than having 3.

[elvis]

Actually most of the NEW Dells are using PCI-X slots for their video now.
The 3000 was their budget model, and had onboard video only.

No, they're using PCI-Express.  PCI-X is a totally different technology, usualy reserved for server motherboards needing high-bandwidth addon cards for RAID and gigabit/10-gigabit ethernet.

[elvis]

I've noticed that the agp slot in general is going ByeBye.  Seems that Intel's 925 chipset boards have the new PCI Express x16 which is meant for the video.  I wonder if Andy has any plans for this?

The ArcadeVGA's are typically based on existing ATi technology.  If that was the case, it would mean modding an X600 (the cheapest ATi card on PCI-Express tech) for use with the custom ArcadeVGA BIOS.  A standard X600 retails for $US550-$US650, and I'm not sure if anyone would be willing to pay that plus the standard ArcadeVGA markup just for PCI-Express.

Long story short, don't expect a PCI-Express ArcadeVGA any time soon. 

ATi are releasing their "X200" chipset as an integrated setup (ie: onboard video only).  If and when there's a budget PCI-Express Radeon chipset, then I'd say an AVGA will follow suit.  But for the meantime PCI-E is for high-end users only (or so ATi and Nvidia marketing monkeys want us to believe) and as such there won't be any low-end (read: CHEAP) chipsets for that bus type for a good 3-6 months at least.

[whammoed]

um, there are x300 for $65:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-390&depa=0

[pointdablame]

The ArcadeVGA's are typically based on existing ATi technology.  If that was the case, it would mean modding an X600 (the cheapest ATi card on PCI-Express tech) for use with the custom ArcadeVGA BIOS.  A standard X600 retails for $US550-$US650, and I'm not sure if anyone would be willing to pay that plus the standard ArcadeVGA markup just for PCI-Express.

Um.... what?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-417&depa=0

x600 for 112.  There are no x600's in existence that are anywhere near $550... not unless someone is making 1000% margins.  There are x800XT's in that range... but that is cream of the crop stuff.

And there are x300 PCI-Express cards for around 70 bux as whammoed said.  You could EASILY create a PCI-Express AVGA card, at least from the financial side of things.

[daeven]

I've got a WG-D9200 on the way, too, so using the AVGA is a must.

Actually, if you've got a WG D9200, you don't need an AVGA.  It will work with essentially every VGA interface ever made.

Dell supposedly stopped using propietary power supply interfaces a little while ago.  BUT, pretty much all of their motherboards and cases are propietary.

Dell will bend over backwards to make sure they don't lose a sale.  If you bought the computer from Dell, tell them you need an AGP slot.  They will be happy to take the old system back for 100% credit.  If they still sell them, the 400SC makes an awesome cheap Dell with an AGP slot.

[JCKnife]

But the stupid on-board Intel Video drivers are auto-rotating the video on vertical games, so I still need to use the AVGA.

I'm exploring the return option with Dell. meanwhile 4 of my co-workers have expressed some interest in the system.

[RayB]

x600 for 112.

[ChadTower]

Dell will bend over backwards to make sure they don't lose a sale.

[rampy]

But the stupid on-board Intel Video drivers are auto-rotating the video on vertical games, so I still need to use the AVGA.

I'm exploring the return option with Dell. meanwhile 4 of my co-workers have expressed some interest in the system.

Isn't that an easily corrected flag/setting in the mame.ini files?  Or am I mistaken?

my sympathies and well wishes, regardless..

rampy

[ChadTower]

Oh, and with the 400SC, they only officially support SERVER versions of the OS... though you can get drivers elsewhere and it will run XP Pro just fine, they don't officially support it.

[SirPeale]

But the stupid on-board Intel Video drivers are auto-rotating the video on vertical games, so I still need to use the AVGA.

You sure that it's the drivers, and that Mame is not set to auto ROL/ROR?

[JCKnife]

But the stupid on-board Intel Video drivers are auto-rotating the video on vertical games, so I still need to use the AVGA.

You sure that it's the drivers, and that Mame is not set to auto ROL/ROR?

Yeah, I'm sure.