See my comments inline below:
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Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
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"Susan" wrote in message
...
Jack,
Friend of my husband gave him two graphic cards for me to try. I tried to
install them into the PCI slots but the cards did not work. There were
post
beep codes and some yellow and green lights for diagnostic codes and the
monitor did not display anything. Unfortunately I had no instructions or
specs for the cards so I did not know if drivers were required (are they
for
PCI cards). Is there a requirement for a certain RAM, the computer only
has
128 MB RAM.
If you are using the on-board Intel Extreme Graphics video system, and you
wish to change to a PCI video card, you begin by using the Hardware wizard
to change to the plain vanilla MS VGA driver, which will only run at 640 X
480 resolution in 16 colors. When you reboot, the system will come up with
this driver running. However, at the first reboot, you want to enter the
BIOS setup program, and disable the on-board video system, which will enable
the PCI card. If I remember correctly, you have already seen these options
in your BIOS program, and know what I mean. Power down and install the PCI
video card, switching the monitor video cable to it. Now reboot to use the
new video system.
When the sytem reboots now, you will be running on the PCI video card using
plain vanilla MS drivers. Obviously, you have to switch the monitor cable
from the port on the mainboard to that on the PCI card, if you are to get a
display. Now you want to install the recent drivers for the PCI video card,
preferably the latest from the vendor of the card or the vpu chip. Today,
that almost certainly means either ATI or nVidia.
Once that is accomplished, you can change the resolution, color depth, and
refresh rate. Now all the advanced features of the video card can be
enabled. This is a good time to upgrade to DirectX 9.0x, too.
I suspect your many beeping POST codes were the result of having two enabled
video systems at once. While many modern mainboards can support both an AGP
and a PCI video card simultaneously, I suspect your m/b cannot support the
on-board and a PCI card at the same time.
So, tell us what the two available PCI video cards are, the exact model and
number and any rev. # or letters, on the board, and we can advise.
I still have no idea why Radeon PCI graphics card was installed and I
could
not change bit depth to greater than 16. But Dell instructions show to
plug
monitor cable into slot where the Radeon card was so it is as though Dell
did not want the Intel graphics card to be used. If we had originally
bought the computer from Dell I would call and ask questions but I don't
have the option since it was given to us.
The most common reason for adding a new PCI video card is to obtain far
better graphics. The Intel Extreme Graphics video will display Word
documents and Excel spreadsheets just fine, but cannot do very well with
advanced, modern games. Many modern games will not even install if such a
better video system is not detected. Even if the game will run, the actual
scenes are far cruder than can be achieved. The inadequate video system is
simply throwing away 75% or more of the possible video information, since
the video hardware cannot use/display it. A common example is Sims 2.
Can you tell me anything about PCI graphic cards and requirements in
general? That is what you are indicating down in your link right. It needs
128 MB. I thought some of the diagnostic codes indicated to reseat the
DIMMs which would have meant the memory chips so there was probably not
enough RAM for the graphic cards I tried. Does this make sense?
I think the comments above address your issues here. The modern PCI video
card will have on-board, fast memory, and will not use any of the system
memory, as the Intel Extreme Graphics video system does. The currently
installed 128 MB for the system memory is rather small for WinME, and since
memory is rather inexpensive just now, I urge adding more, at least 128 MB
more. Even more is best, i.e., 256 MB more, if funds permit. Be careful
to obtain compatible memory for such an older system, esp. if the mainboard
chipset does not support 256-bit memory.
OTH, PCI video boards can be found with 16 to 256 MB on-board. More memory
means faster and better graphics. It's a tradeoff between performance and
your wallet. Prices can run from $30 to $550. 128 MB is a middle mark,
affordable (ca. $50-100), but able to run most demanding video games quite
well.
Tom's Hardware Guide and AnandTech can answer any technical and performance
questions, once you have some specific cards in mind.
JEM
SNIP