Looking for suggestions

OK! I have a Dell Dimension computer with Intel Integrated Graphics card....yes I know..it is not recommended with SL! I know this!
My question is this.....It is my understanding that my system does not have an AGP slot.....(can anyone confirm this?).....I want to upgrade to a better graphics card that WILL WORK with SL! AND MY DELL!!!!!

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

No problem at all. I'm using a Dell without an AGP slot too, and I just popped a cheap PCI nVidia FX 5200 into it and it runs fine, absolutely no crashes. In fact, SL has the occasional hiccup on AGP gear according to some forum posts (or is it just with ATI?), but never with PCI cards I believe.

Having said that, I'd go for a slightly better card than a 5200 if you can, because SL really does hammer the graphics and the 5200 is never going to win any speed races.

I'll be upgrading to the nVidia FX 6800 range when PCI versions come out. Their new chipset is really designed for PCI Express, but there will be plain PCI versions too. In the longer term, AGP is on its way out anyway because it hit a bottleneck at 8X, although that won't be for a good many years yet.

Thanks! I am so frustrated! I love SL, but I have lock-ups, crashes and horrible lag.
I will look into those suggestions for the graphics cards and maybe, just maybe I can begin to enjoy my SL again!!

A word of warning about PCI video cards...

PCI has a maximum bandwidth of 133 MB/s.
AGP 1x has a maximum bandwidth of 266 MB/s.
AGP 2x has a maximum bandwidth of 533 MB/s.
AGP 4x has a maximum bandwidth of 1066 MB/s.
AGP 8x has a maximum bandwidth of 2133 MB/s.

PCIe 1x has a maximum bandwidth of 250 MB/s.
PCIe 16x (used for video cards) has a maximum bandwidth of 4000MB/s.

You'll probably be able to dig up a PCI 6800 card somewhere, but you shouldn't expect the kind of performance you'd get in a system with a newer motherboard. They also have a tendency to cost more. If I had a motherboard that wasn't terribly upgradeable, I'd look at replacing it outright before buying a super-fast video card. It's like building a huge shopping centre and then having a winding dirt road as the only way to get there. You're going to have a huge bottleneck. In fact, Morgaine, you already DO have a huge bottleneck.

The other problem in your case, Morgaine, is that your Dell power supply almost certainly won't have the juice to run a 6800... and unless Dell has changed their business model lately, that'll mean you'll have a tough time finding a replacement PSU that'll fit your motherboard's nonstandard power connector.

Your best option is to simply replace the motherboard and PSU altogether. PCI video cards tend to be a bit more expensive than their equivalent AGP models, so depending on where you buy it, it's not that much more expensive either.

OK, now I am confused....CAN I or CAN'T I use AGP graphics cards in my Dell????

I found an ATI RADEON 9200 SE 128M DDR 8X AGP and before I buy it I am trying to find out if I can use it or what I should get.....

Catherine: OK I have found my graphics card!!!! I bought EVGA nVidia GeForce 2 MX400 64MB DDR PCI VGA Video Card!

SL recommends the nVidia GeForce 2, so I should not have a problem.....AND I got it super CHEAP!!!!! Less than $40, gotta love Ebay Stores!

If you don't have an AGP slot, you can't use that card. You need a PCI video card.

If you can't afford to replace your motherboard, I would recommend either the Gainward or Chaintech GeForce 5200 PCI cards:
http://www.newegg.com/app/SearchProductResult.asp?Description=pci,5200&DEPA=

I wouldn't recommend buying an ATI video card for use with SL, not unless you really know what you're doing. You'll have a far easier time with a Nvidia GeForce card.

Okay, heh, that works.

Although plain PCI is a bottleneck as you say Cath, if one's stuck with a PCI-only computer like the cheaper Dells then you just have to adjust your expectations a little and you get by.

With my Dell's 2.8GHz P4 and the little PCI FX 5200, I have to keep my Draw Distance down below 140m, and drop it to 125m occasionally, otherwise my framerate suffers. That's not great, but as I'm not involved in reactive games yet, it just about does the job. I'm sure I'll be upgrading my graphics card soon though. PCI versions of the more powerful GeForce FX's are quite widely available, even though the vast majority of FX products use AGP.

When you are being slowed down by a bus like this, it's important to try to reduce the traffic that runs over it. That means trying to get a graphics card with as much video memory as possible to reduce texture reloads, and one with programmmable shaders so that as much computation is done on the card as possible instead of on the main CPU. GeForce FX cards from BFG satisfy both these requirements quite well, as BFG tends to put more memory than normal on their cards -- my wee 5200 has 256M, which isn't bad at all.

Morgaine, I think you're seriously underestimating how important video bandwidth is. The GPU isn't an isolated number cruncher, it's an integral part of the system.

I strongly question whether anyone will even build a PCI GeForce 6800. I just don't see the point. To be honest, I'm not even sure if the PCI bus can deliver enough current to power it.

Your best (and cheapest) option is to get a new motherboard with an AGP or PCIe slot and a new video card to take advantage of it. It'd deliver better performance than you could get from a PCI-based 6800, and it'd let you upgrade in future.

Here, check out some benchmarks:
AGP 5200 vs AGP 5600
PCI 5200 vs AGP 5600
Note the massive performance differences across the two interfaces.

Those are excellent links, thanks Cath!

You should note however their conclusion about the Gainward FX 5200:
So, it's not going to earn any speed prizes as we knew, being on a par with a GeForce2 except when it can gain advantage from its CineFX pixel and vertex shaders. But, it's a great match for the PCI bus when that level of power is enough, and it's not limited by it.

Well, depending on how picky you are, (and if you're that picky, why on earth would you have a PCI 5200 in the first place? ) it's probably not a significant enough difference to make you want to switch from a PCI 5200 to an AGP 5200. My point was simply that once you get to cards beyond that speed, you really don't gain much more performance. After that, the cheapest option is the same as the one that delivers the best performance: just get a midrange AGP card and a new motherboard.

If some videocard manufacturer thought they'd make money off of it, I wouldn't put it past'em. Maybe they could sell it at Best Buy?

But I really wanted to reply with this bit of trivia: many current AGP video cards require more power than the AGP slot provides - manufacturers have been getting around this by including a socket on the card that accepts a cable straight from the power supply. As you noted, PCI-Express slots supply a lot more power, and will eliminate this extra hookup.

For a while...

Yes, once you get a GPU with a wattage much higher than a GeForce 5600, you pretty much have to look for external power. Actually, most PCIe cards so far do have power connectors. As lower-performance cards come out on the PCIe bus, I suspect you'll see far fewer.