graphic card upgrade

i have a 64MB GeForce 6200 TurboCache graphics card on an asus p5qe motherboard with 4 gigs of ram. I would like to upgrade to a better card. I have never installed any graphics card before, I owuld like to keep the price range from 50 to 100 dollars, and I would also like to maybe keep at least one of each connection on the card if possible, eg HDMI VGA, and other becuase i have a pc to tv connection using the dvi slot, moniter with the vga. any help would be greatly apprectiated

 

There are a good many decent video card upgrades available that are within your budget. There are two primary considerations when upgrading a video card; your power supply, and what kind of card your motherboard supports. There are considerations specific to the cards themselves I'll address shortly.

Some video cards require a separate connection to your computers power supply, so on any card you select make sure you check the wattage requirements the manufacturer has listed for the card. Most cards that require such a connection come with an adapter in case your power supply doesn't have the proper plug, but some cards don't. Rule of thumb, cards that do not require a connection to the power supply won't be as powerful as those that do, but on the other hand they are less of a worry from a wattage standpoint. It would help to know what brand, model, and wattage your power supply is.
You motherboard supports PCI-E 2.0, so PCI-E cards are your animal. Most PCI-E 2.1, etc. cards are backwards compatable with 2.0, barring any special motherboard or other restrictions.

What do you want to do with the PC? Your intended use dictates what card would serve you best . . . but if you are like most people who use their computers for a bit of light gaming, internet surfing, and light word and/or video processing, a really decent mid-range card can be had for your budget.

The 64MB GeForce 6200 TurboCache is very long in the tooth, and at best only has a 64bit memory bus. The memory bus is a vital consideration when determining the performance of a card. The memory bus dictates how well the video card can access its on-board RAM. Think of it like the difference between dumping a gallon of water out of a plastic milk jug, or out of a bucket. A 64bit bus is very "small" in a performance sense, like the opening on a milk jug. I usually stay away from any cards with less then a 128bit memory bus. Higher the bus, the higher the card will perform . . . but also the higher the cost. Here is a decent card at the lower end of your budget:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127611

It has gotten high ratings from users. You would notice a phenomenal performance boost from this card.

Another card (a bit more expensive):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161408

Either card, or any card in this class, would be a great upgrade to your system, and you would be surprised by the improvement in overall performance. Just make sure you research whatever card you go with to make sure it has the specific functionality you require . . . I mean, one card might be better at hooking to a television then another model. A little internet research of some video card forums can save a lot of buyer's remorse later . . . trust me, I know :-o

Installing a video card is a simple process. Simply remove the drivers for the card you have.

For Nvidia video drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_13955.html

For AMD video drivers: http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/GPU57RemoveOldGraphicsDrivers.aspx

Instead of restarting the computer, shut it down. Unplug your computer from the wall. I find it easier to install a video card if you totally disconnect everything - the mouse, keyboard, speakers, and any other devices that may be present. Then lay the computer down flat on a table. Take the access panel off the computer. Before touching anything inside the case, touch the frame of the computer (one of the bare metal edges exposed by taking the panel off is fine). This will discharge any static electricity in your body. Try not to move your feet around much, as that tends to generate static. Throughout this procedure, and before manipulating components, always make sure you have discharged any static by touching the computer frame.

Your card will probably come with some basic instruction on how to go about installation, but here is how it's done: The video card is usually held in by one or two screws, and there is usually a retaining clip located at the "back" of the PCI-E slot (end closest to the front of the computer) that needs to be pulled down a little to release the card. Pull the card out, and set it aside (heatsing side down). Make sure there is no dust in the PCI-E slot. Simply install the new card in the slot, making sure it slides evenly all the way into both the front side and back side of the slot. If there is a connection needed from the computer's power supply, connect it now. Secure it with any screws needed, and put the panel back on the PC.
This is a good time to place your old card in the anti-static bag the new card came in. Store it away as a spare. You are done with the installation.

Hook everything back up, and boot. The card should have come with a driver disk. Put it in the CD drive and run the installation routine as per the manufacturer’s instructions. That's it!

 

ok, the pSU is a 650 watt amtec, or antec. I want to use the card for television use, gaming, video editing, and basic browsing the web and the like. Those look like good cards, but i would like it best for those specs, also i dont know what the specs on the cards mean relly, any help with that, or more suugestions geared towards what i was wanting one for? thanks alot guys.

 

Well, I have ordered the second one on that list. Would there happen to be any additional plug ins or anything I may need with the purchase? Or do I just plug it in the slot and screw it in?

 

The cards I listed were just to demonstrate what type was available within your stated budget, but you chose a nice card . . . especially since it's only 60 bucks with the rebate. Nice. I hope you did the additional research I suggested to see if it fits your specific needs. At any rate it's a good midrange, balanced card. You will want to keep track of it's temperatures for a while, especially if your case doesn't have good airflow; but Zalman heatsinks are very, very good products, so it probably won't be an issue. When you open the case up it is good practice (while maintaining static discharge precautions) to clean your case fan/s and CPU fan and heatsink for optimum cooling.

Your power supply is more then ample for the card. It doesn't appear to need a separate power connection, but if it does the card's paperwork should indicate that and it should come with an adapter should you need one. Just look over any instructions that came with the card, and install. I think you will be very happy with the performance increase alone.

Good luck, and post back with how it is going for you.

 

I have the new card now, I have installed all appropriate drivers. The Card seems to be working. Im not getting any temperature reading in speccy. It works though, I am able to type this using it.

 

ok, after having run the card for almost a day. I cant get speccy to read temps like the othr card, although it does read in another program. I cant tell any difference visually wise, I cant really test either until a fan for my cpu gets here. Also I have no idea if there are any tweaks for video to get a better look. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am on windows 7 2 gig RAM quad 2 core. One thing i have noticed is that webpages seem to load quicker.

 

ok,, now i am having a few problems. One, I have unknown device with usb hub, the other is video quality part of amd catalyst is greyed out. My video looks soft and not up to par, i would like to give it better quality. Any help please?

 

also, I cant get nvidia control panel out of control panel in windows 7

 

Hmmm. You did uninstall the Nvidia video drivers, correct? If you did, and there are still remnants of it left on the system. go to the Nvidia site and look for a software removal utility. If the only Nvidia hardware you had was the video card, I am not sure what other drivers could be still be on your system.

Did you use the install CD that came with the card? Also, is windows 7 up to date as far as security and other downloads? Some of the features in the Catalyst suite require specific versions of the .Net software, etc. to be installed on the target system. When you say some features are greyed out, you are talkikng about within the Catalyst control panel, right?

 

I am talking about the catalyst control panel. I m up to date as far as windows updates are concerned. Im used drive sweeper to clean out all remnants.

 

I'm not sure then, what the issue can be. The only time I have run into options being greyed out is when there was a .net or software corruption issue.

Did you use the installation CD that came with the video card? There are probably more up to date drivers, but it is usually a good idea to start with the driver on the CD, as you can be sure it is 100% Ok for the card. Then once you get everything where you want it, you can try the latest driver version.

When just using one video card, your motherboard manual suggests using the first (or blue) PCI-E slot. I suggest going into control panel and via the AMD software utility remove all the new card drivers. Reboot, cancel any windows generated hardware installation popups, and then re-install the driver pack from the CD that came with the video card. It's good practice to disconnect from the internet and disable your anti-virus and any active mal-ware programs when installing drivers (or any software for that matter) as they can interfere with installation.



For the unknown USB device, not sure what that would be either. What devices do you have plugged into your USB ports?

 

well, now ive just beeen having troubles with my computer shutting off. I think its overheating issues with cpu. I also cleaned the cpu, this is a used comp. It needed to be checked, but for right now temps are great on all components, everything in the catalyst seems to be reading, everthing is showing up in other various hardware readers. The only problem i can see right now is nvidia control panel is still in windows 7 control panel as remnant that i cat get out of the control panel. also, thanks for your help spad, no one else seems to be willing to help as much on this one, i was kid of trying to gt this done altogether with some speed.

 

No problem . . . I'm glad that you are getting the issues squared away. Generally a video card change is a trouble free process (generally being the operative word . . . computers can be strange and obstinate beasts).

As far as the Nvidia control panel still showing up in Win7, I'm not sure . . . have you checked under add/remove programs to see if there are any more Nvidia software installations lurking about? From what I have seen about your motherboard from the ASUS site you have no Nvidia hardware built into the board. So the only Nvidia software should have just been for the card you took out. See http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5QE/ for details . . . you can also download a PDF of the motherboard manual if you don't have one. Very handy.

Is this a commercial PC? Like an HP, Dell, eMachines, etc.? Could be the unknown USB device is a card reader or other device that might need some kind of proprietary driver that can be had on the manufacturer's website for that model PC.

 

This is a homemade gaming rig. everything looks fine righ now, except for the nvidia thing in control panel. I just with I knew how to take it out of the list in control panel

 

That did the trick, thank you vry much

 

Nicely done. I hadn't thought about a registry edit.