twofivepie Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 I have a 400MHz PII, 256MB ram system with a 64Mb graphics card and 16 bit Soundblaster sound card. Its about 5 years old. I recently put Windows XP on it and Norton Internst Security. It has become too slow to use a lot of the time - especially to actually be ready to use from power-up.Now on the face of it, I can buy a machine with a much faster machine for about half the price I originally paid for this (£1500), and a completebelter if I paid the original price. However, there also seem to be machines around £400 or sometimes even less that have 'Intel Integrated Graphics' and 'Sound'. Are these any good? I only use the machine for email / web, but the family play The Sims, FIFA (soccer game), DVDs - are the 'Integrated' versions of sound & graphics good enough for this? Would they be better or worse than what I already have?PS Sorry for the UK prices... assume $!.. manufacturers usually just convert 1:1 !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 The Sims is a bugger of a game I can tell you that already for graphic cards. I myself avoid onboard video and sound. Pending what the onboard video is you may have luck. The kids' mom just bought a Dell 2400 machine and Sims will not work with the onboard video - other games will, but Sims won't. I have my doubts that Tribes 2 would work too.You can try onboard video and if it don't work, buy a nice graphics card and use that. A friend of mine recently done that - couldn't turn down a price on a mobo with onboard stuff, so he just stuck his video card in it and off he went. You didn't mention your video card brand and make nor the onboard video of the mobo so it's hard to compare which on is actually better. If your going to have video problems more than likely it will just be with the games, the rest of the stuff you do will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodef Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 I have a Dell Dimension with onboard video i810 chipset I believe have this system for about 3years and the videocard has worked excellent even built in 3D functions that said Kelly's advice is sound.If you don't like onboard video you can always disable it and buy a graphics card later on.That said Mobos with onboard video and sound are usually budget boards so don't expect the kind of performance you would get from high end boards.My suggestion would be to check the reviews on the particular Mobos in the system you are looking at they will give you a good idea about the features and shortcomings of the board.And then based on your needs you can decide what will suit you.Am sure some of the guys will post some good hardware review sites you can check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 The fact that the video and sound are ON BOARD is irrelevant. It is the type of chipsets used that makes it good or bad. I seen Motherboards with that had only basic sound and video chipsets and some that come with high end chipsets. If you go for a cheap computer you're no doubt going for the low end chipsets. Low end stuff will not work as well with games as high end stuff. For plain office work they are just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rons Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 As Kelly stated - try the onboard and if you don't like it just plug in a better video display adapater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Legge Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Just remember that onboard graphics uses system RAM - up to 64 and 128Mb of it, so, if the system only comes with 256MB of RAM, and you use some of it, if only 32MB, as set in the BIOS, for the graphics, the performance of Windows will suffer.If the system only has 256MB of RAM, I would upgrade it to 384 or 512MBs.Eric,http://www.legge40.freeserve.co.uk/BuyerBeware.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twofivepie Posted March 10, 2004 Author Share Posted March 10, 2004 Some great responses - thanks. Will do a bit more digging.Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b2cm Posted March 15, 2004 Share Posted March 15, 2004 Via (K7VMM and newer) and Sis (630 and newer) boards will run The Sims and House Party fine on 256mb system ram with 32 to 64mb shared. It's when you install Hot Date and Vacation that you'll notice a slowdown, and with Superstar, it will crawl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.