I think I need a new Graphics Card

ShrinkNerv4Eva · Post by **ShrinkNerv4Eva** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 5:58 pm

Often, I'll have an amv playing, but when I surf web pages, they start freezing up. Sometimes, even without an amv playing, my display will crash and go into a 16-bit mode. It will also just freeze up sometimes, forcing me to restart. All of this has only started happening about a month ago.

ShrinkNerv4Eva · Post by **ShrinkNerv4Eva** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 8:20 pm

Maybe I should clarify. Which video card should I get and how can I tell if my computer has AGP slots (other than opening it up)?

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 11:06 am

ShrinkNerv4Eva wrote:Maybe I should clarify. Which video card should I get and how can I tell if my computer has AGP slots (other than opening it up)?

1) Depends on what you would like from your video card, provided the problem is caused by the video card. I'm not a huge expert in these matters, but it may not neccesarily be the card causing the problems. For instance, I had some nasty issues with my video card drivers at one point, which only required some re-installation to get working.
As far as video and video editing, you don't need a particularly fast card to have those running no problem. Both are not very heavily reliant on video memory.

2) You should open it up to see, but if you check the manual for your motherboard, or even just check what model it is and then search online, you should be able to find whether or not it has an AGP slot.

Farlo · Post by **Farlo** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 11:40 am

first before blowing money on a new video card, update the drivers

either... www.nvidia.com

or http://www.ati.com/

or http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/ if its intel onboard video

oldwrench · Post by **oldwrench** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:32 pm

We really need to know more about your computer. What brand is it, what model, what motherboard, does it have a video card or is it onboard video. Your problem could be caused by overheating or a flaky power supply. Open the case and see if the fans and heat sinks are dust covered. I had problems with my vid card causing crashes and found the fan running to slowly, removing the fan and getting oil in the bearing solved it. If you find a lot of dust in your box, take it outside open the sidepannels and use compressed air at a low pressure to blow out the dust. blow through the power supply to get the dust out of it. Heat is bad for all the parts of you computer. You can look online at magazines like pcworld.com ore maximumpc.com for helpful articals about building, upgrading or maintaining your pc. Maximum PC has an "ask the doctor" section that may be helpful. Good luck.

ShrinkNerv4Eva · Post by **ShrinkNerv4Eva** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 10:19 pm

Hey thanks, I don't have time to open up my computer until the weekend rolls around, but I did download that NVidia Driver. I'll see how things work from there. Thanks again

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 11:05 pm

Well, if you have an older Nvidia card, I think you can rest rather assured you have an AGP slot, if anything