64MB integrated card? Not gonna happen! Though - he may not need DoS to play quiet a few oldies. :laugh:

What?

One of my PCs has a 64MB integrated chipset card, this is an Intel, which is amongst the worst of the bunch and I've run Warcraft III on the highest settings, ON Battle.net, and without a sign of slowdown.

You're not going to need that much juice for a six year old game, even if it is an integrated card.

You obviously underestimate the power required to play newer 3D games. I could not play Warcraft III without most visual options turned off else I'd be lagging, or keep up much longer with games like WoW since they up their system requirement with time as technology advance...

It's obvious that the integrated graphic card is enough to play old DOS games. However, if you plan to use the computer for at least two years and you do want to play the newer games which will come out, then you need to think ahead. a 256 megs card is the minimum I'd recommend unless you want to end up with a new computer in a year and a half...

Thanks for your comments, I believe that blood pigggy's arguments are acceptable but also think that the last statement of Eagle is very important and i suppose definitely that he won't stick to warcraft III forever so certainly a newer game will come.
the inboard chipset is intel graphics media accelerator 950 which i found on another place that is modest and will work, but not recommendable for gaming so, if he has the money why not upgrade it to something that he certainly will use on the next years? he took a Nvidia Geforce 8 series gtx (256mb up to 500mb)

You can always add/upgrade the card later. If money is an issue and your happy in the abandonware environment then wait until you need it. The prices may come down and the technology will improve.

It's always better to have the card inside the computer when you purchase it, unless you expect that a new card you're eyeing is going to be out later on or you can actually install the card yourself. Else, you'll have to pay extra to have the card installed in the box. The labour is really what make the difference.

Plus, most of the rigs you purchase come with a compatibility waranty. Meaning that if you purchase it with the rig, you're sure it will work. Which is not exactly what I'd call garanteed when you add it later, though it's rare it won't work.

Edit: Also, I'm not really sure how things works where you are... But if you're going to take a loan to pay it, then it's in your best interest to get the card in the full package. Else you'll need to find the money later on, you won't be able to add it to your load or whatever you pay each month...

That's a wise advice, let us see if he hasn't purchased it yet, and he should try the new computer without it for a while and take the decision when the need will come :amused:

As for Eagle comment, I think it won't be a problem if you buy everything from the same vendor/assembler and i am sure he will be able to set some agreement to be able to keep the warranty if he decides later to install the card.
thanks again.

You don't install your own hardware?? You pay someone to do it??

You mean that he should look if there is AGP/PCIexpress slot in the compute before he purchase computer. Friend of mine just purchased 64MB card for 10 bucks for his eMachine (worst type of computers IMHO). For him even integrated card he has been using past 4 yeas was sufficient enough to play Warcraft 3 and C&C games. Kind a behind, don't you think. :D

I think it is the best to wait, as prices are going down... :amused:

ps. Just for info, my 4 year old laptop has 32MB and new laptop has 128MB on the board. (not shared, but it's own separated memory in both cases) If you can get one that does not share the memory - then better, but even if you can't, today most of computers have very fast memory.

the trouble with integrated videocards are drivers, bp. and there are always some kind of different issues too. he doesn't have to buy awesome ultra geeforcae 235092348523905 gtx pro omg ultra. simple old cheap radeon could handle it. but not integrated

Where can I buy one? :nuts: