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i want to update my graphics card for a more advanced one. at present i have the Nvidia Geforce2 MX100/200.... i don't know what my computer is, PCI or AGP how can you tell??? plus is it an easy job to fit the new graphics card?,
to recap:
-how to find out PCI or AGP?
-easy to fit new one?
thanks
Open the side of your case and have a look at the mother board.
If there is a long black or brown slot just below the cpu, that is the AGP slot. If there is a card in it than you can get anew one, and place it in exactly the same place.
If you have a video card and its inserted in a white pCi slot on the mother board that that is a pci video card.
If your cant see eather of those 2 than your monitor must be connected to the video card that is part of your mother board.
If that is the case and your mother board doesnt have an AGP slot than you can only fit a PCI video card.
Hope that is of some help to you
IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT
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To avoid opening the case, right-click on the desktop, properties, and then settings. Go to the configuration for your video card, and it should show you if it's PCI or AGP.
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I was disappointed when I wanted to install a graphics card in my P3 750MHZ I purchased in October of 2000 .AGP had been out for just 1/2 a year or so , however geing very green behind the ears I was told the PC had all the lastest technology. It came with i810 itergrated graphics which had only 4M.B. of Mem ,no enough for graphic intense games even at that time I installed an ATI 32 M.B. SDR RADEON Graphics card and the overall improvement to the performance of my system was ten fold ! With that said always use AGP over PCI when possible, or noe the new PCI Express ,which is coming out on the latest M.B. I plat Medal of Honor Allied Assult with no probs Quake 3 Arena,a NASCAR RACING 4 .I also added 128 M.B. RAM for a total of 256MB SDRAM ,and a sound card to repace the AC97 intergrated sound. Extra fans for additional cooling, and a internal CD-RW to compliment the DVD-Rom it came with ,and a ATI TV WONDER USB Edtition .This PC still does everthing I ask of it ,only thing some of the newer games like Grand theft Auto need more processing power then this system has For Allied Assult I just made the recomended system requirements ! Actaully this PC still flys even though its old as far as processor speed etc. !
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Does anybody know if it is possible to have a green AGP slot? I have a smaller, loffset green slot above the white ones. Could this possibly be a AGP? Thanks in advance.
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Yes the agp slot can be agreen.
I presume you have the case open, can you see what brand and model number Mother board you have ??
It will be written on the board some place, most times between the pci slots. Those white slots you are talking about.
But yes that is the usual position of it.
The next thing is to astablish the type of the the agp. Is it a 2X or 4x slot.
Looking at it the square on, in the slot there is a devider just like in the white slots, at which end is the devider ??
If the deived in the green slot is to the left or towards the rear of the pc case Asuming its a mid tower case, if it is it is a 2X slot.
If the devider is to the right that means it is a 4X slot.
So lets see what info you have for us and we can go from there.
IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT
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It is indeed to the right, and I see that under the graphics card properties, it is a 4X. It says: Bus - AGP 4X. Now that I know that I can in fact buy a AGP card, Is there one you could recommend? I really dont want to spend more than $150-. Thanks for your help.
Matt
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Hi Matt
Great news !!
I presume the mother board you have has a agp slot and an on board video card which your monitor is connected to now.
Since most video cards these days are what is called 8X cards, there are many to choose from. I presume the 150 you are talking about is
US Dollars. And don't worry about the 8X they will clock back to 4X and work with no problem, once you install the card and connect the monitor to it
and when you start the computer you will need to change the bios to switch of the onboard card and change the primary display to read AGP.I don't know what sort of cards 150 us will by you, but I know that here AUS that sort of money will get you something like a ATI Radeon 9600XT
these days.All I can suggest to you is to have a good look around the internet and see what sort of card you can get for that money.
What you buy will be up to you, as most card regardless weather it is Nvidia or ATI chips will do the job very nicely indeed.
You will find that many ppl will give you different brands and models to get but in the end it is up to you and your budget.
Keep this in mind though when buying, try and get the best card you can within your budget, as you might one day upgrade your board and
processor and as long as the new board is not PCI EX16 you will be able to use the agp card you have.Look along the lines of Sapphire, Powercolour, Gigabyte, Leadtek Winfast, that's just to name a few.
Hope that helps
Regards
IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT
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 can win_me connect to win...
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increasing RAM
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