Video Cards...

So I just got this new computer for 100 bucks. It's an XP, had a lot of viruses though, but we got those taken care of and now it turns smoothly. I was excited about getting the computer because I was looking forward to playing World of Warcraft on it. So, I installed it and tried it out. Although it loads faster then my other computer, the movements in it are very choppy. On the other computer when my character would run, it would run smoothly. On this one, you can barely tell she's running because her arms go from one place to another without any motion between (sorry, I'm not that good at explaining these things)... It's like the frame rate is lower then it should be. So I figured I'd come here for a little advice. Now, I'm not too sure what the problem is, but I'm going to guess that it's the video card (if you think otherwise then please let me know!).

So I took a screenshot of what I think is my video card, except this appears as a bunch of jibberish to me. Can someone please let me know from this picture what kind of video card I have, and if I should get a better one or not? By the looks of the picture, it looks pretty cheap to me, but I might be wrong. If this isn't my video card's stats, could you give me instructions on how to look it up? Thanks in advance guys.



This is the video card I was looking at if I do need a new one. Is it a good choice?

EDIT:

I also realised that while in the game, some of the boxes with information in them have these weird little squares on their corners, like so:



I've never seen this before. They change colours too for some reason, from purple to blue to yellow. Is there an option that I can use to change these stupid things, or is there another option?

32 MB of video memory = CHOKE. You could try adjusting that field up if it goes any higher, but by the looks of it, that's an integrated card so the video memory will be split with the RAM anyway.

In brief, you definitely need a new graphics card.

Also, how does a "new" computer have "a lot of viruses"?

PS - your link to your graphics card choice just takes you to a page asking for a canadian credit card number.

hmm yeah, that looks like an onboard graphics card, in other words, its your motherboard thats dealing with the graphics, not a graphics card, again in other words: its crap, for games onboar stuff sucks
get a good graphics card, ye dont have to dosh out a lot of cash for a good one

i got a ATI Radeon X1600pro, 256 mb
and it works like a charm
i run World of Warcraft full out with everything maxed, and i got 50 frames per second
and it only costed me 150 euro's.
but there are a lot more cards of the same quality around that price, i suggest looking around the local computer stores and ask around for info ^^
dont just rush in and get one, its worth taking the time to pick a good one

Originally Posted by Malloc()

32 MB of video memory = CHOKE. You could try adjusting that field up if it goes any higher, but by the looks of it, that's an integrated card so the video memory will be split with the RAM anyway.

In brief, you definitely need a new graphics card.

Also, how does a "new" computer have "a lot of viruses"?

PS - your link to your graphics card choice just takes you to a page asking for a canadian credit card number.

I tried making it to go higher then 32 MB, but that's its highest.

We bought it from a garage sale for $100.00, monitor included. I guess it's not brand-new, but it's pretty much new 'cause it's working great and all the viruses are gone.

As for the link, I'll just put the name of the card I was looking at.
BFG Tech GeForce FX 5500 256MB AGP Graphics Card


Thanks a lot for the help guys. ;D

NO!
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
NEVER!
DONT, I REPEAT, DO NOT GET A FX CARD! EVERY SINGLE OF THE GEFORCE CARDS IN THE FX5 SERIES SUCKS!, get a 6600gt, its literaly 10 times better
the fx5xxx series should never have existed
i hada geforce fx5500, and it sucked so bad...

Originally Posted by Foamy

NO!
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
NEVER!
DONT, I REPEAT, DO NOT GET A FX CARD! EVERY SINGLE OF THE GEFORCE CARDS IN THE FX5 SERIES SUCKS!, get a 6600gt, its literaly 10 times better
the fx5xxx series should never have existed
i hada geforce fx5500, and it sucked so bad...

Aiieeee, I don't want to have to pay $300 bucks Canadian to get a video card! x_X

Well thats understandable, but the FX series isnt made for gaming, i had it, and well wow runned at about its lowest with bareley 10fps, soooooooo....
with graphical cards, you wanna make an investment, but not too much, i dont realy know what the average price is in dollars, but for europeans its roughly between 120 and 180 euro's for a decent card, if you pay more youll be wasting money since 3 months from buying it, the card will be loads cheaper, and if its below the price it technically means the card is crap.
but like i said, ask around the local computer stores, and check computer orientated forums and websites for reviews.

Foamy speaks the truth about the abominable FX.

If you're going nVidia, I'd say try to get at least a GeForce 6 series card. Shader model 3.0 is a big plus for modern games.

Hmm. Well this is the video card my other computer has.



I don't know about you, but WoW ran fairly smoothly with that card.

There's another card I was looking at for $180.00:
BFG Tech GeForce 6200 OC 256MB AGP Graphics Card

I don't know s*** about this kind of thing though. xD

hmm...well gimme your budget and ill look around a wee bit

Originally Posted by Foamy

hmm...well gimme your budget and ill look around a wee bit

I don't want to go over $200.00 Canadian, which I believe is around 140 Euros.

200.00 CAD
Canada Dollars = 141.166 EUR
Euro
1 CAD = 0.705830 EUR 1 EUR = 1.41677 CAD


gotta love www.xe.com
kay ill look around

edit: okay im coming up with: (please note im looking at dutch sites, so the prices may vary a wee bit)

Club3D (nVidia) GeForce 6600GT 128mb 135 euro's, which is around 192 canadian dollars
Sapphire (ATI) Radeon X1600Pro 256mb 139 euro's, which is around 197 canadian dollars

well those are the only 2 i can come up with in that price range, personally id go for the radeon, its got more memory, and more stuff, (i got as well, tough mine's a bit different and from a different manufacturer )
i can look around some more, but i highly doubt ill find a better card for that price, but those 2 are both realy good.

but like i said, those are the prices as they are here in holland, i dont know if the price is the same there, again: ask around the local computer stores.

Thanks a lot. And remember, the cheaper the better. =P Well, as long as it's not a crappy card.

check the edit

All right, thanks for the help Foamy. I'm definitely going to look around for one sometime soon. Although I'm saving my money for the summer, I'll buy one soon after that. Thanks a lot!

im glad i could help ^^ hopefully youll find a good one ^^

Hey, out of curiosity, would it be possible to switch the two video cards from my two computers? My dad's not a gamer and wouldn't really need his card.

Originally Posted by Kat

Hey, out of curiosity, would it be possible to switch the two video cards from my two computers? My dad's not a gamer and wouldn't really need his card.

The Geforce4 MX is not a gaming card, it'll play WoW, but that's about it. On top of that, your card is probably solderd directly onto your motherboard, no moving it at all.