Member Avatar for Darren Orloff

My OS is Windows 2000 Professional and my computer is about a year or two old and i was wondering, would my copmuter be compatible with a graphics card?>?
i need advice or help

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Short answer: yes — but only after checking the GX150’s slot, power and chassis. The OptiPlex GX150 platform can accept a 4× AGP card, but small‑form and small‑desktop boxes require low‑profile AGP cards and have much smaller power supplies than the mini‑tower; those limits determine which cards will physically and electrically fit. (mans.io)

Quick checklist to follow before buying or installing anything:

  • Identify the chassis (SFF / Small Desktop / Small Mini Tower) or use the Dell service tag to pull the GX150 manual — that tells you whether you can use a full‑height card and the PSU wattage.
  • Look inside (or glance at the expansion area from the back): the AGP slot sits next to the CPU and is separate from the PCI slots. If the system has on‑board (Intel) video you’ll remove that first.
  • Run dxdiag (Start → Run → dxdiag) to see the detected adapter and driver; this helps confirm whether you already have hardware T&L support.
  • Check the PSU sticker for wattage and avoid cards that require extra power connectors if the PSU is small. (mans.io)

Game compatibility notes tied to your list: Civilization IV’s minimum calls for a 64MB DirectX card with hardware T&L (GeForce2 / Radeon 7500 listed as supported at release), so those cards will run Civ4 at minimum settings. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 likewise expects a DirectX9‑capable card with hardware T&L. Empire Earth II and Age of Empires III push requirements higher (EEII lists a GeForce3 or equivalent as minimum), so a GeForce2 / Radeon 7500 may struggle or require reduced settings in those titles. If you want smooth play across all four games, aim for a stronger AGP card (GeForce4 / Radeon 9000 class or better) — but confirm Win2000 driver availability for whichever model you choose. (support.civilization.com)

Final cautions: don’t buy a new PCI‑Express card (modern GPUs) — the GX150 is AGP. Also be aware AGP is an obsolete interface and modern cards and driver support are limited; if you plan more upgrades it’s often cheaper long‑term to move to a PCIe machine. If you post the chassis type (SFF/SD/SMT) or the Service Tag, more specific card recommendations and installation notes can be given. (en.wikipedia.org)

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Member Avatar for pcpalct

What kind of graphics card are you looking to put into it? Windows 2000 has come a long way with driver compatibility. Just post what you are looking to support and we'll let you know. :)

Member Avatar for Darren Orloff

im probably going to get the Geforce 2 or radeon 7500......also when a copmuter game asks for t and l hardware....what does that mean......thank you for your help

Member Avatar for BinaryMayhem

your main concern should be motherboard compatibiltiy. do you have an agp slot? 2/4/8x? pci-e? or just pci. you can't just go out and buy hardware... you gota make sure its gona work in your box first. what kind of games are you looking to run, those old cards (gf2) prolly wont run many (or any) new gfx intensive games.

if you dont know what your internal hardware is we an help you with that... download pc wizzard 2006.

also...
T&L stands for Transformation and Lighting.

basicly this means your gfx card has to beable to take a 3d image and calculate its cordinates in a 2d world and also worry about lighting of the image.

Member Avatar for pcpalct

Okay - It looks like borth cards you mentioned are compatible with Windows 2000, so either is okay (although I am more the fan of the GeForce2).

Proof is at:
ATI Radeon 7500
nVidia GeForce2

I will investigate the other question you asked and get back to you. :)

Member Avatar for BinaryMayhem

if your really worried about MS OS support, I would check here.

Member Avatar for Darren Orloff

thank you everyone for responding, first of all Binary Mayhem i have no clue about the type of agp slots ( i dont know what it is and how can i find that out) and second, the whole point of me getting the graphics card is so i can play Civilization 4 game, ive been a fan since the first one and the previous ones luckly didnt need extra hardware and the new does so that is the main game. Also ROllercoaster tycoon 3, Age of empires 3 and empire earth 2 are the others ......well im done for now thank you for your response, ill be waiting for your next.....i appreciate it

Member Avatar for Darren Orloff

one more thing what is up with your signature, im just curious because it doesnt make sense :)

thanks

Member Avatar for Darren Orloff

thank you very much, and your sure my actual computer is compatible with graphics cards, its a Dell Optiplex GX150 with 1.2 ghz 259 Ram and i think thats it and if u need more info tell me and ill r\try to find it

Member Avatar for BinaryMayhem

if your gona play age of empires 3, you need to get a top of the line gfx card... or somewhere close to it, like a ati700pro or something. that game will suck the life out of a crappy gfx card, and WILL lag during huge battles.. esp ones that have lots of artillery.

one more thing what is up with your signature, im just curious because it doesnt make sense

thanks

are you reffering to my sig?

Member Avatar for Darren Orloff

if your gona play age of empires 3, you need to get a top of the line gfx card... or somewhere close to it, like a ati700pro or something. that game will suck the life out of a crappy gfx card, and WILL lag during huge battles.. esp ones that have lots of artillery.


are you reffering to my sig?

yea i am referring to your sig, just curious...also do u think the gfx card would work with Civ 4 because thats my main focus

Member Avatar for george_hopkins

probably not very well, i would reccomend getting something a bit better.

Member Avatar for caperjack

yea i am referring to your sig, just curious...also do u think the gfx card would work with Civ 4 because thats my main focus

It's A joke .Read it slowly !!!and don't delete all the files on you computer ,yet wait 10 min!!

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