Graphics cards & NFS Pro Street

[DANNY8]

I bought NFS Pro Street (PC) off of eBay for $30.99 brand new sealed in it's packet....it arrived 2day and I was stoked. Installed it and tried playing it but the game keeps crashing when it loads into a race. I googled my problem and it seems some other guy somewhere has the same problem, and apparently it's his graphics card which isn't good enuf.

I don't have any special graphics card at all that I know of so just wondering wat places people suggest, wat cards are best and wat are they worth?

The specs of my computer are...
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 2.2GHz
2GB Ram
500GB HDD (partitioned into 2x 250GB) + 1x external 320GB HDD

I'm running Vista, but still I figure my comp should still run the game. I've found a bit of info about the card I'd need to get for the game (below)...anyone know a website which sells any?

Supported chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 greater (GeForce MX series not supported); ATI Radeon 9500 or greater. Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required

The thing that sucks is I got this puter from Radio Rentals for $100 a month (I regret renting it now, wish I bought it outright), and they said I can't modify it in anyway (hardware), but I figured they won't find out anyways even if I do. Also, it's a tiny case (250x200x60mm roughly), not much bigger then my external HDD lol....so not sure if normal cards would fit.

Anyone help me out? I wanna play Pro Street!

[Ra1d]

the main thing that lets a system down when it comes to gaming is the video card. id say that your pc has integrated graphics as opposed to an actual 3D graphics card (geforce/radeon etc) which pro street definetly needs to run. I have never rented anything before but i would imagine modifying the equipment would void your contract with them, which usually stooges the consumer pretty bad.

if you work something out check out itestate.com for gfx cards, ive bought a couple things through them and they usually give u a pretty good price

[Haydz]

i have the same game and similair specs if you just want to run the game i recommend a 256mb graphics card but just to be on the safe side your probably best to get one that 512 and at least 100+ have a look at this place
MSY Technology Pty

[AttaBoy]

I recommend the 8800gt or the gts version. Great cards for the price.

Or if you want to you could wait a little while till the new Nvidia 9XXXX series cards come out will give a massive boost to performance for future games if you plan to buy, but your processor could be the bottleneck.

[Tom_1569]

As above is all good advice. BUT if its a compact case, one made by a poxy big brand company, then you may not have the room to fit one, and you may not even have the slot for one. Thats where making your own PC is so much better for when you wanna upgrade. I would never buy a brand name computer.
Also when buying a graphics card try and get one that actually has the amount written. You can buy 512mb cards, but they are actually 128mb and get the rest from your RAM. Everytime i buy a graphics card, i always buy one that has its full memory on board, just for speed optimsation, and you also have the feeling that if you overload your graphics card your computer wont reset.

[s_ikari2015]

You won't find many slimline cards to fit in an ultra-slim form factor PC, which is what your computer sounds like. Then there is the issue of whether or not the PC even has an expansion slot.
You could build a PC today that would play the game well for less than $1,000. Well I could :P (and have.... *loads NFS Pro Street*)

[AttaBoy]

Depends on what resolution you plan to run your games at - you do not need massive video memory. High resolutions require more memory due to more pixels need to be rendered. Don't waste your money buying 512mb/1gb cards if you run it off a small monitor or below 1680 X1050 resolutions. 256mb graphics memory is good enough.

[Ra1d]

id say it would be a pre-packaged pc (dell etc) thus it will have a pretty basic mainboard and yer, probably no expansion slots. 8800gt/s - great cards but considering these cards and pretty much all new cards use a pci express slot, they are definetly no good to this guy. pci-e slots have only become the norm in mainboards in the last 12 or so months and they dont put such boards in your craphouse dell/packard bell units. as someone said - pre-packaged pc's are sh1t, unless its only going to be used for the kiddies to type up their assignments and do a bit of web browsing.

[AttaBoy]

You never know. Best to open the side panel and see if there is a slot.

[Ra1d]

id imagine that would void the contract with the rental mob. what does it say in the terms of agreement vhpirie?

[Evolution_Ends_Here]

i can run the game game on my computrer, i'm running it on ati radeon 9600 256mb card

[Spaced]

Crack open the case, if there is a slot for the video card you will need a low profile video card. They are easy to acquire. While you have the case open, look at the mother board and see if it has a brand name and a manufacturer. Unless if it's say a hp. If it's a major brand, ibm, hp etc you can download the manual to see what slots it has.

When you return it just remove the card and sell it on ebay.

[DANNY8]

Ok cheers guys.......sry for the late reply...doin a few night shifts. :P I'll ava looksy in the case 2night or 2morrow.

[Ra1d]

isnt anyone concerned with the fact that the rental contract may be void if the case is opened?!

[AttaBoy]

Nobody cares LOL.....