What is involved?

I have never upgraded a graphics card before, so I would like someone to post a detailed description of what is needed to perform an upgrade successfully. Right now my desktop has a nVIDIA 6150 SE nForce 430 installed with only 128 mbs of memory which is wholly unacceptable. I know it's probably not as easy as installing RAM, so that is why I am asking. I am assuming it's a bit more complicated than just taking out the old card and putting the new one in.

I would also like to know if my power supply would even support an upgrade. I would like to change from the 6150 SE to the 8600 GT (512 mb) that they have for sale at the base exchange for $69.

Hi KingOfChaos,

It's not too difficult to do. Remember you wanted detailed.

1. Shutdown and unplug the computer.
2. Plug the 8600 GT card into a PCI-E (PCI Express) slot on your motherboard.
3. Put the computer back together, and plug the monitor into one of the new card's connector.
4. Boot into the BIOS and disable the integrated graphics by selecting the PCI-E card to use instead.
NOTE: Sometimes you will need to have the monitor connected to the old video connector first, then disable the integrated graphics in BIOS, shutdown, switch to the new connector, then restart. If you happen to have two monitors, then just have one plugged into each to make it easier.

5. Then just install the lastest video driver for the 8600 GT at:

http://www.vistax64.com/graphic-card...e-drivers.html


You should be ok on the power supply. It only requires a 300 W one. You can see all of the specifications and requirements for these type of cards here:

XFX GeForce 8600 GT Video Card - 512MB DDR3, PCI Express, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Video Card PVT84JYDF3 at TigerDirect.com

Hope this helps you,
Shawn

Not that hard then. Just need to find out what kind of PCI setup I have. I believe, from looking at my system information, that I have PCI Express x16.

KingOfChaos,

Yep, your motherboard does. See:

Motherboard GPU Technical Specifications

Shawn

Just one last question. Does the memory limit on 32 bit O/Ss also count for graphics cards? I have this puppy maxed out as far as RAM is concerned. I know some games don't really account for system RAM regardless...they'll still look bad with max RAM, but I was wondering if the limit on addressable RAM would be an issue with a graphics card as well.

Nifty...glad to see my system isn't quite obsolete just yet. :P

LOL, no not obsolete yet. You would be amazed of what adding RAM and a more powerful graphics cards can do for a system.

Graphic card's memory is handled by the graphics card and not the motherboard, so it does not apply the same way as the RAM sticks on the motherboard. Feel free to get a card with as much GDDR type RAM you can afford. I would not go below 512MB to make it worth the cost of the new card.

I would love to get one with at least 768 mbs of memory, but I am not sure my case can hold such a massive card. :P

The new 9800 GTS boards have 1 GB of memory, but it is a huge card to that sucks a lot of juice and a lot of cash. LOL

I am kinda embarrassed to admit it, but I cannot find my actual graphics card. What I thought was the card turned out to be the modem. Where the hell is it at? Is it an integrated card or something?