Do i need a new video card

[tomlunt]

Hi -

I have a dell dimension r400 (Pentium II, 400 MHz), 256 MB ram, WinXP. The current video card is a ATI Xpert 98D 8MB AGP video card.

I don't know didly about video cards, but my son wants to play a new game - Hunting Unlimited. I loaded the game just fine, but the mouse doesn't really work. It lags WAAAAAAYYYYY behind and just jerks around the screen. Thankfully he can play the game with the keyboard.

The video card appears to meet the minimum requirements for the game, so shouldn't the mouse move around all right? I've tried different resolutions and color depths, but its all the same.

I can't fnd new drivers for the video card on ATI web-site.

So - do i need a new video card? Would that help?

Thanks in advance (remember, I don't know anything about video cards).

Tom

PS - I almost forgot - I'm using a Dell 15"LCD display (love it) which had three cables coming out of the back when i got it - 1 power cable, one regular VGA cable, and one other cable that I assume is a digital cable (I've never seen one before). Should i consider a digital video card?

 

[casper03]

there could be many other things causing the problems you describe. but i am not an expert on video or display problems by any means .sorry i know that doesn't help at all but at least you now knwo you may not have to get rid of the card

 

[brianF]

First thing would be to download this patch for the game, suppose to help some low end systems with frame rates, may help

http://www.arushgames.com/games/hunting/

Also go into the game options and turn some of the eye candy down, try lower resoloution's, etc

End task on all programs running in the background before you start the game, do this by hitting control alt delete and choose end task on everything except explorer and systray.

 

[tomlunt]

Brian -

thanks for the input. I did download and install the patch yesterday - not much help, if any.

I did try lower resolutions, etc. No help.

I'll try getting rid of some of the "eye candy" later - tough to do with a mouse that doesn't work well.

I know it's hard to know what's wrong with a game that you cant even see - i don't know if the problem is the video card or even the system processor.

Thanks. I'll keep tweaking and see what i come up with.

I might buy a new video card - a dvi card for the LCD monitor. Then i can take the old card to the office and install it in my desktop and try getting two monitors to run off one computer - something i've been meaning to try anyway.

Tom

 

[brianF]

Only thing I can say is your pretty close to the minimum requirements for the game. Usually their minimum requirements are set for absolutely no extras running, bare minimum everything.

Also I have heard but not sure that the lcd monitors are a little slower in refreshing with games which could also be part of the problem.

And your using winxp which they don't list as a certified os for the game.

Could be any or all of the above.

If I looked at the right video card at ati, that probably is pushing it, I had one of those many years age, never did like it.

I'm not even sure what to suggest for a new video card for a dell but the best bets in my mind are

gforce II mx 400
maybe an ati card, but I hate ati's driver support, but they seem to be priced low.

Keep in mind there maybe compatibility problems with a newer vid card on older machines. Find out what agp spec your machine is, the video cards will list what agp spec they need to function properly

 

[rugrat]

The xpert 98 card is based on the rage pro chipset. ATI has not released a driver for XP for this chip. They recommend the Microsoft driver that comes with Xp however, it does not support open GL games.
http://support.ati.com/products/pc/...S=Windows+XP&cboProducts=RAGE+PRO&cmdNext=GO!
The above link will get you to the info. Not sure if your game is open GL or not. Sounds like an upgrade is in order soon. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

[tomlunt]

Brian -

I was afraid the system might be on the low-end for this game. I don't do games, so this 3 year old system is just fine. But now that my son is starting to like the games I might be in trouble.

The LCD display refreshes OK - the mouse is the only problem. My son is getting a new joystick (USB) for Christmas, so maybe that will help. I guess we'll know more Tuesday.

If i go for a new video card I'll be able to take this old one to work and install it in my work machine and run two monitors (if i have a slot for it).

Rugrat -

The game can be run in OpenGL or Direct X (or something like that, i'm not up on all these terms). I tried both. Open GL doesn't work, Direct X works (8.0) (kind of).

Thank you both. I'll keep plugging away. Thankfully the game works good enough to keep Jack happy (I can't get at the computer - have to use the laptop).

Tom