installing vid card

[SpeckledJim]

im thinkin of replaceing my video card soon coz it is not up to it.
ive decided to go for the sapphire radeon 9600se coz it is cheap.
Will it be easy to put this card in by myself or is it complicated ?

[scylla]

I had the same fears when I bought my 9800 pro. But as it turned out the whole process was rediculously easy. In a fresh machine, without old driver remnants, you just slap it in and install your drivers from cd. Then you go to the munufacturers website and update your drivers. My new fear to add to this thread is it's sooo easy to do I feel I've missed something, but everything seems ok. I guess I'll have to run a benchmark or hi-res game to really test it's performance.

[jlreich]

Scylla is right, It is easy. Best thing to do is uninstall any drivers and/or software for your current video card. Then go to the manufacturers website to get the latest drivers for your card. Usually the drivers you get on the CD that comes with the new card are out of date.

Also if you have onboard video, you may have to disable it through device manager before you install the new card.

[SpeckledJim]

how is it exactly you put it in?
is it just like slotting it in?
do i have to ground myslef?
im very unexperienced

[jlreich]

Ground yourself by touching an unpainted area of you case before you touch the new video card or any component inside your computer. Make sure you read the manual that comes with the card.

Turn off you computer, if you have a surge protector, turn off the switch, if not, unplug the computer from the wall. Open the case.

Now, locate the AGP slot on your motherboard.See here (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showpost.php?p=150179&postcount=6)

Now, you will probably have to remove the part of the backplate on your case where the video cards I/O connections will stick out of your case, by either unscrewing, or popping it out.

Next, make sure the small white clip on the AGP slot is down(or open), carefully insert the video card into the AGP slot. It will take some force, but not to much to get the video card fully seated into the slot. Once the small white clip snaps into place, you are good to go. Put a screw into the part where it meets the back of your computer. And don't forget to plug your monitor into the new video card. :p

Start your computer. Windows should recognize the new hardware after booting. Click cancel on the windows setup wizard. If you downloaded the drivers from the manufacturers website, double click to start installation. Or if you decide to use the CD that came with the card, insert that and follow prompts.

Just so you know, your icons on your desktop will be large when you first boot after install, this is because you don't have any drivers for the card yet. :)

If you have any questions, just ask. :)

[SpeckledJim]

thanks man no questions just yet

[saphalline]

Ok, one thing here. Don't get the SE version of that card!! It cuts your RAM bandwidth in half! That will make your games run a LOT slower! Save up some more money if you need to, but never buy the so-called "value" version of a vid card. They'll just make you cry in the end!

[SpeckledJim]

ok so what do you think i should go for? my max budget would be around £70.
at the moment i have a Nvdia Geforce MX 440.

[saphalline]

Not much for a budget! Ouch! :(

Ok, at least that's enough to upgrade a little. I would suggest getting a GeForce FX 5200. One of the 128-bit memory versions, though, not the cut-back 64-bit versions! The 5200 will give you a decent boost in performance, but most of all it will let you run DX8 & DX9 effects in your games. Admittedly the performance for DX9 games won't be very playable, but it will look pretty! :p DX8 will run fairly well, though.

If you can at all wait, however, I would suggest saving up a bit more so you can get a much better vid card upgrade. Save up enough for Radeon 9600 Pro and you'll be even happier! :D Major performance boost over your MX 440, and DX9 games will be playable, too! Just something to think about.

[SpeckledJim]

ok ill thikn about it. thanks man

[SpeckledJim]

ive hearing that the 9600PRO crashes with a lot of games. is this true?.

[saphalline]

Well, any vid card will crash with games if you don't take care of your system! There are many members here who have a 9600 Pro, so maybe they will chime in, but the days of bad vid drivers are pretty much gone. ATI and NVidia both have stable and often-updated drivers - and I would recommend you get your drivers straight from the manufacturer!

Things that can cause games to crash: old vid drivers, old chipset drivers, old version of DirectX, games that need patches, not updating Windows enough, not enough cooling for your PC, inadequate PSU, and I'm sure there's more! The blame does not lay entirely on your vid card, and I fear that many who spread these rumors simply do not take good care of their systems! A little maintainance goes a long way.

I've used both NVidia and ATI, and I haven't found a problem yet that an updated vid driver won't fix, but hey, that's just me. ;)

[SpeckledJim]

ok. as always thanks.

[Bullman]

I just upgraded two of my pc's with new video cards. I bought 2 Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600xt's (which are close to the 9600 Pro). I had read ALOT of reviews also where people had problems with crashes with the ATI cards. I have also always used Nvidia cards and was wary about using another brand.

I installed both of them Christmas morning and have not had a single problem with them yet. I just made sure to uninstall completely the nvidia drivers, and disable the onboard video (on one PC) and they installed without a hitch. One of the cards I replaced was also a MX440 (Gforce 2) and it made a huge difference in the newer games (such as Delta Force Joint Operations, Call of Duty, Blackhawk down, etc.) we play.

I have also came to the same conclusion as Saphalline stated, that alot, if not most, of the problems others are having are because of other reasons besides the Video Card such as Malware or improper uninstallation/installation. I just wanted to let you know that I had a good experience in trying an ATI card.

Also, here (http://www.quepublishing.com/promotion/1644#_) is a link to a site with some great How-to videos that helped me out greatly before building/upgrading my PC's. It is very good for people like me that need to see things done before doing them myself. Good luck....

[SpeckledJim]

thanks man