I'm using a desktop and was wondering if it was possible to replace the video card and graphics card in the computer. Is it possible?

Also, this computer has 2 gigs of RAM, and I was wondering if this would be able to run windows 7. 2 gigs is the max it can hold.

2 gigs is fine, that's what I'm using and win7 is speedy.

Start > run > dxdiag > display > post the Name: Manufacturer: and Chip Type:

And what's your budget?

To answer your main question, yes it is very possible to change a graphics card. It depends on a few things, such as your motherboard slots and your power supply but usually it's alight. What's the make and model, what do you want to use it for and what's your budget?

Glad to hear that 2 gigs is good. What version are using? (ultimate, etc.)

Name: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX Integrated GPU
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce4 MX Integrated GPU

Budget: Uhm, I'm not really sure what the price of a "good" card is, so I dunno. Something in the $0-$150 range.



I want to use it to upgrade a computer so I can upgrade it to Windows 7. My budget is nothing over 150 dollars. (per card?)

Ok to see if you have pci-e slots or AGP (although if your computer was made in the last four years it most certainly has pci-e slots) either post the make/model of your computer, or if you're daring, open up the case (while it's off and unplugged) and look for a pci-e slot or an AGP slot. PCI-E is what you want:



Then you can go with this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150393

It's cheap and will easily play most all games on the market at med-high settings.

About installation, I'm pretty sure you can just pop it in, install the drivers, then go into the BIOS and turn off the integrated (something like that).

If he wants to spend 150, he ought to get all he can with that money. I have that card and it's beastly. Runs every game I own on highest, 8x AA 4x Ani, framerates never drop below 40-50fps no matter how much I throw at it. Runs Crysis:Warhead at 40 frames, everything on Very High w/ 8x AA. Or, if you need an HDMI port, you could go with this. Might not come with a cable though. If you don't need a massive amount of power, you could take one step down with this card. If you're not really running many demanding games and just want some more punch in the graphics department, go with the 4650 redmonke posted. Also, from reading your original post, it sounds vaguely like you're thinking a video card and a graphics card are two separate things - they are not, just different names for the same thing. Redmonke, to switch from using integrated graphics to using a stand-alone graphics card, you just need to plug your monitor into the card instead of into your motherboard.

I was under the impression that he wasn't going to need that much, especially with 2gb of RAM and probably his processor holding him back.

And good point, I've never thought about that before.

Depending on current system specs...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161287

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820227267

But yeah, it's really dependant on your current specs. Go to 'Run', type in 'dxdiag', let it load and take a screenshot of the first page.

He'd be processor-limited at a minimum. An additional consideration is power supply.

A Radeon HD 4650 1GB would be about the best I'd even consider dropping in, and also comes in AGP flavor.

Something like that draws 48W max, more like 20-30W (which is practically a sip). If the system is low-profile, there are other options available. Hopefully it's PCI-E, as there are L-P PCI-E HD4650's, but I've not seen a L-P AGP HD4650.

The HD4650 is no slacker--it's a really just a cut-down HD3850--about 90% the speed for a fraction the cost and a fraction the power consumption.

Sorry for not posting in this for a while.

Here's the page one of the run > dxdiag thing.



So Video and Graphics Cards are the same thing? Cool. Learn something new everyday.

The display tab woulda been a little better, but if you've got that processor then I'd assume there would be a PCI-E slot.

The card in my earlier post would work great.

Also, when installing the new card, do you have to do anything on the computer to set it up/uninstall the old one or anything?

Yea I think you should have PCI-E.

And you just plug the card in and screw it in, plug your monitor into it (well actually I don't think you need to do this yet), turn on the computer, insert the disk it comes with, install, then reboot, then just plug your monitor into the new card and you're set.

Since your old one is integrated you may have to go into the BIOS and disable it.

Best way to check would be to run CPU-Z then take a screenshot of the motherboard tab... yeah, it's a lot of screenshots

Also, this was just released:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102859

It's basically an underclocked 5770, which you can do yourself anyway, but it's performance is similar to the 4890/4870 and it has DX11 support. If you wanted nVidia for some reason (probably PhysX) then you'd be looking at a GTX 250/ 9800 GTX+

Problem with that would be that it would probably need a new PSU, this is the cheapest i could find at a glance that has the necessary requirements:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817171028