Any suggestions for an unsupported VC?

Hey i'm using an Intel(R) Extreme Graphics 2 card(it's integrated), id replace it but the computer won't accept a different one(it's one of those small towers) i run the game on the lowest graphics and sound quality and it works most of the time. Occasionally when i get into intense combat or someone is casting fire magic(searing flames or firestorm) my comp will crash hard to desktop or restart. any suggestions to make it work better? (settings, etc.) PS: my drivers are all updated. i can actually turn the graphics all the way up and it works fine, except for the crashes that is. any help is appreciated

You definitely want some kind of dedicated video card. You mentioned it's a small case - it's most likely a micro ATX, then. Those kind of boards *do* generally have expansion slots (AGP/PCI-E). Have you ever opened the case? Perhaps you could post a screen shot of the opened case so we can help you better...

it's a dell, i've opened it up, it deffinatley doesnt have a slot. thanks for the suggestion tho.

That's very weird. Anyway, open the case and put a table fan blowing on the computer - see if that helps w/ the stability. Otherwise, see if there's any way to change the amt of memory dedicated to the video card, and consider running a program like memtest to make sure there's no other stability issues. Other than that, check the obvious stuff - newer drivers, defrag, windows updates, etc...

I'm sorry but I personally find it hard to beleive that your motherboard doesn't have a slot that you can use. You just pull out a card that you don't need or even use and just use that for your video card.

i did open the case and put a table fan blowing directly into it, it significantly lowered the temperature of the case, but i still had the crashing problem, i could do it smore and c if that helps. do u know of a way to change the amt of memory dedicated to the vid card? how do i run memtest? thanks for your help bio
lavans, it's not a normal computer, it doesn't have video and sound card slots, its all integrated, here's a link to a picture of one, http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/del...-30469086.html

Ouch...a comp with no expansion slots...0.o

Anyways, most integrated chipsets allow you to set the memory manually in the bios. Most common options are 4mb, 16mb, 32mb, 64mb, 128mb, and 256mb. Granted that it only has 512mb of system ram, don't go over 128mb video ram as it draws from your overall system ram. Keep in mind that simply increasing your video memory will not increase your system performance as much as you would think. Also, when your in your bios, look for a setting called "AGP aprature size", and set the memory value of the aprature size to either 128 or 256 if it gives you that option. This increases the total amount of data flow between the CPU and GPU...and too low of an aprature can cause the system to preform poorly in graphic based applications.

It almost sounds like it's a driver issue though. Even though the Intel integrated graphics chipsets aren't that good, they shouldn't crash like that unless there was some software based conflict. Try updating not only your graphic drivers, but your sound drivers as well as they also play into how a game functions.

As for the temps, as long as they aren't any higher than 60c, then you should be alright. My PC runs at about 64c when it's fully overclocked with no problems.

The buttom line is that, your pc is not a gaming machine. No matter how much tweaking, setting you've done to it, it won't make much different. With no agp, pci-e slots to speak of, upgrade option is out off the window. More memory might make thing better. Can you even upgrade the memory on that thing?

ok thanks for the help lavans, ill look into doing that stuff later(gtg 2 class soon) yes etta i know this is not a gaming machine, yes it does have 2 memory slots, i have 512 total.
EDIT: by "bios" do u mean the device manager? if not, what do you mean and how do i get there?

GW is known to have problems with Intel on-board graphics. The only way around it is to upgrade the video.
You say it doesn't have a 'slot', but do you mean it doesn't have an AGP or PCI-e graphics slot? (and yes folks, it's more common than you think.) If it has a PCI slot, you may be able to get a PCI graphics card, but I don't know if you can get anything new-ish in PCI.
If it doesn't even have a PCI slot then you are SOL (s**t-outta-luck). You probably can't even replace the motherboard because Dell likes to use non-standard connectors and layouts.

When your computer first boots and sits at the dell screen, theres usually some lines of text, with one saying "Press F10 To Enter Setup" or something to that degree. That's how you get in your bios. If it doesn't say what button to push at the Dell login screen, then try F10, F12, or Del. In actuality, it can be any F# if not Del. You just gotta mess around with it.

He posted a link of his computer only a few posts ago...and no, it has no slots at all. The only way that he could even possibly get a better GPU is if he managed to remove the Intel chip and soldered an integrated Nvidia or Ati chipset.

Why would someone buy a computer with no expansion slots if they intend on using it for gaming? My advice is to push that Dell POS to one side and invest in a half decent gaming system, which can be built for a decent price these days.

Thanks for the useless advice...I think we all already came to that conclusion.

my dad bought this computer from his company for $25, although i do have a job, i'm in college and don't have $500 lying around to "invest" on a better computer just to play gw.
I thought (fantasized) about finding some computer science professor to do that for me, is that actually something people do? any online computer stores do it?(id be willing to pay obviously) and ill do the bios thing and post how that goes.

No, I've never heard of anyone doing that and it's probably impossible - there's a reason it's called an integrated video chip. Even if some other chip was compatible on the pin level chances are it couldn't work with the motherboard chipset at all.

Anyways, it would take a lot of work. If it was possible and you found someone skilled enough to pull it off you'd likely have to pay more than $500.

i thought that was probly the case lord, thanks. ok i got into the bios, but i looked at all the options and was unable to find a place to manually set ram or AGP aprature size. ill look again, also thanks to everyone who has posted so far i really appreciate it.

$150 would be a more realistic figure.

All you need to do is get a new tower, pull everything out of your old one, put the old stuff in the new tower, and replace the motherboard and maybe the powersupply.

Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147073

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813135223

Powersupply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182018

Maybe a 7600GS if you wanted a little more Oomph in your gaming.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130075

Odds are that your CPU is socket 775, which if it is, I recommend that you grab that motherboard I posted. You can tell normally by looking on the motherboard's CPU socket, it will say "Socket #" or something. If not, you can tell by looking at the pins on the CPU. If the CPU has no connector pins that go in the motherboard, and the socket has some scaley looking copper prongs, then its a 775. Just remember to be careful while removing the fan and CPU if you have to look at the cpu/mobo pins.

ok, awesome, ill consider doing that. so lemme get this straight, the cpu is the main computer part(determines speed and pentium 2 or 3 or AMD Athlon, etc.) and everything just plugs into the mother board?

Right. The thing that makes or breaks the computer is the motherboard, memory, and the powersupply. Normally, you want to go with name brands when getting both motherboards, powersupplies, and memory. If you don't quite know if it's name brand or not, simply google it and try to gauge it as best as possible.

Actually putting the thing together is pretty easy though. As of right now, you can google "How to build a pc" and get some fairly decent results. Also, when you purchase a motherboard, they normally come with instructions on how to put it together as well.

due to the fact that the machine is a slimline corporate build (designed for office use only) all that would be salvageable from it is the processor, ram and hard drive.

Those machines use custom boards, smaller ones also use laptop parts as opposed to desktop so it makes salvaging even more difficult. To perform a rebuild you'd need a new motherboard, psu, case and video card.