Hi there,

My computer came with a VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP card, which is apparently a Graphics/Video Card with onboard video (or the other way around, video w/ onboard graphics) Now, this is a terrible card- it can barely play any modern games. I want to get a new graphics card, but I'm concerned if I install a new Graphics Card, that because of the onboard video, it will affect this greatly, or if I actually need a video card instead of graphics. What do I actually need, and will it adversely affect anything on my PC.

I can provide more information if you want...

We need to know what mobo you have and what slots it has.

I'm assuming Mobo is motherboard? If so, how do I find this stuff out? (I'm terrible with this stuff.)

Yup, mobo=motherboard. The manual is a good place to start.

If you dont have a manual then go to [url]www.crucial.com[/url] and get it to scan your system. That should tell you exactly what you have.

According to the Crucial.com thing...

Your MSI (Micro Star) MS-7071 (PM8M2-V) Specifications with 1 available slot. (although I have a 1gb stick of ram going in there soon.)

The info you needed was actually [B]Graphics Support: AGP 8X [/B]
Looked it up myself via your mobo model.

You need to decide on your budget and what you would like your pc to be capable of doing.
Stating where you are in the world would help with prices.

Unless I completely miss my guess the best the original poster could have on the motherboard would be an AGP slot, but rik is correct; we need to know what make and model motherboard you have to help you to make your purchasing decision. If you don't know what motherboard you have you can install Everest on your computer and run the program. Look up your motherboard specs with Everest and post the results here. We specifically need to know if you have a PCI-E, AGP or PCI slots. PCI-e would make a video card purchase cheaper and easier. An AGP slot would make the purchase a bit more expensive but still possible, and having only PCI slots available would pretty much send your computer to the junk pile as far as gaming goes. If you do have a PCI-E or AGP slot you'll probably also need to purchase a 450 watt power supply to power your new gaming video card.

What is an AGP 8X?

Well, I'm in the UK...ideally looking to spend a maximum of about £100, but the lower the better. I don't want my PC to be world-beating, but just to be able to play any game to an okay standard.

The PM8M2-V has an 8 speed AGP slot, so I recommend the Radeon X19050Pro 512MB version

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102071

This is where I got the video card info:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/...ard/page5.html
This is the complete article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/...graphics_card/

Ah crap the UK
Umm the same video card only in the UK.

Okay...just to check, any graphics card I get need to have an 8 speed/8x AGP slot?

As for power supply, is that within the PC or the actual plug the PC is connceted to?]

edit: Also, the graphics cards list memory- is this RAM?

a power supply is inside the computer. if u know nothing about the workings of a computer I fell like u will have to have a professinal install it.

the mem. on the video card has nothing to do with the mem on u're MB.

so a video card's memory is total different to the RAM you'd slot into a motherboard, just to check?

I will have a professional do it. Or a friend who's installed graphics cards many a time.