Graphic Card

Jonah1156

Dear All

Having recently purchased a Dell 2400 base unit, I am contemplating upgrading the graphic card. I am aware that there are no AGP slots in the unit so will need to get a PCI type.

I have seen advertised 2 versions of this, a PCI and a PCI-E. What are the differences between them and what should I need to acquire should I find a suitable card for my needs.

I am after something that will go with my new 17" TFT and will mostly be using standard games that won't need memory intensive graphics. Will also be doing word processing and the standard web usage.

Not sure what the budget will be and that is dependent upon the advice given here.

Many thanks

Keith

Rex_Mundi

PCI is the standard expansion slot for most cards that you will add to your computer. It stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect.

PCI-E (PCI Express) Is a new replacement slot for graphics cards. This will offer much faster data transfer between your motherbaord and the graphics card.

It's an important difference. You need to check out what slots you have so you can buy the right type of card.

Regarding a new card. If you are not planning to play the latest games, then you wont have to spend a big amount of money. My card only cost me £35 and plays films and all the games I use with no problems and no jumpiness.

shrek101

I been wondering this myself. I got a Dimension 3000 with in built graphics, kids are complaining that is runs slow compared with there other pc with 128mb gforce 4 agp.

So I was looking at a pci graphics card with min 64mb ram. Am I right in staying the onboard can be disabled hence fit a pci graphics card?

How about this one?

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=603763

Rex_Mundi

Am I right in staying the onboard can be disabled hence fit a pci graphics card?

That's right. Just a small change in the BIOS.

shrek101

Argh thought so. Just seen a good card on ebuyer

I might order on when funds are available

http://!!!!!!.com/4qe3z

Oh I see new bits added to the forums, see under your name

vultura

Rex_Mundi wrote:

That's right. Just a small change in the BIOS.

Thats not always true, some have jumpers/switches on the mainboard that control the on-board video, whilst others just won't disable at hardware level and can only be disabled through windows device manager.

shrek101

I think Rex is reffering to the Dell he is right i's just a bios setting. Although I know the old motherboards had jumpers, maybe some still do.

jma_4

Nope, no bios setting. Only for legacy options, the motherboard automatically overrides the builtin card if another is present. That said, you'll still need to disable the device in Windows as it'll attempt to use the builtin card, being the current, primary video device.

jma_4

Heh, thought I post how I went about doing it seeing as I've fitted several of these cards to 2400 (popular base unit, nice build...)

1. Turn off the machine (properly, not hibernate or anything like that)
2. Open case -- there's a little switch at the back, case slides out on the left side of the base unit.
3. Install card. A lot of these machines have a modem in the middle PCI slot; I've moved them down as the space between modem and graphics card is very small. Avoids over-heating... that, or take the modem out if you're not using it
4. Close up case, start it up.
5. Once back in Windows, install the drivers (recommend downloading newer ones, better performance).
6. Right-click 'My Computer', select 'Properties'.
7. Hardware tab, click 'Device Manager'.
8. Expand 'Display Adaptors', right-click the Intel Extreme card and then click 'Disable'

At this point, you'll be prompted to restart. Click OK, unplug the monitor cable and shove it in the new card. Done!

Jonah1156

JMA

You make it sound so easy! Just wish my grey matter can fathom all that out! Having said that, I'll print your tips off and digest it thoroughly.

Now that you have sorted the techno side of it, any ideas what card be suitable for my needs? I would like to keep the costs down if poss and also, I see this TV out stuff being displayed on the cards advertised. Would getting one of those be beneficial for me and is it easy to set up? Will TV viewing be as good as the normal TV in the lounger or is it just a lazy way of not moving back to watch it?

Finally, I also see mentions of this Free Sat TV where Premiership games are shown along with *** stuff - is that worth the hassle?

Keith

saubryn

TV Out is just to display your computer image on the TV instead of on a monitor.

What you would need to display TV channels is called a TV card / TV Tuner (Hauppage make good ones)

The free satellite feeds are usually annoying to set up and you'd have to work through a long list of them to find the good ones, but if you can be bothered with it then it could save you a bit of money over a subscription service.

A computer monitor is able to display a better image than a TV but obviously the image will be smaller - the TV cards vary in quality from being very poor at the low end, to being crystal clear if you buy a very good one.

If you got one free with your computer I'd use it, but I personally wouldn't go buying one.