Computer Specs:
Acer Aspire, about a year old.
Modifications: installed 3G extra memory (total 4 x 1G)
AMD Athlon 64 X 2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
Cache: 64 Kbytes x 2 L2 512 Kbytes x 2
Motherboard: Acer Mod. EM61SM/EM61PM Core Speed 2210 MHz
Chipset: NVIDIA MPC61
BIOS: Phoenix Tech Version R01-A4
Memory: DDR2 Dual Channel 4096 Mbytes
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
This is not my main computer, and was purchased it to use with a wide format printer, and very little else. So I didn’t go to much trouble to fix it when a sporadic problem with the sound started a few months ago. I figured it was just some minor problem, settings or such. But over the months, I've done everything I can think of. I changed the speakers and wiring, checked for any problems with the software settings, etc. The sound would come on and work for days or weeks, & then go out. I could never narrow it down except to exclude the speakers, wiring and settings. I've tried to load new drivers, but it says the one it's using is the best one.
And it says "This device is working properly" which really irks me.
But since I use it at home now, I need to fix it. When I changed the location, I used the recovery disks to return to factory software. I had previously done this a number of times with no change in the sound problem. However, this time I noticed that now there's a problem with the graphics too. I have a video poker game that used to work fine, but now when I start it, it brings up an error screen, something about graphics, and locks up the computer. I have to do a hard shut down and on reboot I get the blue screen that says Windows has recovered from a fatal error, how do I want to start it, etc.
As I said, the sound problem comes and goes, right now I have sound from my front speaker jack but not the back, and it's got constant static. It is not a problem with the software settings... I have tried every possible setting many times, and it has worked, as well as not worked, on the exact same settings.
I opened the case to see what cards I would need, and it seems that the sound and graphics are built into the motherboard. There are no cards plugged into the available slots except a modem. What I would like to know is, can I simply go into the BIOS and bypass the integrated sound and graphics, and install new cards in the motherboard? I would like to have something better than what came with the computer, but I don't play a lot of games other than what came with Windows and a few others that don’t require a lot of memory. My other computer was built for gaming and I could use it if I could find a game as much fun as they seem to be in some of the forums I’ve read. I would not mind spending a couple of hundred dollars, or more if it would increase performance, but I really don’t want to replace the power supply.
I ran CPU-Z but can't find anything on it about the graphic interface.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Joe
Acer Aspire, about a year old.
Modifications: installed 3G extra memory (total 4 x 1G)
AMD Athlon 64 X 2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
Cache: 64 Kbytes x 2 L2 512 Kbytes x 2
Motherboard: Acer Mod. EM61SM/EM61PM Core Speed 2210 MHz
Chipset: NVIDIA MPC61
BIOS: Phoenix Tech Version R01-A4
Memory: DDR2 Dual Channel 4096 Mbytes
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
This is not my main computer, and was purchased it to use with a wide format printer, and very little else. So I didn’t go to much trouble to fix it when a sporadic problem with the sound started a few months ago. I figured it was just some minor problem, settings or such. But over the months, I've done everything I can think of. I changed the speakers and wiring, checked for any problems with the software settings, etc. The sound would come on and work for days or weeks, & then go out. I could never narrow it down except to exclude the speakers, wiring and settings. I've tried to load new drivers, but it says the one it's using is the best one.
And it says "This device is working properly" which really irks me.
But since I use it at home now, I need to fix it. When I changed the location, I used the recovery disks to return to factory software. I had previously done this a number of times with no change in the sound problem. However, this time I noticed that now there's a problem with the graphics too. I have a video poker game that used to work fine, but now when I start it, it brings up an error screen, something about graphics, and locks up the computer. I have to do a hard shut down and on reboot I get the blue screen that says Windows has recovered from a fatal error, how do I want to start it, etc.
As I said, the sound problem comes and goes, right now I have sound from my front speaker jack but not the back, and it's got constant static. It is not a problem with the software settings... I have tried every possible setting many times, and it has worked, as well as not worked, on the exact same settings.
I opened the case to see what cards I would need, and it seems that the sound and graphics are built into the motherboard. There are no cards plugged into the available slots except a modem. What I would like to know is, can I simply go into the BIOS and bypass the integrated sound and graphics, and install new cards in the motherboard? I would like to have something better than what came with the computer, but I don't play a lot of games other than what came with Windows and a few others that don’t require a lot of memory. My other computer was built for gaming and I could use it if I could find a game as much fun as they seem to be in some of the forums I’ve read. I would not mind spending a couple of hundred dollars, or more if it would increase performance, but I really don’t want to replace the power supply.
I ran CPU-Z but can't find anything on it about the graphic interface.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Joe
