How do I enable AGP on my Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset family card?

[geminisama]

Okay, I bought a new laptop recently, and I have a problem. Almost every game I try to play says, "AGP is not enabled....", and it tells me its needed for best performance. How do I enable it? I googled it, and I couldnt find anything, so I decided to ask here. My system specs are:

Computer Maker: TOSHIBA
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1.70GHz
Memory: 1014MB RAM
Hard Drive: 200 GB
Video Card: Mobile Intel(R) 945GM

Thanks

 

[Exonimus]

From what I've read, you have an onboard graphics card(on your motherboard) I'm not sure if you have just that onboard card, or if you just have another card. If so, you could go into your BIOS(usually delete/f1/f2 at startup, one of those keys) read through it a bit. I know that sometimes there's an 'enable AGP' option, or anything that looks like it.

However, it doesn't look like you have an AGP card in your laptop.
Check that out first though. You might also want to check if you have the correct drivers for your card installed. On a side notenboard cards aren't very good for games, but they might handle a few.

 

[geminisama]

Hmm, yea, the card came with the laptop. I started up the comp and went to the BIOs thing, and I didnt see anything about AGP Do you know what drivers I would need?

 

[captaincranky]

First of all...

The 945 designation relates to the whole motherboard chipset, and not simply the graphics processsor. Onboard Intel graphics are direct AGP, albeit not good ones. Does this lap top even have an AGP expansion slot?

 

[geminisama]

Ehh..AGP expansion slot?

 

[captaincranky]

Ummmmm....

As I said Intel uses direct AGP (accelerated graphics port) in many of their motherboards, however certain games require more graphics power than onboard systems supply, some games are actually written with a certain graphics "card" in mind. An expansion "slot" is actually a socket to install an after market "video card". All the information you see in this particular forum relates mostly, if not completely to desktop computers. If a motherboard has AGP graphics they're almost certainly already enabled. After market video cards consume massive amounts of power, requiring heavy duty power supplies to replace the stock units. A visit to Intel's web site, combined with a search for your motherboard by number will net you the specifications for your board. I find it hard to imagine that the AGP function is not already enabled, unless you have modified the machine. Another thought is to carry this question over to the "mobile computing" forum, since they may know more about this. The general theme here is modification ,"hot rodding" so to speak, desktops for maximum gaming performance. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.