How to find out graphics card model and other related..

Hi,

We have a video card that I installed in our computer, and when first we booted up, we got 16 colours and 800 x 600 res - man, it looks good!! :-D

So in trying to find out what it was, I used something called GPU-Z from here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

Initially it gave the information in the picture I've attached. My son noticed that it was saying that it was 4x for the slot and we installed the chipset drivers for the motherboard, figuring that would make sure that the best configuration would be available.

After installing the chipset drivers, running GPU-Z is giving us first an error message saying "Unknown Architecture" and then the analysis with no information about the card.

According to who I bought the card from, it's an XFX Geforce FX 5200 card. On the card itself, there is a label which says:
Ordering code: PV-T34k-NTHG V3.2 W10/04
GF FX5200 128MB DDR TV
Made in China
S/N: FJH082599

There is also an Acer label on it.

Our computer is a Dell GX240.

Is it possible to install the wrong chipset drivers? What happens if you do?

Is the card an Nvidia, as GPU-Z suggests or something else?

Is it possible for GPU-Z to have got it's identification wrong, especially if it isn't an Nvidia or ATI?

Is there software that will query hardware directly to find out the model details rather than relying on Windows to supply the information? Obviously if there's no info in Device Manager and places like that, we need direct access to the hardware to ask the question. (When the computer boots up, GeForce FX5200 appears at the top.)

Is the Device ID (as in the picture) unique to a particular model of card and therefore we can trust that to guide us to the right driver? If so, how do I work out what driver using the Device ID?

When installing a driver, suppose ATI and Nvidia both use the same chipset(?) to make a card, would it really matter whose driver you use, Nvidia or ATI?

Does GeForce FX5200 refer to the chipset used?

Thanks all.

P.S. Links to appropriate reading is fine - I've had a poke around but not found anything much except where to buy a card and technical stuff that's over my head.

 

First off, it is a nIVIDA chipset on your card, and from what I gather from your post, you're hunting for the proper drivers, correct? Since I don't know what OS you're using, I've given you links to the XP drivers and the Win2000 drivers directly from the nIVIDA website. The first set is for XP http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_175.19_whql.html This set is for Win2000 http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_93.71_2.html and just for the heck of it, here are the ones for Vista http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_96.85_2.html All these drivers are for the FX-5200 card. BTW, nVIDIA and ATI both use different chipsets on their cards, so there should be no confusion there. In other words, nVIDIA drivers will not power an ATI card, and vice-versa. To answer another question, the FX-5200 is the model number of your card and if you see FX or GeForce in front of the model number, it will be a nVIDIA chipset. Your card is also capable of AGP X4, and if you think 16 colors @800x600 looks good, get the proper drivers for the card and try 1024x768 @True Color 32bit. Good Luck, and let us know how it goes!!!

 

One other thing, when you go to install the new drivers, make sure that you get rid of your present drivers first, usually via the add\remove program. DO NOT install the ATI drivers!!!

 

Hi, This won't help much but here goes. There are several ChipSet makers. OEMs make their boards from them so yes the same chipset could be used on lots of boards. The Chip Maker gave those OEMs the basic software and some add other stuff to it and some use it as is. Try the Chipset maker's driver. His name and part number is on the chip. I've gotten lots of useful drivers from them.

Good Luck, Jim

 

Thanks guys!! It looks a lot better now. :-D 16 colours is only marginally better than monochrome though I'm not entirely certain on that! LOL Major Geeks might actually look better in black and white than the peculiar cross hatching that 16 colours gives.

We went from a 16mb card with drivers to a 128mb without drivers and it's been making me feel cross-eyed and like my eyes must be going in spirals like on cartoons. lol

One thing that puzzled me though was that we had many options for screen resolution and also refresh rates until I reinstalled the monitor driver, after which it dropped the number of options we had - is that normal? I assumed that the options would be more limited until it knew what monitor you had, not the other way around. It's a Dell 1503FP.

 

Okay, I looked up your monitor and according to the spec sheet it has a max resolution of 1024x768 at a refresh rate of 75. Which isn't too shabby. I take it that you have not installed drivers for the 128 meg card yet? Another question, was the 64 meg on-board video? If so, you need to disable that in the BIOS BEFORE attempting to install the FX-5200 and it's drivers. In case you're interested, here is the spec sheet for your monitor http://www.google.com/products/cata...=utf-8&cid=10284592839311302919#ps-tech-specs

 

Yes, that explains what happened, thanks. I didn't think to look up the specs...

Yes, I installed the drivers, thanks for your advice. But no, it wasn't onboard video and uh, take another look.... we only had 16mb... sad, wasn't it? :-D But with its' drivers installed, the 16mb was still giving us a better picture than the 128mb with no drivers - I think my eyes have recovered now.

Thanks, I'll save that info away and try to remember not to be so dumb as to forget to look the specs up next time... :-D