I got an emachines computer last year, and it came with onboard video. I bought a PCI card, and it worked just fine. I was looking for an upgrade, so I got a new AGP card. The computer will not pick up the card (and yes, it has an AGP slot), and nowhere in the BIOS can you enable AGP. Looking for a new BIOS seems to lead me in circles from site to site...and I'm not really knowledgeable when it comes to messing with the BIOS.

I can hopefully give more information if needed...but at this point I don't really know what to post to help anyone.

Chipset : Intel i845GE
Mainboard : First International Computer, Inc. (VG33)

BIOS
Manufacturer : Phoenix Technologies, LTD
Version : IEX423EM
Date : 27 May 2004


Any help would be MUCH appreciated.

In most modern mobos, just putting in that AGPcard automatically disables the onboard video.
Worth a shot. If that does not work, see if there is a jumper on the motherboard to disable onboard video.
Question: how did you get the PCIcard to work? Try the same for AGP.

Well, I tried last night just uninstalling all of my drivers for the PCI card and then putting in my new AGP card.

The PCI card picks up as soon as I plugged it in (without uninstalling the onboard), but nothing happened when I did the same for the AGP card.

Do I have to uninstall both the PCI and onboard video for the AGP card to work?

I just tried uninstalling all of the nvidia drivers, and then I uninstalled the onboard and disabled it from the device manager...

Still won't pick up the card. When I have it in, the monitor just sits without signal...so frustrating.

What is the brand and model of the AGP video card? If the PCI card worked, then why did you want to go to AGP? Does your power supply have the ATX 20 pin connector, along with the P4 square 4-pin connector? Did you disconnect the power plug, from the wall, or back of power supply, before installing the new video card.

The card is an ATI Radeon 9600...and the reason I wanted it in as opposed to the PCI card, was for better performance.

Yes, I unplugged everything correctly and followed procedure. The card connects to the computer fine, but when you start it up, it just won't pick the card up. I've tried everything I know how to do...