Upgrade built in motherboard graphics with card?

Hi all,

New to this so please excuse my mistakes, and not knowledgeable with computers at all

My computer seems to have a bottleneck judging by the Performance Information & Tools in Windows 7 Ultimate. I want to know if it is possible (and if so how do I go about it) to install a graphics card to enhance my computer.

Currently I have:
Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz
Memory - 2x2gb (motherboard is capable of 16gb - 4 x slots)
Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 9300/nForce 730i
Motherboard - P5N7A-VM

I've been told by my local computer shop that I cannot upgrade my graphics by installing a graphics card as my motherboard has this built in. I understand not being able to upgrade the built in motherboard graphics unit without buying a new motherboard, but I thought it should be possible to install a graphics card???

Yesterday I got my system upgraded from Windows 7 32bit to Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit so I could upgrade my RAM to 12gb (the 2 x 4gb Kingston RAM I purchased for this so I could have 12gb RAM doesn't work apparantly so I have to return them & get new ones).

Going from the Performance Information & Tools in Windows 7 Ultimate (64bit) my scores are:
Processor - 6.5
Memory (RAM) - 5.9
Graphics - 3.9
Gaming Graphics - 5.4
Prim. HDD - 5.9
* Giving a base score of 3.9

Before my upgrade yesterday my system was:
Processor - 6.4
Memory (RAM) - 6.4
Graphics - 4.8
Gaming Graphics - 5.5
Prim. HDD - 5.9
* Giving a base score of 4.8

So it seems I have gone backwards in performance The computer seems to be very sluggish (it suffered freq. freezing/crashing problems before upgrade)...but it works ok I guess.

I don't play games or do video editing, just general internet searching with multiple pages open as well as programs like Office (word, excel, office) running - although usually not all 3 together. I use autocad and google sketchup often. I'd just like a fast, reliable computer without spending a fortune on it and hoped that going to Windows 64 bit with 12gb RAM would do this (currently running at 4gb until replacement RAM arrives)

Sorry to give heaps of info but I don't want to ask a question without giving as much info as I know to give (if more is needed then I will happily provide it - I just don't know what info it could be at the moment). My question is can I make it faster by installing a graphics card...and can I install a graphics card???

Any advice would be highly appreciated

Many thanks

Shane

Shane04 said:

I've been told by my local computer shop that I cannot upgrade my graphics by installing a graphics card as my motherboard has this built in.

Click to expand...

That is a lie, the man at your computer shop should be fired.

But if you don't play games or do any video editing you don't really need a graphics card upgrade. Your motherboard graphics should be enough.

RAM doesn't make your computer any faster, it only makes a difference if you have lots of bulky applications open at the same time. For you 4GB is fine, 12GB is a waste to be honest. Also your mobo only supports DDR2 so if you bought DDR3 RAM it wouldn't work.

If you want to make your computer faster I would suggest a clean install of Windows on an SSD!

Thanks for your input slh28, I'll have a look around at a small SSD (I know they are expensive) and have a think about installing one. I guess I just want a reliable computer shop to be able to recommend things for me to do instead of telling me no, no, no! lol