Graphics card - easy to change?

-TangleFoot-

WilliC wrote: »

there are 2 kinds of gfx card, PCI and AGP.

If you're referring to the physical interface they use, there are actually three in common usage: PCI, AGP and PCIe. Graphics cards that use the former are admittedly rare, but if your motherboard lacks either of the latter they're pretty much your only option.

WilliC

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

If you're referring to the physical interface they use, there are actually three in common usage: PCI, AGP and PCIe..

Well spotted, my mind just went blank about the diffrence between PCI and PCI-E.

secret_tramp

Thanks for your replies everyone.

Financequest wrote:

Graphic card replacement is fairly easy. However, the type depends on the spec of your existing computer. There are several flavours of cards depending on the vintage of the PC, some cards are not compatible with each other. If you provide the model of PC eg. ( Dell XPS 430 ), then further advice can be given

Financequest - it is an Inspiron 531 (AMD x2 Processor 3800) it is about 2 years old.

He does play a lot of games on this - so it is quite likely he wants an upgrade.

JasX

Might be worth finding out 1- what Graphics card is currently installed and 2- what the power rating of the PSU is (will be on a sticker on the side of the PSU.

If the current card was a basic model at the time you bought the PC and you can pick up a slightly older but more power graphics card fairly cheaply (perhaps £30-60) go for it.

I certainly wouldn't spend anything too significant (£100+) on a good modern graphics card unlesss you're upgrading the rest of the PC too as you'll probably get nowhere near using its full potential as something else will end up limiting what the PC can do. An older card will likely be more compatible with your PSU spec / connectors etc anyway.

If he already has/had what was a fairly good graphics card at the time the PC was bought I'd wait and upgrade the whole thing together

WilliC

NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE is what i THINK your son currently has... although im not too sure, as it is no longer being produced by Dell, so i had to find the info off a thrid party website.

Looking around it seems that the 6150 LE is an intregrated GPU, can anyone else confirm this?

secret_tramp

I am assuming a PSU = power supply unit? (sorry I'm not a techie)

Where do I find out what this is - inside the machine?

Also I am not with the machine because my son doesn't live with me.

Anyhow, I still have the invoice with the details of the spec.

WilliC wrote:

NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE is what i THINK your son currently has... although im not too sure, as it is no longer being produced by Dell, so i had to find the info off a thrid party website.

Yes you are right, that is mentioned on the spec.

WilliC

To find out the max power of your PSU open the side of the case, and look at the top left of the case. There should be a box with lots of wires comming out. On it, there should be a sticker telling some details about it, one of them being the max output power, this is what your looking for.

And yes, PSU does stand for power supply unit.

Hope this helps.

secret_tramp

Thank you WilliC.

JasX wrote:

If the current card was a basic model at the time you bought the PC and you can pick up a slightly older but more power graphics card fairly cheaply (perhaps £30-60) go for it.

I think it was a basic graphics card as I don't remember paying extra for this item like I did with the processor and the screen.

Where does one get hold of such an item? Can anyone recommend any helpful retailers?

-TangleFoot-

secret_tramp wrote: »

I think it was a basic graphics card as I don't remember paying extra for this item like I did with the processor and the screen.

The 6150 LE is integrated onto the motherboard, so you still need to determine whether there is in fact a spare slot you can use.

If such a slot is present, it should look something like this.

macman

OP: if you post the Dell Service Tag (7 digits on a sticker on the front of a desktop or base of a laptop), then someone can look up the exact spec the machine came with, it may not detail the PSU. but certainly will for the graphics card.