Vvideo Card Upgrade ? 1

[Deak]

I have a Bare bone system I bought a while ago. Its running Win XP Home. I would like to upgrade it if possible with a Video card to help screen draws as well as memory. I found the type of memory I need with the Bel Arc advisor tool which is great! But I am not sure how to go about finding out what video card I can upgrade too without sinking alot into it! I may just get another system however Funds are low right now. Can anyone help me with a video card upgrade thought. Mother board according to BelArc 66 Megahertz has 320 MB memory Max is 512. I am upping it to 512 for sure.

 

[vacunita]

You'll have to check what options your motherboard has for expansion slots. PCI, AGP, PCI-E? And go off that.







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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[wahnula]

Deak,

Double-check with the Crucial utility

http://www.crucial.com

I have found Belarc a tad unreliable when it comes to "slots", i.e., "slot 3 is empty" when it in fact does not exist (2-slot board). Crucial will also give you the exact type of compatible memory, you can then shop for it wherever you choose. As for the GFX card, as vacunita says the interface info is needed. A budget range would be helpful too.

Tony

 

[paparazi]

Deak
Insufficient info I'm afraid! needs to be more specific. Make and model of motherboard.
Wattage of PSU
Operating system
And your budget
Martin


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[ArizonaGeek]

On top of what Martin said, what is the make, model and memory of your current video card according to Crucial or the Belarc Advisor?

Cheers
Rob

If someone helps you, leave them a star. It is just a nice way to say "Thank you"

The answer is "PEBKAC!

 

[Deak]

Thanks all for the input so far! I reran Belarc advisor I do not see the make of the mother board! nor slot avaliability! As far as price range I am open at this point. If I am going to spend too much I am just going to wait until I can get an entirely new Processor. I realise there are differant slots & I am not sure of the differance this is what I am trying to find out? I see there are differant sized & shapes how do I know what I have. Do I need to possibly open the case & look on the mother board! I did a quick glance & did not see anything more. I will open it up again this weekend! Thaks for all the help on this folks!

 

[vacunita]

You'll have to look inside your machine and see which of these you have: Or if you have more than one of them:
Pay special attention to how the slots are set up, and their length.

Standard PCI:

AGP:

PCI Express or PCI-E (black one):

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[Deak]

Thanks sooo much for the pictures Very Very Helpful. I know now that I have a PCI Video Card slot possibility. So know I can start looking for prices & what options I have out there.

 

[felixc]

Try to find on the motherboard if you there is a brand and model printed on, then try to find if they still exist and have a web site. If they still exist, they may have the user's manual for your motherboard. From there you can have a confirmation about the type, amount and speed of the memory.

If you do not play 3D games with this computer, increasing the amount of memory is be your safest bet to improve your computer's speed. Windows XP chokes with less than 512 Megs of ram. Ideally, 768Megs or 1 gig. If you do play 3D games, then you will also need another graphics card.