Soft-15khz build 38 - all grey

[emphatic]

Also, if it supports 25khz it might be referred to as dual-sync. It's not that important though, as most arcade games run at 15khz (lowres).

Emph

[spuds]

Hey spuds. I just thought of something. I got a dell optiplex gx-240 out of work (it was considered outdated) and put xp pro on it. The graphics card that came with had an ati chipset on it (rage pro 128, i think). When i tried to put a different graphics card in it (ArcadeVGA2 agv version) i could get no picture past the bios screen - it was just blank. On asking about this over on the Ultimarc forum, i was told that on some models dell have custom bios that will not allow you to use any old graphics card (just ones approved by dell). It's just a word of warning. Like Emphatic suggested don't spend much money on the card (as it may not work). I'm wondering if it's possible to change the bios to get around this problem. Anyone ?

ARRRRGGGGGG :(

So - I should email dell support and see what video cards will work with this machine?

will they tell me?

[bkenobi]

I suspect this is a rather old machine, so it's probably out of warranty. I suspect they will blow you off and tell you to search Dell.com under the support forum. It's worth a shot though. I personally would look at the board specs and just buy something that fits within them and assume it will work. If you really have to spend that much time on an old machine, it's not always worth the effort. If you really can't figure it out (and don't want to spend that much time on an old machine), one option is putting it in the closet for the next project and just building a new one...

[Brian Hoffman]

ARRRRGGGGGG :(

So - I should email dell support and see what video cards will work with this machine?

will they tell me?

Open up the case. Take a pic of the motherboard and post it here.

We can tell you what you need

[spuds]

Open up the case. Take a pic of the motherboard and post it here.

We can tell you what you need

AWESOME Brian thanks..

I will borrow my daughters camera and get a pic up as soon as I can !!

[spuds]

Open up the case. Take a pic of the motherboard and post it here.

We can tell you what you need

hope this works

here is the MB pic

[spuds]

hope this works

here is the MB pic

and here is I think two open slots (PCI)???

[Mayhem]

hi tghere i am a computer engineer and installed hundreds of pcs with onbord video, When u use a dell and use there drivers thay have very limited capabitys and there drivers are normaly stripped down version. To find out what vid card you have is normaly dead easy buy just going into the system propertys and looking.

Im betting my hind teeth you have a intel chipset and intel On bord video card. and if you have then you will find it hard running at these low refesh rates. if you give me the details of you PC eg what it is you have i will pull out my dell sevice manuels and tell you what you can do with it. Allso if it is a Intel chipset with Vid then download the latest drivers from intel and install Riva Tuner and this will help you get the ref rates your after.

allso when you call dell you arnt put through to a tekkie your put through to customer services who know jack. its ppl like me who do the real hardware engineering .....

Any just let me know your model number and ill find out what you have and if you can do it.

ps. loking at that riser card u might have some thing like a gx280/290 series low profile "pizza Box PC" ... mate if you have your pritty much buggerd as there not made for gaming but work and they have limited gfx support

[Mayhem]

going to say if you feel adaventus you can allso hack you drivers or chipset bios file to force it to run. But if you are still underwarrenty this will void it.

allso dells work fine with other VGA cards its a matterer of jumpers and bios settings to get them to work corectly. dells do use cusome stripped down bios but with a little know how you can reactivate certain things ...

[bkenobi]

I guess I don't see the problem here. From my inspection of the pictures, I see a couple things. First, this is an Intel chipset P4 board. It probably has an Intel onboard video, but that really doesn't matter since you have an open AGP slot. That's very good! There are plenty of low profile AGP cards out there if you have a short case. If your case is tall enough to support a full sized card, you are golden!

Even if Dell limited certain things, I don't see how they could disable the AGP slot from accepting a video card. I personally would look into a NVidia GeForce or perhaps a TNT of the low profile variety. There are some decent ATI cards out there from the AGP era, but I'm not as familiar with them, so I can't suggest anything.

EDIT: Btw, it depends on what you have for onboard video what card to buy. If your system is actually a bit newer, you would probably be better off with at least a Geforce 4800 and maybe even something more on the lines of the ATI 1300 series cards. I wouldn't go much higher than that unless you plan on putting your purchase in a new machine in the near term (unlikely since new machines use PCIe, not AGP).

[spuds]

I guess I don't see the problem here. From my inspection of the pictures, I see a couple things. First, this is an Intel chipset P4 board. It probably has an Intel onboard video, but that really doesn't matter since you have an open AGP slot. That's very good! There are plenty of low profile AGP cards out there if you have a short case. If your case is tall enough to support a full sized card, you are golden!

Even if Dell limited certain things, I don't see how they could disable the AGP slot from accepting a video card. I personally would look into a NVidia GeForce or perhaps a TNT of the low profile variety. There are some decent ATI cards out there from the AGP era, but I'm not as familiar with them, so I can't suggest anything.

EDIT: Btw, it depends on what you have for onboard video what card to buy. If your system is actually a bit newer, you would probably be better off with at least a Geforce 4800 and maybe even something more on the lines of the ATI 1300 series cards. I wouldn't go much higher than that unless you plan on putting your purchase in a new machine in the near term (unlikely since new machines use PCIe, not AGP).

thanks guys

anyway I looked in system and it has a

Intel 82865G graphics controller ( is that what you need Mayhem??)

this is a 2004 machine, GX270, service tag g00rw41 ( I just bought it refurbished, was told would be good for MAME )

when I go to dell and ask for compatible hardware several cards come up.

two of them are

Geforce FX5200

GEforce 4mx.

So, knowing all this would the GEforce4800 be compatible as well?????

Thanks

[Mayhem]

your card is vesa complinet, you can get it to do the low res and feq - driver from here -

here you go get these driver and then install them -

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Se...+product+ID+%23.

Download riva tuner and off you go mate.

[iano]

Hi Spuds. Just wondering where on Dell's site you found a list of compatible video cards. I can't seem to find it after i enter in my service tag number.

Thanks.

[spuds]

Hi Spuds. Just wondering where on Dell's site you found a list of compatible video cards. I can't seem to find it after i enter in my service tag number.

Thanks.

after you enter your service code - click on "parts & Upgrades" - then choose option 2 (where you enter your service code again)

your system should then pop up -

click the "go" button

it will bring up a screen where you select what upgrades you are looking for

choose what you want ( I choose graphics cards )

and wa-la

[spuds]

your card is vesa complinet, you can get it to do the low res and feq - driver from here -

here you go get these driver and then install them -

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Se...+product+ID+%23.

Download riva tuner and off you go mate.

clicked it - followed instructions - but it refuses to let me install.

do I have to download riva tuner first???

[Brian Hoffman]

clicked it - followed instructions - but it refuses to let me install.

do I have to download riva tuner first???

I wouldn't until you have the proper drivers installed first. Whats your service tag again? I seem to be missing it here on the forums... Or am blind/lazy

[spuds]

I wouldn't until you have the proper drivers installed first. Whats your service tag again? I seem to be missing it here on the forums... Or am blind/lazy

g00rw41

[spuds]

+bump

[Brian Hoffman]

+bump

Grab the video drivers here... There are a few diffrent options as your pc type went through several revisions. Id try each one till you get it.

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/...tid=&impid=

[spuds]

Grab the video drivers here... There are a few diffrent options as your pc type went through several revisions. Id try each one till you get it.

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/...tid=&impid=

Thanks Brian

I clicked the link - only 2 are intel drivers and neither worked - there are two nvidia and one radeon, should I try those with the onboard video??

[Brian Hoffman]

Thanks Brian

I clicked the link - only 2 are intel drivers and neither worked - there are two nvidia and one radeon, should I try those with the onboard video??

Honestly you may be better off getting a cheap geforce card.

[spuds]

Honestly you may be better off getting a cheap geforce card.

ok - I will look for one this week - THANKS !!

[spuds]

OK Guys

I have installed a geforce 6200 into this PC

it now detects Soft15.

I have not selected it because I am still connected to my LCD.

I suppose I am now ready to attempt to connect this to my arcade cab.

Should I go ahead and click the install 15hz button BEFORE I place this in the cab.

Or do I install it fire it up and then click the install 15hz button?

May seem silly to you, but I am not sure and I do not want to damage my monitor

Thanks guys - I feel like I am getting closer to getting this baby up !!!!

[Brian Hoffman]

OK Guys

I have installed a geforce 6200 into this PC

it now detects Soft15.

I have not selected it because I am still connected to my LCD.

I suppose I am now ready to attempt to connect this to my arcade cab.

Should I go ahead and click the install 15hz button BEFORE I place this in the cab.

Or do I install it fire it up and then click the install 15hz button?

May seem silly to you, but I am not sure and I do not want to damage my monitor

Thanks guys - I feel like I am getting closer to getting this baby up !!!!

I would Install the program first. This way your vodeo card doesnt send a signal to your monitor it doesnt like.

[iano]

OK Guys

I have installed a geforce 6200 into this PC

it now detects Soft15.

I have not selected it because I am still connected to my LCD.

I suppose I am now ready to attempt to connect this to my arcade cab.

Should I go ahead and click the install 15hz button BEFORE I place this in the cab.

Or do I install it fire it up and then click the install 15hz button?

May seem silly to you, but I am not sure and I do not want to damage my monitor

Thanks guys - I feel like I am getting closer to getting this baby up !!!!

I think (although i'm not 100% sure) that you should run soft-15khz while you have a standard pc monitor connected and configure it there because if you connected an arcade monitor before doing this it's unlikely the arcade monitor will be able to sync to the graphics card.

EDIT: Brian bet me to it !