What's with my video card!!

I'd appreciate some help on video cards.

I currently have an ATI Technologies 3D Rage II+ PCI video card with 4
Meg memory, and I think I need to upgrade it but I'd like to
understand my computer and I'd like to understand why.

I've installed Google Earth under WinXP SP3, and I ran DXDiag.exe and
under the display page, it says that Direct3D Acceleration is not
available. Yet "3D" appears in the name of the card. Isn't that what
Google Earth wants? What am I missing?


My driver is dated 8/17/2001, and I know there is a newer one but a
lot of hunting about 6 months ago led me to download sites that listed
the newer one, but then they either couldn't find their own link or
they pointed me back to the ATI website, which doesn't have it.

That's still happening. Even one that said it had done 25 downloads
in the last week. I have driver version: 5.01.2493.0000 and the
independent driver pages make reference to version: 5.01.2535.0000. Is
ATI just missing this particular driver, because it's "legacy"?

Why do you think none of the independent sites don't have it? This is
just curiosity. I obviously cant' do anything about it.


I needed the new driver because the computer won't go into Standby
mode with the current driver, and the message says to upgreade the
driver. But now I also seem to need something to use Google Earth in
DirectX mode. The message said "graphics card or IGP" I'm guessing,
does IGP mean Integrated Graphics Processor, on the motherboard? If
so, I don't have that.

Thanks for any help you can give.

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:58:32 -0500, mm
wrote:

.....
>It has: AV In, Red, Yellow, and White RCA jacks. (Component, right?)
> and Composite-video In, also 3 RCA jacks, but just for video iiuc
> and S-Video In

I think I got this wrong. The yellow video jack is composite, iiuc.
The three jacks for YPbPg is component, iiuc.
>
>I guess the only sound-In is the yellow and white AV audio RCA jacks.

Sorry. I meant red and white.

>How would I connect the computer to the DVDR to get both picture and
>sound? Do I have to run all 3 video and left and right audio cables,
>or is there a simpler way?

After reading a lot tonight, I gather if I can't use HDMI, there is no
simpler way. I need 3 cables.

I've read there are better ways than S-video, but since the largest TV
I have or expect to get is 19 inches and a couple are 15 inch, do you
think S-video is good enough? It seems like, if I get a video card
with S-video out, it would be pretty simple compared to all the
adapters etc. I'd need to use anything better.

http://www.cablesnmor.com/qo-s-video-cables.aspx had 100 foot S-video
for 24.50 although they won't tell me what the shipping charge is
unless I give them my name etc.

And I can get the sound from the sound card, like everyone does.

Thaks again.

>The DVDR is about 30 feet away. If I run the wire up to the attic and
>over to the closet and down and back to the DVR, it's maybe 70 feet
>total.
>
>Also, is there any issue about a new model graphics card working on XP
>but not on Win98SE? I still have that on the same harddrive, and
>when I once had big trouble with XP, 98 has been very useful, if
>nothing else to get my email and read my newsgroups.
>
>Any graphics card recommendations considering all these things? Even
>20 or 30 dollars is okay. The ATI Radeon 7000 says it has VGA
>(d-sub), DVI-I and TV out. And I can't see too well but it may have
>an S-video jack?? And it says it runs on win98SE? Is it still what I
>want?
......
>
>>Benjamin
>
>Thanks a lot,
>Mike