Video card upgrade

[Gower]

A bit of advise from computer anoraks (experts I mean)please :lol: .
I have a 3 year old Dell Dimension 9150 and have just upgraded to Windows 7. Prior to installation, I ran the MS Upgrade advisor which reported everything OK except Video card not up to supporting Aero desktop mode (no great hardship, I'm sure). Any suggestions about an upgrade please? ATI 4770 and Asus Nvidia 9600GT have been suggested. I am not a gamer. Well pleased with Windows 7 by the way.

 

[WellsWood]

The 9600Gt is a cracking card for the money. It's getting a little long in the tooth now, but that just means you can pick them up for around £60 or so, and you've got to spend quite a bit more to get a substantial increase in performance. Have a look here for comparitive performance levels. If you're not a gamer than the 9600GT will probably be more than man enough to reveal the bottleneck elsewhere in a 3 yr old system.

 

[Mike.C]

I have the same problem with my laptop (Acer 5920) and although I have not upgraded to 7 yet, on running the same advisor it stated that my graphics card was not upto scratch.

If its possible at all, how hard is it to upgrade this card on a laptop?

Cheers

Mike

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Just swap the whole laptop!!! its built in to the motherboard so you have no chance.

Its best to get a desktop IMHO then you can easly upgrade.


Pete

 

[kityuser]

Hi,

Just swap the whole laptop!!! its built in to the motherboard so you have no chance.

Its best to get a desktop IMHO then you can easly upgrade.


Pete

not so easy to use on the bus/train though :?

Steve

 

[Hoopy]

Hi Gower,

Remember to check whether your machine has an AGP or PCI Express graphics port.

This might help:

Ed.

 

[eddie_t]

Hi,

Go with the nvidia 9600gt, it's a good card for the price, and there's a few deal out there at the moment.

Hope this helps.

Eddie.

 

[eddie_t]

Hi Gower,

You computer should have a Pci express x16 for you graphics card.

Eddie.

 

[eddie_t]

Hi Gower,


Aria have got a 9800gt on offer at the moment for £68, that should serve you well for a good while.

Eddie.

 

[Gower]

Mark, Hoopy, Eddie, thanks for helpful replies and I'll be ordering my card tonight (been away for a few days). My motherboard has a PCI Express 16 slot, so evertything should be fine. I'll post the results in due course.
Cheers,
Jim

 

[plug]

Would be wise to check your psu (power supply unit) is large enough to handle a better card, just changed my card and also had to upgrade the psu so it would work properly.