Compatible video card

[Ace 0]

Hey,

 

I plan to get a new video card soon because I have an integrated one. The thing is, I want to make sure I get one that my computer can actually run. My specs are:

 

1.67 Ghz AMD Athlon 2000+

256MB RAM

40GB HD

 

For sure I have an AGP slot that runs at 4x. I may get another 256MB of RAM but I haven't decided yet. I'm not looking for anything really fancy because my budget is like $50-$120. The ones I'm looking into are ATI 9200+ or the GeforceFX 5200. Will they run decently on my computer without any large problems? I just want to run Half Life 2 at like a medium setting and I will be very happy.

 

Also, I've noticed that some computer outlet stores sell these cards, but they always have another name in front of the video card, such as Asus GeforceFX 5200. Is it still Geforce? Is it still the same?

 

Also, my motherboard is a Matsonic, MS8157E. Now I know I have to go into BIOS to change the settings to AGP, but do I also have to uninstall the driver for my integrated video card?

 

And last thing. Even though, I hope, the installation should go smoothly, once I had a friend bring over his Geforce2 because I was going to buy it. Unfortuntely, nothing was displaying even after I changed my BIOS settings. What are the things I can do if there were something to go wrong with the computer not displaying anything?

 

Thanks

[Ace 0]

Ok, since no one wishes to answer my other questions, I'm going to ask other ones that hopefully you guys can help me with.

 

Anyway, I downloaded a program called Everest that is suppose to give you accurate info about your PC. I wanted to find out if it could find the manufacture of my RAM, but it didn't. But I did find out something else.

 

It says that I have installed a 256MB RAM at PC2700. But my mobo only supports PC2100. The RAM is the same RAM that was installed by the people who I bought my computer from. Could this information be accurate? And now if I want to upgrade RAM, then I should get one that is PC2700 instead of PC2100 because I will probably have less errors. Also, mixing the size of the RAM shouldn't have any problems correct? Becuase I'm thinking of getting a 512MB RAM and at the moment I have only 256MB.

 

Last thing, for some reason, instead of me having a full 256MB of RAM, it shows I have only 224MB of RAM. Is there anything that caused this? I believe this happened already when I bought the computer as well.

 

Thanks

[Sampson 0]

You have a lot of questions.

Video cards - either that you mention ought to work. They will not be stellar performers since they were not designed for game play. You will need to change the driver from the Savage3d, which is your onboard video, to Standard VGA for whichever of the cards you choose. You should do this in Windows before you change the setting in BIOS to use the new card. After you have changed the video driver in Windows to Standard VGA, power down the computer, put in your new card, power back up, but before it brings up Windows get into the BIOS and default it to the AGP slot. Save the new configuration. Bring up windows and then install the drivers for the specific card.

As to the memory - that board can support both SDRAM and DDR. Everest may be confused by that. It is best to stay with the recommendation of the motherboard manufacturer. You can mix sizes, but what you shouldn't mix are the timing and latency. Use a program like CPUZ (freeware) to give you the info you need.

As to the "loss" of memory - that used to be a standard operating procedure since the onboard video shared system memory as a frame buffer. Once you get your new card going, you can go back into the BIOS and release the memory if you want.

Finally, despite the new card, you have to keep in mind that some of these games are CPU intensive no matter how fast the video card or the amount of memory. Increasing the memory on your machine will certainly speed it up, but it will change nothing as to the raw horsepower of a fast CPU needed by some games.

[garymillard04 0]

Originally posted by Ace:

Quote:

Ok, since no one wishes to answer my other questions, I'm going to ask other ones that hopefully you guys can help me with.

 

Anyway, I downloaded a program called Everest that is suppose to give you accurate info about your PC. I wanted to find out if it could find the manufacture of my RAM, but it didn't. But I did find out something else.

 

It says that I have installed a 256MB RAM at PC2700. But my mobo only supports PC2100. The RAM is the same RAM that was installed by the people who I bought my computer from. Could this information be accurate? And now if I want to upgrade RAM, then I should get one that is PC2700 instead of PC2100 because I will probably have less errors. Also, mixing the size of the RAM shouldn't have any problems correct? Becuase I'm thinking of getting a 512MB RAM and at the moment I have only 256MB.

 

Last thing, for some reason, instead of me having a full 256MB of RAM, it shows I have only 224MB of RAM. Is there anything that caused this? I believe this happened already when I bought the computer as well.

 

Thanks

 

 

check the label on the ram module itself..... that will tell you

go into CMOS at system startup it should tewll you in there what ram you have