I'm a newbie pls bout regarding video cards

[kyli]

I really want to change my video card right now because i have an intel that really does not fit with the things i wanna do in my comp.....
I have an "Hp pavillion a424x" go to this site to find out my pc specs.................

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00057604

I have a PCI slot i think am i right.....................
I know that this type of slot if very old but there nothing i could do at the moment...could you suggest the best video card compatible for the PCI slot if theres any???
Why does it says my Pc has a 3 slot of PCI does it mean i could put 3video cards on it (please explain).....should i take out my old video card or just put the new video card in another extra slot????
When replacing an old video card do you still have to ocnfigure the bios thingi someone told me you have to.....
When buying a video card is there a limit based on your computer how much 64 or 128 or 256mb you should get for the video card (im really a newbie)
Please help me i appreacite it.............thanks in advance....

THANKS ALOT PEOPLE

 

[jarvis]

Using more than one video card would only benefit you if you were using an SLI mobo with PCI Express Video Cards. We won't get into that though. As far as using a PCI video card..you have some choices, but nothing really top of the line. It is really hard to find a decent PCI video card, the best I could find was a Radeon 9250 at New Egg

You may want to try and look around the web for a better deal/card. If you are not sure just post back here with the link to the card and someone will tell you what to get. Just make sure its a PCI card and not a PCIx or PCI express...Welcome to techspot by the way. :approve:

 

[kyli]

did u just mention the Radeon 9250, i think this video card is only supported by AGP...... am i right........i think so..........the best pci video card that i could find is the 9200 only do know anything higher than that?

thanks for the reply

 

[kyli]

my bad

my bad...............sorry bout that............theres is actually a 9250 your right sorry...............(i need to surf more)


1. I got one last question pls answer this

Why is there a lot of the same kind video card but different industry that manufactures it like the Radeon 9250. I can view that there is 5 of the same kind but not of the same company. Is there anything different between them except the manufacturers name. If you buy the cheapest one what would the difference be if you buy the expensive one, isn't it the same or not??

Is it safe to buy at newegg.com?

thanks for you reply

 

[vnf4ultra]

You only have pci(no agp or pci-e), so you can only use a pci card. The better ones would be fx5700le, fx5500, ati 9250, etc. There isn't much out there really anymore.

Yeah, newegg is a good place to buy, I think they're great. Look at their ratings.
http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2121.html
It says an average store is a 7.5/10, and newegg is 9.6+/10.

If you have integrated intel graphics you can't physically remove it(well not without killing the motherboard), you can however disable it in the bios by selecting to use pci graphics instead of integrated(if your bios has the option).

Here're newegg's pci cards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

Consider this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102533
It's 256mb of memory and it has a 128bit memory interface, so it's better than the 128mb/64bit cards. Also it's retail version(not oem), so it comes in a nice box, and has drivers/accesories with it.

Here are two other possibilities.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133134
^that might be ok.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814139166
If the 5700le wasn't 64bit it'd be the best one for sure, but as a 64bit it probably is much slower, but I don't know how much that affects it.

 

[kyli]

thank you for that info

 

[vnf4ultra]

I found a little more out. So far I know, the 5200 is worst, then the 5500, then the 9250, then the 5700le.

I don't know where a 5700le 64bit would fit in though. On 9250 cards being 64bit makes the card take a 17% performance decrease. If the same % holds true to the 5700le, then it would still be slightly faster than a 128bit 9250, but I have no way of knowing for sure what % it would decrease.

So, conclusion, the 9250 is better than a 5500, but a 5700le 64bit may or may not be faster.

Edit: I think the 5700le 64bit may be better than the 9250 128bit. I based that on the newegg reviews though, so that might not be reliable. Several reviewers had upgraded from 9200/9250 cards and said the 5700le was an improvement, so if they're right(and more than one reviewer said so), then it'd be better, but also a bit more money.
Link
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBack/CustRatingReview.asp?Item=N82E16814139166

Also, you asked whether there's a memory limit for video cards, no, you could put in a 8mb card or a 256mb card or any in between.
The difference between all the 9250's(as an example) listed is the brand, the amount of ram (128 or 256mb), the memory interface(64 or 128bit), clock speeds(some have 333mhz ram, others 400mhz, 400 is obviously better), and whether the card is oem or retail version, retail has the "goodies" like nice packaging, cords, accesories, drivers, etc. So yeah, it's confusing, one card might be 128bit and have 400mhz memory but be oem, or a unknown mfg, which would make it less desirable.

 

[kyli]

whats oem?.....................now i think im really sure what i have to buy thanks to you guys.............its 9250 not the ATI i think because that cause more than double by the others.......nothing so much is different i think.................thanks for the info guys

 

[vnf4ultra]

Oem is Original Equipment Manufacturer, it means the product comes alone in a white box(as opposed to retail, which has a nice fancy box, and comes with drivers, accessories). So oem is usually cheaper but comes only with the card and a plain box.