Buying a new video card

[Wayne Thomas]

I have just discovered this web site this week. I can see from reading the questions and answers that there is a lot of experience and talent here. I Have an interest in becoming more efficient in learning to diagnose my own problems and will building my first computer shortly after the first of the year. Hopefully, I won't need any help with building my new computer, but in case I do, I am very satisfied that the expertise shown in this forum will be sufficient. With that said I would like to ask a question, I have many, but I'll start with this one. A friend of mime has asked me to install a video card for him. He is running windows 98. There is not any brand name on the computer. My question is: what do I need to check on his computer to make sure I get a video card that will be compatible with his system, keeping in mind, of course, that I am just beginning to get involved with working on computers. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

[xor_chad]

Hey there
Most video cards that are 3d capable have system requirements listed on the packaging.
Things to look for are:

Type of slots avaliable. Some cheap/integrated pc's have no AGP slot.
Support for AGP 2x/4x
Suggested CPU frequency


Thats really it.
IF he is into 3D graphics then i suggest making sure his system meets the recommended not the minimal requirements.
Laters...

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Chad Wilson
C++/ASM Programmer
PC Support Technician

[Paleo Pete]

One thing to add, if this turns out to be an integrated motherboard, (onboard video instead of a card,) make sure you find out how to disable the onboard video before starting. Usually you'll need the motherboard manual for this, unless the jumper setting is printed on the board.

Otherwise, chad has just about covered everything.

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Soon as I come up with all the answers...they change the questions!!

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[steve chiu]

I have the following questions on video and appreciate any advice from experts in this forum.
I assembled a computer with a new FCI board and AMD K6-333 in an ATX case. The CDRom,HDD,floppy, 56k modem, audio and pci video were moved from my old computer. After I checked all the connections and power up, only the CDRom LED flashes, and the monitor is blank.I can hear that the set up process kind of stalled.
here are my questions:
1. my new board has AGP. The video I installed is PCI. Did this cause the monitor black out? is it looking for AGP video card and ignored the PCI video card?
2. If pci/agp video card is not the problem, then would that mean my video card is bad? It worked with my old machine before the upgrade.
I appreciate your help.

[xor_chad]

Hey
Quick answer to this is to hook up your system speaker - the little cheap one that goes beeep.
Listen for any BIOS error beep codes and look them up in the manual the MB came with or ask us.

A bad video card will alert the BIOS depending on what is actually wrong with it.

Most all BIOSes will search for AGP or PCI first and if not found search the other, but this will not cause a system to halt.

Clear your CMOS or make sure it isnt already on Clear.
Some ship on CLear CMOS and they hence will not boot.

You prob have something jumpered wrong or seated incorrectly.
Laters....

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Chad Wilson
C++/ASM Programmer
PC Support Technician

[This message has been edited by xor_chad (edited 12-31-2000).]

[steve chiu]

hi xor_chad,
as it turn out,I set the memory jumper to non-pc100 because I did not see any markings on this 2.5 yr old mem chip. That's what stop the pc to go thru cmos setup. I reset the jumpers to pc-100 and everything is OK.
thanks for your help.

[Wayne Thomas]

I would like to ask another question. I asked a question once on this subject, but I have a follow-up question. I am putting a new video card in an older computer that does not have any documentation what-so-ever. I checked and determined that the mobo is a Biostar (MB-8500TVG) It has AMI BIOS #51-0819-001223-00111111-07159582430OVX-H. However, I could not determine the bus speed of the mobo. I have two extra pci slots. The video board is currently mounted in a visa slot. Can I install a new pci video card and replace the old video card which is currently installed in the visa slot without any problems? Do I need to know the bus speed for the mobo? If this is the case how do I determine it? This is how I was going to do it. Go to safe mode and remove the video driver in device mgr...Then remove the old isa video card, install the new pci video card and hopefully plug&play will detect it and I will continue from there. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[BigBlue66]

You got it Wayne. Do exactly as you said you were going to do and everything should be fine. Plug N Play should recognize the new card. Run the driver software that you get with the new video card and you're off and running.

No, you don't need to know the mobo bus speed. Most PCI slots, if not all, run at a bus speed of 33mhz. Of course, that bus speed is separate from the mobo bus speed, sometimes referred to as the front side bus speed. But even that tidbit of knowledge is not really necessary to know for installing a video card.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66

[sleddog]

Sounds good to me, Wayne. I don't think you really need to be in Safe Mode, just change the video adapter settings in Windows to the standard VGA, default 640x480 resolution. Shut down, install the new card and reboot. Either Plug 'n Play will detect it, or you run the setup disk that came with the video card. If you don't have a disk then the video drivers are available from the manufacturer's website. It is generally a good idea anyway to get the latest drivers.

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sleddog (http://www.sleddog.f2s.com)
Pulling for a SmartLabrador (http://www.labradorit.nf.ca/smartlabrador/)

[Paleo Pete]

sleddog: I have to disagree on this one. (for once)

When you install a different card it's always best to remove the old one in Safe Mode, since win95/98 will keep all the old ones listed, but they won't show up in normal mode, only Safe Mode. I've had problems before that were solved simply by removing non-existent cards from Device Manager in Safe Mode.

I'm not sure why it happens, maybe leftover registry entries, but sometimes older components left in Device Manager will cause problems, so I always recommend removing them in Safe Mode before installing new cards. Wayne has the right idea, remove it in Safe Mode first.

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[Wayne Thomas]

Thanks BigBlue66, sleddog and Paleo Pete for your quick response to my last reply. I bought the pci video card and then went into safe mode and opened up device mgr. and removed three different drivers under the video card. When I went to install the pci video card it would not fit. The angled metal dust cover that holds the video card to the case (where the screw goes in) hits before the card goes down into the slot. The sales people we talked with said that all pci slots are physically the same shape. However, I replaced a pci modem in the same computer a few months back and it fit great. The card part on the modem card seems to be set down further on the metal dust cover than on the video card. This is one I cannot figure out. I than replaced the old ISA card back into the slot to reinstall it. Turned the computer on and it brought up the hardware wizard. I clicked next and the next page came. I clicked again on next to continue with the installation and on this second click the mouse would freeze up and I would have to shut it down. I tried this three times and it did the same thing. Also when I tried to dial into the internet or to get and send mail the modem would not work. I do not understand this at all since I did not do anything to the modem at all. I tried to reset the old video card but it did the same thing. At this point I am stumped and would appreciate any advise on how to correct this problem. I think it said something to the effect of the com port not being properly figured when I tried to dial in. Does this make any sense to any of you? Thanks again.

[Paleo Pete]

Go to Device Manager and highlight Computer, click Properties and write down the IRQ list that's shown, post it here so we can take a look, sounds like you have some IRQ conflicts to resolve.

Any other ideas folks? DMA conflicts I doubt, but could be possible too.

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My hairdresser charges me a finder's fee!!

Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[xor_chad]

Hey
Sometimes when you move cards around the resources change but software settings do not.

If you moved the modem card i bet it placed the modem on a new COM port.

All you need do is to open Dial Up Networking, right click the approproiate dialer and choose Properties.
It might say it cant find the modem. If so then that is actually good!
If not follow Petes advice.
Close the error msg and where is says connect using, click the drop down box and see if you have a new listing for your modem. If so click it and click OK.
Try connecting again. Laters...

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Chad Wilson
C++/ASM Programmer
PC Support Technician

[sleddog]

Originally posted by Paleo Pete:
sleddog: I have to disagree on this one. (for once)

When you install a different card it's always best to remove the old one in Safe Mode...


I bow to your experience, Grand Master Geek http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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sleddog (http://www.sleddog.f2s.com)
Pulling for a SmartLabrador (http://www.labradorit.nf.ca/smartlabrador/)

[Wayne Thomas]

Chad, I did not move the modem...it has been in the computer for about two months now and it had worked properly until after I tried to install the video card. But since I tried to install the video card (and failed) it has not worked. I just could not figure out why the pci modem would fit into the pci slot and the pci video card would not. This problem did not start until 1/5/01 until after I tried to install the video card. I tried to install the pci video card and it would not go down into the slot because the angled bracket that the screw goes through kept it from going all of the way down. I bought the video card from radio shack and the modem was purchased from Staples. Is it possible that this was the reason it would not fit, just kidding. From the top of the angled bracket on the modem down to the top of the card was about l 1/2". The video card was up higher on the angled bracket which did not allow it to go down far enough to snap in. Anyway, I have never had good luck from buying radio shack products. Paleo Pete, I checked the IRQ list and this is what it showed: 0-system timer, 1-standard 101/102-key or Microsoft natural key board, 2-programable interrupt controller, 3-This number is not even listed, 4-commuication port (com1), 5-Creative Sound Blaster 16 or AWE-32, 6-standard floppy disk controller, 7-printer port (lpt1), 8-system cmos/real time clock, 9-no number here at all, 10-no number listed, 11-Zoom 56K pci modem, 11-IRQ for pci steering, 12-no number listed here, 13-numeric data processor, 14-Intel 823371SB pci bus master ide controller, 14-Primary ide controller (dual fifo), 15-Intel 82371 pci bus master ide controller, 15-Secondary Ide controller (dual fifo) The numbers I mentioned, 3, 9, 10, and 12 was completely skipped and not shown at all. This sure does not look right to me but I do not know what goes where. Like I advised in the earlier post, the mouse locks up on me when I start to click my way through the (add new hardware wizard) when I tried to reinstall the old ISA video card. I really appreciate everybodys help. Hopefully, I have given enough info. above for you to be able to come up with some kind of a solution. Thank guys.

[xor_chad]

Hey
I am sorry. Thought you said you did move the modem around.

Analysis:
3-This number is not even listed
(this means you have com2 disabled in your BIOS. good idea if you dont use your second external serial port)

9-no number here at all
(no big deal its a free IRQ)

10-no number listed
(no big deal it too is a free IRQ)

12-no number listed here
(normally ps/2. you must be using a serial mouse on COM 1 IRQ.)

Only suggestion now is to make sure your new video card does not REQUIRE you to assign an IRQ to it in the BIOS.

Also instead of removing the Video Driver in Safe Mode, try changing it to Standard Display Adapter (VGA), and delete all other entries, if any others are in there.

Same concept of removing it, just allows you to get into windows with a stable video driver(like booting into safe mode).

I dont have any other ideas yet. Later...

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Chad Wilson
C++/ASM Programmer
PC Support Technician