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-cards/139495-latest-nvidia-forceware-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.

Brink said:

KingOfChaos,

Yep, your motherboard does. See:

Motherboard GPU Technical Specifications

Shawn

Click to expand...

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.

Brink said:

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.

Click to expand...

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?

LOL, nothing to be embarrassed about. Yours is a integrated graphics chip on the motherboard. It cannot be removed, only disabled in the BIOS.

Awesome, so how do I upgrade and make my system recognize the new card over the integrated chip? So I have to disable it in BIOS and then install the new one, correct?

I would install the new one first, then disable the old integrated chip in the BIOS.

See:
http://www.vistax64.com/graphic-cards/145553-what-involved.html#post677124

The 6150 gpu is built in to your mobo, look here;

Features & Benefits

You will also find when you buy a separate gfx card this will free up the ram used by onboard gfx.

An onboard gfx is also very slow so the upgrade will definatly be worth it, if just for this.

roy69 said:

The 6150 gpu is built in to your mobo, look here;

Features & Benefits

You will also find when you buy a separate gfx card this will free up the ram used by onboard gfx.

An onboard gfx is also very slow so the upgrade will definatly be worth it, if just for this.

Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks for that info. ^_^ So basically the GPU is using my system RAM instead of it's own? That's some bull****.

Onboard graphics solutions do, in some cases, use more or less the same GPU as the equivalent card model. However, these solutions don't have their own dedicated RAM - instead, they use a portion of your main system memory. Graphics cards themselves, of course, have the required memory on board. An in-built graphics adapter is ideal for use in an office environment - word processing, spreadsheets and email - but is not particularly suitable for gaming or general purpose use that many people use them for at home. In addition, some PCs with inbuilt graphics are not able to fully utilise the Aero interface even though other PCs using the same GPU, but on a graphics card, can. The GPU uses its allocated RAM to formulate and manipulate the images that you see on your monitor. With the built-in graphics solution, the GPU does not have dedicated RAM, but instead has to share the main system memory. Graphics data has to be transferred to and from the onboard system RAM via the main memory controller and the system bus. The CPU is also involved in this as most, if not all, data transfer across the system bus also involves the CPU. This is why on board graphics are slow. Graphics cards, however, have their own RAM directly on the board, and the GPU can access this RAM, which is exclusive for its own use, without having to compete for bandwidth on the main system bus. Of course, the original data will have originated from the main system, but once in the the graphics card RAM this data can be formulated and manipulated using the on board RAM without the need of involving the main system memory. This is the main reason why dedicated graphics cards are faster than in-built solutions. In fact, older and seemingly slower graphics cards can sometimes out-perform on board solutions because of this. On board graphics are useful for those people who wish to build their own systems, but don't have enough money in order to buy a graphics card as well. So long as the motherboard is capable of accepting a graphics card, it means that the system can be up and running relatively cheaply, with the option of adding a graphics card when funds allow. Most BIOSes should automatically disable the on board solution when a graphics card is inserted, but if it doesn't then you need to refer to the motherboard manual for details on how to do it.
Dwarf

Hi all

I'm not trying to get into the middle of someone else's thread,
I just wanted to say thank you to roy69 for the link and
to Dwarf for the info. They both clarify some issues for me as
I am still using an onboard NVIDIA GeForce 6150se nForce430.

Thank You Guys!

I do plan to upgrade to a NVIDIA 9600GT when I get some cash.
( way more than enough for what I need it for )

Later Ted