Hey people, i want to know if you can use other video cards in the AGP/PCI slot if your mobo has an onboard video installed ? My friend has a biostar mobo and he can't use any othyer video except the one onboard. I planned on buying the MSI K7N2G-L

Just as long as you have either an AGP slot or a setting in the bios to disable the onboard VGA, you should be fine. It may be hard to find good PCI video cards but they are out there. Check the motherboard manuals whenever in doubt.

Myself, I'd stay clear of "onboard" or "integrated" video. With some exceptions, they are most commonly found on inexpensive (cheap) off-the-shelf computers. You'll almost certainly want to upgrade the video at some point during the computer's lifetime. You can get some money back by selling your old card on eBay. Same with Onboard sound - it mostly sucks compared to a real sound card. And disabling the "onboard" or "integrated" stuff can sometimes be a real chore. Just my thoughts, Bob

I agree with Ryan and Bob. Onboard sound/video devices generally yield poor performance (I know this from experience and observation). Only go with a PCI video card if you have no AGP option. I'm not aware of any good PCI cards, but then again I've never looked very hard so they COULD be out there. I have heard, however, that the technology used to build PCI cards has lagged behind (way behind) AGP cards for some time now. Hope that helps. -J

Not sure if this would help but iv seen GeForce 4 MX400 or somthing like that PCI cards on ebay. But then again Iv also heard that you should stay VERY far away from the MX set. As for onboard. My old compaq has onbaord vid and sound its fine for stuff like starcraft and other things from that time. But if you want anything above it such as WarCraft3 you will HAVE to get another vid card.

Just a note: Some cards were released in PCI ~and~ AGP versions. If you have an AGP slot, use it, you'll get better performance. I've also noticed that PCI cards are more expensive, probably because of low demand. The GeForce4 MX cards are an inexpensive way to upgrade an older machine. The benefit of a better card is wasted on an older machine - it's only going to run as fast as the processor anyway. But if you have a new high end machine, I'd definitely want something better than MX. Just some additional thoughts, Bob

Something else to mention: You may not need to "disable" the onboard video. On my Athlon T-bird 1100 system, the option is in the CMOS (BIOS) and the option is where to get the video first, PCI slot or onboard AGP, and just switch this to look in the PCI slot first. Do this BEFORE physically installing the new card (the system I have doesn't have an AGP slot.), otherwise the system may not boot. If that occurs, just remove the new card. Now, on my K6/2 500 system, I didn't need to change anything, I just plugged in the PCI card and went (again, no AGP slot.) Good luck.