Upgrading old computer for Vista

I presently have a Dell Deminsion 4400. I did the scan that Dells has to find out what I would need to use Vista. I would need to install more memory, larger hard drive and Graphics card. The memory and hard drive I can understand. The Graphics card however is a bit confusing. I presently have a 16Mb ATI Rage 128 Ultra. I could not clearly find what I would need to purchase. The offered types are PCI, PCIe and AGP. My motherboad does support AGP, not sure about Pcie. But then what. I dont want to spend 200.00 on a card. Does anyone know a card I could purchase that would run Vista. I use this computer for home use. I am not a gamer.

 

Hey there. Your video card requirements would depend on which version of Vista you want to run. If you want to run the Premium/business/ultimate, you need a card that with a minimum of 128mb memory, support for DirectX 9 graphics with Pixel Shader 2.0. That is a minimum. For Home basic, you just need 32mb of memory and DirectX 9 support. The former would get somewhat pricey, but newegg.com has some great deals well under $100. The latter is very inexpensive.

PCI Express is the fastest interface, but you say your motherboard supports AGP. That is fine, you must buy an AGP video card with the specs you need. PCI is the slowest interface and is not advised unless your mobo doesn't support PCIe or AGP. It is important to notate which version of AGP you board supports (2X, 4X, or 8X). They are backwards compatible meaning you can run an 8X card in a 4X board, but only at 4X speed. You don't want to buy a 2X or 4X AGP card for an 8X AGP board or it will not run at its full potential.

Your best bet is to go on to www.newegg.com and look for AGP video cards (in your speed) and check the specs you need (DirectX version, RAM, ect.)

**By the way, for ease of figuring it out, most of the "Vista ready" cards are labeled as such on newegg. You can look for that too.

 

If your not a serious gamer and don't really give a hoot about the advantages of DX10 shaders etc, you wont need the latest in card support!

I run vista on one of my 'not so old' systems which includes Athlon64 3000+ ,
320 gig Sata, 2 gig of DDR400 and a ATI Radeon 9250 (128mb) stuck in the AGP.
Vista runs like a dream on these specs, besides one factor......Packaged with Ultimate is windows own burning program called 'Window's DVD Maker', and this is the only extra I cant run, as the vid card does not meet the minimum requirements!
I would suggest a 256Mb card should easily take care of anything that is bundled with, and including Vista (either ATI or Nvidia).
These sorts of cards are very cheap and in abundant supply if you shop around!

So I guess that 'Yes', vid card replacement will be necessary for you to adequately run Vista, and just as important to upgrade as your RAM and Hard drive capacity.

Regards...

 

Thank you both for the reply. I will try to find a video card on Newegg.com for a card that will work.

 

Let us know if there is one you are considering and we can take a look for you to make sure it will work, if you like.