Video card help please

Hey everyone...ok heres what I am doing ...getting rid of my Radeon 9550/x1050 and putting in a nvidia fx5700 le

I have the catalyst drivers installed for the radeon ...
what I would like to know is this ...what steps to fully uninstall the radeon and catalyst ...do I remove the card before or after ...( i know ..im new to this switching company video card stuff )

Also when all that is done and over and Im about to install my drivers for the Nvidia ..does anyone recoment or can point out the drivers for that model card ?

I am running windows xp home on a dell ..

 

OK- with the Radeon still installed, boot into Windows like normal and go to Add/Remove Programs. There should be a listing for ATI Software Uninstaller or something similar. If you select it and choose remove, it will uninstall all the ATI related software and drivers. If you don't see something like ATI Software Uninstall, then just select anything that says ATI and remove it. If you get prompted to restart after removing a piece of software, say no. If you reboot, with the Radeon still installed, Windows will try to install it again. So, say no to every reboot prompt until all ATI software is gone. You can even go to the Device Manager, click the plus sign next to Display Adapters, right click the ATI device listed, and select Uninstall, and you'll probably get a reboot prompt. Say no. When all ATI stuff is gone. Shut down the PC like you would normally turn it off. Unplug the power cord, open the case, remove the Radeon, install the FX, close 'er up, plug 'er in, and boot 'er up. Be sure to have your NVidia driver on a CD ready, or download it to your desktop BEFORE doing all the ATI software removal. Here's the link to NVidia's newest FX drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_169.21_whql.html

BTW- you probably won't notice much (if any) increase in performance

 

No you don't need to uninstall the drivers for the ATI before changing to the Nvidia. You can have both installed at the same time and Windows will sort out which one is actually plugged in.

You can also go to device manager and disable (not uninstall although you can also do this) one or other card.

I would not finally remove the drivers until the other has proved to work satisfactorily for some months. You never know you may want the other back.

 

Great thx for your help guys ...

damn i thought there may have been a signifigent differnce with the nvidia card over the radeon :cry

although the 256 over the 128 is much better ...

 

Unfortunately, no. The cards are almost identical. They have the same clock speeds and memory speeds. The extra memory will help a little, but I don't think you'll see any difference. If the Radeon is a 64bit, then the NVidia is a definite upgrade. The Radeon 9550 was released as both a 64bit and a 128bit card, but I think the 64bit version is actually called a 9550SE. Anyway, here's some tech specs for you to check out:
ATI chipsets: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/131
NVidia chipsets: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/132
As you'll see, both cards are, indeed, almost identical.

 

ahhh yes they are ...I had the 128 radeon ...and now obviosly the 256 ..i used Photoshop and adobe bridge all most non stop ...i did notice a slight speed difference in opening and processing RAW files I have ...not unless im just imagining it lol ...

oh yea ..how much should i sell the Radeon for ?

so all in all the uninstall and setting the new card in with drivers installed and set to preferance ..under 10 mins !

still cant get the damn movies to show on the tv ...but as someone said before dont use the clone feature ...and im not sure if its expand or dual im to use ?
again thx for your help ..

 

( Canadian currency for the radeon )