Windows 7 install - need new graphics card on Dell Dimension 5150

Marty999

I have a Dell Dimension 5150 which runs XP Home and is 3 years old. I pre-ordered Windows 7 but the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor says my onboard graphics adapter won't support the Windows Aero User Interface. I don't play games on my PC but I would like all the fancy visual features of Windows 7. How do I go about choosing a graphics card that will do the job for me?

Thanks in advance...

ComplexP

If it's simply a matter of whether the card supports certain features, you should find that all new cards bought today would do the job. You can pick up the budget GeForce and ATI cards for less than £30 new.

How good the images will look is another matter. A budget card could well struggle with some of the more intense graphics and so the moving images may start to appear 'choppy'.

I'm afraid I don't have Windows 7 but my instincts tell me that something at around the £50 mark from eBuyer would probably be about right. I like ATI cards but nVidea ones are just as good.

EDIT: It occurs that the upgrade advisor could actually mean your on board graphics wont be fast enough as opposed to not having some feature that is required. Could be worth getting clarification on that if possible.

i8change

the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor says my onboard graphics adapter won't support the Windows Aero User Interface.

It said that about my Intel D945GCNL motherboard onboard graphics, but I know someone who installed Windows 7 on his and the Aero features worked fine.
It may be best to try first and see before buying a graphics card.

gebes

I've installed Windows 7 now for people on 2 machines, and have seen W7 handle the graphics differently on both.

As a previous poster mentions , it'd be worth installing it anyway, Windows 7 will just adapt to the best graphics it can display via your current capability.

For example , I get a minimized view of what a program is doing when I hover over the taskbar, but on a lesser graphics machine, this does'nt happen.

I do plan on getting a low profile PCI-E card for this desktop comp, to boost the graphics ability here.

Marty999

Thanks for the replies guys, that all sounds more encouraging. I'll give it a bash and report back.

Marty999

Just to say I have now installed Windows 7 and as you suspected, the graphics seem to be working exactly as they should! And I have to say I am very impressed with W7 so far, especially how fast it is to fire up. Thanks again for you help. :beer:

asininity

Since upgrade my windows experience score went from 2.9 in vista to 4.0 in 7. Its more than a service pack for vista.

almillar

Did they not change the scoring from out of 5 in Vista to out of 8 in Win7? This will make people think that their computers have got faster!

asininity

I dont know about the scoring but I know mine got faster 7 isnt the resource hog vista is.

supermonkey

have you looked up the aero interface? I believe this is not included in windows 7 basic, so it's perfectly usable without it, just wont look as good. It's bascially transperency on windows etc

Marty999

almillar wrote: »

Did they not change the scoring from out of 5 in Vista to out of 8 in Win7? This will make people think that their computers have got faster!

Yes, the maximum score is now 7.9 for some reason?!