I have a HP Pavilion a210n and I want get better graphics...

supertree2 · 12-08-2008, 03:25 PM

Hello everyone! My computer is rather slow as it is a HP Pavilion a210n, I'm wondering are there any good cards that will fit my PCI only motherboard? I heard that the Radeon 9250 will work well, but I'm not sure. I want to CS: Source and I lag in CS 1.6, I don't know what my fps is though. I want to buy a card under-$100. Thanks for any help!

**blah789** · 12-08-2008, 04:11 PM

Do you plan on using dual graphics cards? If not, you may want to disable the Intel integrated graphics.
Anyway this may or may not help you. I usually turn to this table to look up graphics card performance generations:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...cs,2086-7.html
I'm not sure how accurate it is (like is every row worth the same increment performance-wise?), but it's written by knowledgeable people.
Then you can use it in conjunction with various online stores to see what's available.
For example on newegg I searched graphics card and narrowed by bus to PCI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=&srchInDesc=
And double check on the manufacturer's site that the models does exist as PCI. Sometimes it's PCI-Express mislabeled at the store. Or you can look at the picture.

**blah789** · 12-08-2008, 04:25 PM

After looking through the various cards under $100, the best seems to be the diamond HD 2400 - and it's only $80!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103056

Specs on the manufacturer's site (notice it only supports Windows XP or higher)
http://www.diamondmm.com/2400PCI256.php

Note: I didn't think such a powerful chip would be ported back to PCI. Hopefully if you get it, the PCI bus won't cramp the performance too much.

One last comment before I forget: if you do get a powerful card, make sure you have a power supply up to the task. I don't know much about power supplies, but you can ask around here for other people who know more.

supertree2 · 12-08-2008, 04:31 PM

Thanks! I'm still deciding and on newegg, I will most likely get the Radeon 9250 because it is $60, and this machine is rather old. I don't want to spend too much money, but I will consider the Diamond HD 2400. I appreciate it!

Edit: My power supply is 250w, heh.

**blah789** · 12-08-2008, 05:59 PM

Well just so you know: the Radeon 9250 is only a 9000-class Radeon in name (it's actually an 8000-class core).
It's like the GeForce4 MX 440 series (which barely matched a GeForce 2 in performance - and was totally outclassed by the GeForce3 Ti500). Or more recently the 8400 GS, which matches the "real" GeForce4-class cards (Ti 4600 for example).
See this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_...ainstream_Line (especially DirectX 9-compatible vs. DirectX 9-compliant)

It's why the table I mentioned can be useful (as you can see, the performance of a radeon 9250 falls below that of a radeon 8500).

supertree2 · 12-09-2008, 05:58 PM

The reason why I did not bother going above the Radeon 9250 was that the more advanced cards were available in AGP only, and my computer doesn't have an AGP slot, just a PCI slot because it is old and also because the newer cards didn't have as much RAM as the 9250.

12-08-2008, 03:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
supertree2 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP	I have a HP Pavilion a210n and I need a PCI only graphics card.. Hello everyone! My computer is rather slow as it is a HP Pavilion a210n, I'm wondering are there any good cards that will fit my PCI only motherboard? I heard that the Radeon 9250 will work well, but I'm not sure. I want to CS: Source and I lag in CS 1.6, I don't know what my fps is though. I want to buy a card under-$100. Thanks for any help! Last edited by supertree2; 12-08-2008 at 03:54 PM. Reason: Changed Heading

12-08-2008, 04:11 PM	#2 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,338 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: I have a HP Pavilion a210n and I want get better graphics... Do you plan on using dual graphics cards? If not, you may want to disable the Intel integrated graphics. Anyway this may or may not help you. I usually turn to this table to look up graphics card performance generations: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...cs,2086-7.html I'm not sure how accurate it is (like is every row worth the same increment performance-wise?), but it's written by knowledgeable people. Then you can use it in conjunction with various online stores to see what's available. For example on newegg I searched graphics card and narrowed by bus to PCI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=&srchInDesc= And double check on the manufacturer's site that the models does exist as PCI. Sometimes it's PCI-Express mislabeled at the store. Or you can look at the picture.

12-08-2008, 04:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,338 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: I have a HP Pavilion a210n and I want get better graphics... After looking through the various cards under $100, the best seems to be the diamond HD 2400 - and it's only $80! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103056 Specs on the manufacturer's site (notice it only supports Windows XP or higher) http://www.diamondmm.com/2400PCI256.php Note: I didn't think such a powerful chip would be ported back to PCI. Hopefully if you get it, the PCI bus won't cramp the performance too much. One last comment before I forget: if you do get a powerful card, make sure you have a power supply up to the task. I don't know much about power supplies, but you can ask around here for other people who know more. Last edited by blah789; 12-08-2008 at 04:30 PM.

12-08-2008, 04:31 PM	#4 (permalink)
supertree2 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP	Re: I have a HP Pavilion a210n and I want get better graphics... Thanks! I'm still deciding and on newegg, I will most likely get the Radeon 9250 because it is $60, and this machine is rather old. I don't want to spend too much money, but I will consider the Diamond HD 2400. I appreciate it! Edit: My power supply is 250w, heh.

12-08-2008, 05:59 PM	#5 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,338 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: I have a HP Pavilion a210n and I want get better graphics... Well just so you know: the Radeon 9250 is only a 9000-class Radeon in name (it's actually an 8000-class core). It's like the GeForce4 MX 440 series (which barely matched a GeForce 2 in performance - and was totally outclassed by the GeForce3 Ti500). Or more recently the 8400 GS, which matches the "real" GeForce4-class cards (Ti 4600 for example). See this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_...ainstream_Line (especially DirectX 9-compatible vs. DirectX 9-compliant) It's why the table I mentioned can be useful (as you can see, the performance of a radeon 9250 falls below that of a radeon 8500).

12-09-2008, 05:58 PM	#6 (permalink)
supertree2 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP	Re: I have a HP Pavilion a210n and I want get better graphics... The reason why I did not bother going above the Radeon 9250 was that the more advanced cards were available in AGP only, and my computer doesn't have an AGP slot, just a PCI slot because it is old and also because the newer cards didn't have as much RAM as the 9250.