What games WONT run on Intel "Extreme" Integrated Graphics

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DrSpike


My scepticism isn't just about that (though I think you'll have trouble with some games you try). I just don't like those systems..........my mate bought one, and the RAM went. I identified the problem easily but it was near impossible to fix it without sending the machine back. I finally managed it, but it took much more time than it should have (a 15 minute job tops).

well yeah, thats a broader problem with name brand systems. I
ll take it under advisement.

[Jac de Molay]

Bear with me please..

Originally posted by lord of the mark


Im NOT buying this system for games to come out in the future, ive got a backlog of games to play, going back to 2000 or so. Presumably games that required a 2000 or 2001 hotshot video card may be handled by the onboard, NOW????

I'm in the same situation. Got out of gaming for a while, but I just got a laptop from work with some decent specs, and I wanted to play some of my old games again.

This processor is Mobile AMD Athlon™ XP-M 2200+ w/ PowerNow!™ Technology (whatever this is ) 512 MB Ram, DVD/CD combo drive, and integrated graphics.

The only thing I've got on it is The Sims w/various expansion packs, and it runs fine, and DVDs look great on it. But I've got BG2 which I haven't even taken out of box since I bought it, SC 3000, Kiss Psycho Circus ( ), and some other older stuff I was looking to play this weekend, and was curious if the onboard graphics would be a hindrance for this. ...Jac.

[child of Thor]

god-darn-mutherofsatan-onboard-junk!

I really hate the stuff. I've eventualy managed to find a PCI card.
The radeon i got from PC world did mention PCI(and AGP to be fair) on the box, but i missed the small stuff in the brackets that said ' version' - it turned out to be the AGP version, which it didnt specify on the box!
grrrr - serves me right for not looking inside the box in the shop. anyway i got my money back so its cool.

Next up is a second-hand PCI card, a Geforce2 MX(not as powerfull as the Radeon, but it will do). It did come with a 12month warrenty.
So i put it in my 'new' pc and switch it on. Nothing! It doesn't even boot up properly. So i'm checking my warrenty paper, then i think i'll give it a go in old-faithfull(my trusty p166).

And its fine - request the drivers etc, all good.

So back to pain-in-theass PIII onboard monster. Same thing - black screen, no boot-up.

Fast forward a few hours and i sort of get some results after playing in the bios and device manager screens. But its not perfect as it still wants to run with the onboard i810 rubbish. It sets-up my new 'real' card as a second monitor

So i'm having fun. I have taken a visit to the HP website, those responsible for my particular pc-horror, and i do have somethings to try out, so we'll see.

BUT i would strongly suggest against getting such a machine if you want to try gameing, better to get a second hand old-but-upgradeable real pc with real replaceable components. This way you'll never be caught out.

I suppose at least it did have a PCI slot(no AGP though), so i should be thankfull for that. Gamer beware - they should put that on a sticker on these things.....

And the worst part is i got this pc for free! And its still made me hate on-board

[Spaced Cowboy]

I still recommend a radeon 9250 (~$50) for a low end card, that later....you can upgrade wtihout pulling out your hair!

Don't worry LoTM, we've all had that PC early on that was a pain to upgrade. Later we moved on to having a shop build us what we wanted, now I just build my own. Next one for me will be a mod project.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by child of Thor
god-darn-mutherofsatan-onboard-junk!

Case rested.

[Nostromo]

My father has an HP with onboard graphics, a GeForce2 MX irc. You can play Rome: total war and Far Cry on it.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Spaced Cowboy
I still recommend a radeon 9250 (~$50) for a low end card, that later....you can upgrade wtihout pulling out your hair!

Don't worry LoTM, we've all had that PC early on that was a pain to upgrade. Later we moved on to having a shop build us what we wanted, now I just build my own. Next one for me will be a mod project.

Ive actually checked out a local shop. I posted on it Offtopic, - none of our DC area crowd had ever heard of it.

[DrSpike]

9600 Pro; cheap and effective.

[Nostromo]

I had the choice between a 9600 XT (with 128 MB ddr) and a 9550 (with 256 MB ddr). Both at 199$ cdn. I got the 9550.

[Spaced Cowboy]

My bad, I meant 9200SE

http://www.newegg.com/app/manufact.asp?catalog=48&DEPA=1

Here's a bunch of them.

[Nostromo]

Check here for a comparison of graphic cards under 100$. The Radeon 9550 came on top.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Yeah the 9200 are less than $50, the 9550 is a better card though. I was just trying to get him off the IEIG

[child of Thor]

erm i lied about having a HP - mine is a PackardBell

Still i've spent more time at the HP website as its tech section is much more usefull than the PB one, atleast for my particular problem.

So it comes down to this:

There seems to be a problem with many pc's that use the onboard i810 or similar graphics chips and only have PCI expansion slots.

Its not easy or just impossible to change the PCI to become the primary video device, at best it will set it up as a multi-monitor setup, so if you got two monitors i guess its ok.

There is no setting in the BIOS to do this.
There are no jumper setttings to do this.

You can disable the i810 and change it to a standard VGA device, but again it seems to only let you keep this as the primary graphics card and the add on PCI slot becomes the second moniter in the multi-monitor menu.

very frustrating, especially if you dont have or want a double monitor setup.....

[Spaced Cowboy]

I ended up throwing away my PB machine....that was the last one that I bought that was a brand name!

I had a built in modem in that one that would not disable so I could use the new one that I bought...Grrr!

[child of Thor]

I'm getting very tempted myself..............all i wanted to be able to do was play Medieval Total War - all the other PC games i like to play run ok on my P166(well i also use the PB for PatricianIII and Hardwar, but the i810 can handle those games).

I tend to use my xbox+gamecube for the more 3D intensive games.

I will find away to fix this - i think i'm halfway, probably just some silly tick box somewhere. Anyway if i get a result i'll post what i needed to do. just in case anyone else is having these kind of issues.