I recently upgraded my GeForce 4 MX (no one told me "MX" was short for "Not really a GeForce" before I bought it) with a new GeForce FX 5200. Being the computer idiot that I am, I didn't know that my piece of trash motherboard only went up to "4X", whatever that means, but that's another story.

I installed the drivers for the graphics card, and they worked fine. Later, however, I decided that I should probably try to update to the latest driver for my card. So I downloaded the driver from NVidia's website, driver...um...45.23. It's located here, if it helps me sound any less educated about computers:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_45.23

Anyway, things looked great until I tried playing a computer game which actually wanted to USE the video card for something. At that point, any game which I tried to play (Everquest, Halo, Warcraft3, etc.) all gave me different messages about my video card having problems. Running DXDIAG showed that while DirectDraw worked fine, Direct3D acceleration didn't work at all. To make a long story short, I just went back to using the drivers from the CD and hoped I wouldn't have any reason to upgrade them. (if THIS makes a difference, the CD has a picture of a purple woman with a metal forehead, and says Verto, followed by GeForce FX Drivers CD)

Anyway, recently I developed a reason to upgrade my drivers. I have a website for an online business I do for both myself and charity (or will do, if I ever finish it) that I'm using FrontPage to create. The dynamic links at the top of the page once showed lovely leaves with text over them describing the page they linked to, but now they are covered in large black boxes. When I described my problem on the Frontpage forums, the immediate response was that it was a problem with old GeForce chipset drivers, and that I needed to upgrade.

The website in question can be found at the following link - please feel free to take a look at it and tell me if the FrontPage forum guys are full of it:

www.amazondefenders.com

I hate black boxes.

Aside from that, I think it would be nice to have an updated graphics engine in the first place...so can anyone tell me what my problem is?

This is probably going to be a simple answer which makes me look very foolish =P But thanks in advance, all the same!

well if MX = not really a GeForce then FX5200= not really a video card. Your best bet, go get yourself a GeForce 4 Ti4200. Because GeForce 4 Ti4200= the best goddamn video card that was ever made on Earth! IT WASTES ALL HIGH-END!
and u can get a Ti4200 at like $80 in US and let $200 in Canada -_-

if u can't find a Ti4200 and u dont want to replace the biggest POS on earth, try 52.16 drivers, their made by the orginal nVidia driver team (from 40.33- 51.xx they're made by MOJO's driver team AKA horny monkeys)

okay that's the fun version now the easy to read version
FX5200 sucks arse try getting a Ti4200 otherwise try Det 52.16s

fanATic Version
nVIDIA SUCKS! FX series is la Sh1ts, go get urself a R9600pro or i'll kill u with my ATi powers.

nVidiot version
oh no, your FX5200 is just weird cause FX5200 is suppose to OWN ALL LOW END CARDS!

*please ignore fanatic and nvidiot version*

RIP Block Heater....HELLO P4~~~~~
120% nVidia Fanboy
bring it fanATics~~ nVidia PWNS all!
SCREW aBOX! LONG LIVE nBOX!!

Funny, you're whole post was telling him to buy a new video card. I should counter that with telling him to buy a 9100. But I'm not, seeing as how he wants to get his current card working.

Besides countering Coolsquirtle, I really don't have any other suggestion, other than what has been suggested, get the 52.16

Error: Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue

hey! i said to tell him to install 52.16!

RIP Block Heater....HELLO P4~~~~~
120% nVidia Fanboy
bring it fanATics~~ nVidia PWNS all!
SCREW aBOX! LONG LIVE nBOX!!

I too would suggest trying the 52.16 drivers, they are available from the nvidia.com web site. I have been using a GeForce FX5200 for a little over a year now and it is okay for most things. You might have problems running some of those games you listed, especially Halo, apparently it beats the crap out of most cards, even higher end ones.

You may need to try using a detonataor uninstaller and starting fresh. There are a few files that seem to be problematic when moving to new drivers, though I've never had a problem personally.

Also, keep asking here as there is a wealth of knowledge, you just have to catch the right person....

Oh, and you didn't mention what version of DirectX you are using, but some of your description might sound like a DX problem. You should reinstall DirectX....You can get the latest and greatest from microsoft.com/directx....and conveinently enough, your FX card can do DX9 things...sort of

Can't wait till Christmas...I get my Ti4200 then




<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by spitoon on 10/30/03 00:20 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

I have had the TI4200. It was ok. I bought a FX5200 to replace it when it went bad. The FX5200 is crap. SLOW. Aquamark said how bad it was, and my games did too. I put in a FX5900 and it is awesome. I am a newbie, but all benchmarks rate that 5200 as slow.

I'm pretty exhausted with the entire video card thing at this point. Since I don't have the technical knowledge to really compare two video cards and I don't have the time to learn it, I basically have to go by whatever people tell me. When I was in the market for my first AGP card, people said to go with the MX. Upon buying it I was told it was crap. When looking for a new card, I was told by the same people (and others) that told me that the MX was crap that I should get the FX 5200. Upon buying that, I'm told it's crap.

In any case, I don't have any money (even $80) to blow on a video card less than a month after buying one for $100. At that rate I could have just purchased a $200 video card and been done with it...but then, that one inevitably would have turned out to be crap as well.

So I guess I'll just go look for the 52.xx detonator drivers now. Thanks for the help 8(

Well, I went back to NVidia's website, and I can't imagine where they've hidden this driver. When I go to download drivers they always lead me to the 42.xx or whatever the heck the driver was that I mentioned earlier. I did a search for the particular version mentioned and couldn't find anything.

Any suggestions? I'm depressed enough about having blown money on a card that's apparently a piece of junk, so at the least maybe I can get it working right. =/

If you hang out here long enough, you end up learning a lot. But it does take more than an occational visit. When you research, research thoroughly. It is common knowledge here that GF4 MX are little more than GF2 MX. The buying guide at the top of the forum is very well done.

$60.00 can get you a ATI 9100 64MB card...

<font color=red><b>To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n.</b></font color=red>
John Milton, <i>Paradise Lost</i>, II 262-263

First, don't crap on your mobo cuz it only supports 4x agp. The 8x gp is marketing hype -it doesn't add anything.

Second, I think the 52.16 drivers are only for XP. The only way to get to that download page is to choose XP as OS in box 3. Choosing 98SE will only bring you to the 45.23 driver.

Sell your 5200 to one of the people who recommended it. They deserve it and try to buy a Ti 4200

Try not to feel to bad or frustrated about poor purchasing choices. It happens to everyone. Now that you found your way here those days are over

Oops, forgot my manners - Welcome to the Forum!

XP 2000+
MSI KT3 ULTRA-2 KT333
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB PC2700
ABIT G4 Ti4200 OTES 64MB
Win98SE<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Coyote on 10/30/03 04:31 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

Don't feel to bad. I bought a geforce 4 mx 440 when they were first released. I didn't know much about computers at that time, so I got cuaght up by Nvidia's marketing. Since then, I've become more informed and have been reading a lot more reviews. When the 9600Pro came out, I bought it that week. Haven't regretted since. I'm not suggesting you go out and buy a 9600Pro, just read up next time. Go to a variety of boards, and view different reviews. For the time being, just enjoy the fact that it's not integrated graphics.

Error: Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue

sigh~~~ there are atleast 1000times more people that has MXs than Ti4200 + R9600pro =.=

RIP Block Heater....HELLO P4~~~~~
120% nVidia Fanboy
bring it fanATics~~ nVidia PWNS all!
SCREW aBOX! LONG LIVE nBOX!!

Well, my 5200 FX has 128 megs of RAM...and that's twice as much. That has to count for something - something I tell you!!

Thanks for all the help. I do have some money to spend on upgrading my computer, but part of that money already went to the graphics card (which I think I'm stuck with - I can't imagine how I could sell this or the old MX to anyone these days). Right now I can spend somewhere from $200-$250 upgrading my computer, but that's my limit...and I have loads of issues, some bigger than the graphics card.

I'm trying to upgrade for games, mostly - I want to play "World of Warcraft", a next gen online game, and have it run smoothly when it comes out. I'd also like games like Halo, Deus Ex 2, or Half Life 2 to be playable...but that might not be realistic 8)

Right now I have an 800 mhz P3, with the GeForce 5200 FX and around 600 megs of RAM. It's the old type of RAM too - I think they're calling it single channel or single band, or something like that these days? So for about $200 on newegg.com, a site recommended to me where I can buy loads of computer stuff for cheap and have it delivered to me in the obscure section of Vermont I live in, I can get a new Motherboard, 500 or so megs of double whatever-it's-called RAM, and a 1.67 gig Athalon processor.

Should I be thinking about spending my bucks on the mobo/CPU upgrade or a new, non-crapola graphics card?

Thanks again for all the help =) These boards rock.

what you have right now is called SDRAM... what people use right now is DDR ram.

ideal budget PC
AMD Athlon XP 2000+/266 FSB Processor CPU - Retail 2000+/ 1.67GHz------------------> $67.00
CRUCIAL MICRON 512MB 64x64 PC 2700 DDR RAM - OEM ------>$80
ABIT Motherboard for AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron Processors, Model# NF7 -RETAIL --->$82
VGA CHAINTECH A-GX20 TI-4200 64MB 8X NO TV OUT, VGA RETAIL BOX------->$83.00
total - $312
now for $200...hmm

AMD Athlon XP 1800+ Thoroughbred /266 FSB Processor CPU 1800+/ 1.53GHz -0.13 micro OEM --->$52.00
ABIT Motherboard for AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron Processors, Model# NF7 -RETAIL --->$82
CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x64 PC 2700 DDR RAM - OEM ------>$50
Cooler Master CPU FAN DP5-6I31D-01DP5-6I31D-01 For AMD/Intel Cpu's Retail--->$6.00
total= $190....

add $82 if u want a Ti4200





RIP Block Heater....HELLO P4~~~~~
120% nVidia Fanboy
bring it fanATics~~ nVidia PWNS all!
SCREW aBOX! LONG LIVE nBOX!!

The first setup is good for the tight budget he has(without video card). And if he can live with the current graphic card for a few months, he can upgrade the graphic card when Deus Ex 2 and other games come out.

PS. Cooler master's cpu fan is mediocre at best...

i know Coolermaster OWNS! if their case didn't cost so much i would have gotten one instead of the Xaser III ><

Coolermaster stuff are high quality guanteed

i think u should go with the first setup... try to spare $100 somewhere

RIP Block Heater....HELLO P4~~~~~
120% nVidia Fanboy
bring it fanATics~~ nVidia PWNS all!
SCREW aBOX! LONG LIVE nBOX!!

Now now why change the topic to case? I was talking about CM's mediocre cpu fans.