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3D Driver

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by cannondenise5

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Please can someone give me some advice, I cannot play any 3D games on this computer as I do not have a 3D driver installed and I would like to, I only know the basics of the computer so do not know how to go about it, I am on windows xp and the driver I have installed is a SiS661FX/GX Mirage Graphics, thanks.

5 replies

by captbilly1eye

Unfortunately, there is no driver that will make your card able to handle 3D games.

Here is what someone else has said concerning your video card and it's lack of ability to handle 3D graphics, and I have to agree:

"Ideally, you should be looking to buy a high end ATI or NVIDIA graphics card. Do you know what kind of expansion socket your machine has? You'll need to determine whether you have an AGP or PCI-E port. If you browse your computer's manual, there should be something that indicates this.

Shop around for a decent ATI or NVIDIA card, remember that more graphics memory doesn't necessarily mean better performance - read the reviews.

Some graphics cards may require you to upgrade your PSU too, this is important else you could end up with a fried computer - and you definitely wouldn't be able to play the latest games on that!

Good luck."

by cannondenise5

Thanks a lot for your help I would probably be better purchasing a better computer that has already got it installed, any idea what to go for that is not to dear? thanks again for all your help.

Denise.

by captbilly1eye

As far as laptops and desktop systems go, I'm partial to Dell due to their record of better-than-average support, value and warranty, but there are tons of other choices out there.
These days, the best video cards use a PCI Express slot and have pixel shader 3.0.
Shoot for a vid card with 256MBs or greater of on-board RAM. With Vista, you want a card that is DirectX 10 compatible.
But, read system and card reviews available in magazines like Maximum PC, PC Gamer, PC World, Games for Windows magazine, etc.
Also check ZDNet.com and CNet.com for online reviews.
Most computer assemblers and manufacturers use current 3D capable video cards offered by nVidia or ATI (now owned by AMD).
A little bit of research and home work will pay off in savings and enjoyment down the road.
Everyone has their preferences (I prefer to keep most of my opinions to myself), so it's better to read the reviews (both those by publishers and those by users) and then shop around using Newegg.com, Buy.com or others online. Many online retailers offer an easy way to shop based on a price range as well.
Since you are in the UK, there may be better choices for online purchasing, but unfortunately, I'm only familiar with those on this side of the pond. :-)

Good Luck.

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