|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Scroll down the 30+ pages on the A-to-Z site menu: To support this site: |
Forewarned is forearmed... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Upgrading a desktop and laptop PC: Upgrade Checklists - What You Need to Know About the Hardware Components Before You Upgrade Your Computer - Page 1Last updated on 16 November 2009
This page provides the information that should be taken into consideration in order to upgrade a desktop computer/PC successfully. Some of the information provided is applicable to a laptop computer. The last thing you want to do is order components that can't be used at all, or that are in some way incompatible with one or more of the other components.
The following article shows how economical it can be to upgrade a PC bought in 2001 compared to buying a new, less upgradable Dell PC. How To Revive Your Old PC - "A few simple and economical upgrades to the motherboard, processor, and memory can bring an old PC back to life, with less expense and hassle than replacing the machine." - http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205203815 The micro-ATX case, motherboard, Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 processor, 2GB DDR2 667 RAM (1 DIMM), a PCI IDE controller for a faster IDE drive, and 3.5" Floppy/3-in-1 Reader came to only $433/£215. Apparently, the versions of Windows 7 (the official release date was October 22, 2009) can be installed on desktop PCs that were purchased new as far back as 2002. It can be installed on a new netbook computer, so it will also install on an ageing laptop computer that has the same hardware specifications as a netbook computer. Windows 7: How low can you go? - "Rejuvenating your 7-year-old PC with Windows, not Linux, can now make technical and fiscal sense." - http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136192/Windows_7_How_low_can_you_go_
Laptop computers are not nearly as upgradable as desktop PCs yet. Every component in a desktop PC can be purchased and replaced, but only certain components of a laptop computer can be purchased and replaced, and the replacability of its components depends on the make/model of laptop. The following 10-page article provides useful information on upgrading a laptop PC. Upgrade your laptop - "You may think an upgrade is a fiddly business but, as Jim Martin explains, it isn't hard to give your laptop a performance boost." - http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/features/266800/upgrade-your-laptop.html Here are some recent articles on upgrading desktop and laptop PCs: This old PC: Revitalizing an aging desktop computer on the cheap Don't trash your tired old desktop PC - pump it up with a few inexpensive upgrades - http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?... This old laptop: Revitalizing an aging notebook on the cheap -All it takes is a couple hours and about $125 to breathe new life into an old laptop - http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?... Visit the Desktop PCs section of this site for information on how to buy, build, repair, fix, and protect the various types of desktop PCs. Visit the Laptop/notebook PCs section of this site for information on how to buy, build, repair, fix, and protect the various types of laptop PCs.
How to make sure that you get your PC returned in the same state it was in after you send it back to the manufacturer or to a repair/upgrade shopIf you have purchased a brand-name PC or built your own, you might have to send it back to the manufacturer or to a repair shop to diagnose and fix a problem. During its stay away from home, its components could be removed and replaced with old or cheaper ones. To be able to prove that your PC is returned in the state it was in before it was sent off, you should name a note of the makes/models of the hardware components. If you don't know the makes and models of the hardware components installed in your computer, a good free utility called the Belarc Advisor creates an analysis of the hardware and software on a personal computer that you can print out. Look for it under FREE DOWNLOAD on http://www.belarc.com/. You would the just have to run the utility again when the PC is returned and match the two printouts to find out what has been changed. The arrival of Windows VistaNote that the versions of Windows Vista for the home user were made available on 30 January 2007. Apart from Windows Vista Home Basic, which is comparable to Windows XP with regard to the hardware that it will run comfortably on, Windows Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, and Vista Ultimate require hardware specifications (hard-disk-drive space, RAM memory, and the type of graphics card and graphics memory) that are significantly higher than those of Windows XP. Visit the Using Windows Vista section of this site for more information on the different versions of Windows Vista.
Does your PC use brand-name (proprietary) or standard PC components?Note well that if you have a brand-name PC such one made by Dell, HP, Gateway, etc., standard PC components might not fit in a proprietary case. If that is the case, the only source of upgrade components is the PC manufacturer, and the components will usually cost much more than standard PC components. Therefore, if you have a brand-name PC, find out if you have to use proprietary components to upgrade it, because if that is the case, standard PC components can't be used. It may not be possible to use even, say, a Dell monitor with another PC, because the monitor can be powered via the PC's power supply, not by its own power supply. Most PC power supplies do not provide a port for a monitor. Read this forum thread on this subject: Used to have a Dimension 8200. **** CONTENTS Click the name of the component in the table below to go to its upgrade checklist. If there is no link available, the information has not yet been entered.
Microsoft ends support for Windows 98/98 SE/MeJune 24, 2006. - On July 11, 2006 Microsoft will end support for both Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) and Windows Millennium Edition (Me). This means that Microsoft will no longer provide security updates for these operating systems, and will no longer provide (paid) incident support. Only self-help support will be available until at least July 10, 2007. You can still use those versions of Windows, but, unless Microsoft changes its mind, they will not be updated after that date. To continue running a Windows 98/Me system in its most up-to-date condition, download all of the patches and updates, save them on your hard drive, and then burn them to a recordable CD/DVD. To download all of the updates, or the updates for any Microsoft operating system, visit this page: Microsoft Update Catalog - http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx If a warning comes up across the top of the browser's window telling you that an ActiveX control has been disabled, right-click on it and enable it or the following category will be greyed out. To obtain the updates for Windows 98, click the Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems link, scroll down to Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition, click the Search button, click Critical Updates and Service Packs. Scroll through the list of Critical Updates and click the Add button for each one. When all critical updates have been added, go back to the search-result list at the top of the page and, if you need the updates, repeat the same process for all of the updates in these other categories, one by one: Additional Windows Downloads Internet and Multimedia Updates Multi-Language Features Recommended Updates Windows Tools Advanced Security Updates You should now have all of the updates in your Download Basket. Click Go to Download Basket (the green arrow) and allow the download process go ahead. The download tool creates a WU (Windows Updates) folder wherever you want it, and fills subfolders within the WU folder with copies of the the update files that you chose. If any files don't download on the first attempt, they remain in your Download Basket, so you can retry until you succeed. However, don't close your browser, because the contents of Download Basket will be wiped out, and you'll have to go through the process from the beginning. If the above method doesn't work, try following the official instructions from Microsoft: How to download updates and drivers from the Windows Update Catalog - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323166. The safest way to upgrade RAM: Use the UK and US Crucial Memory AdvisorsPaul Mullen, the highly-respected computer guru of the Helpfile at ComputerShopper.co.uk - "I have recently been buying my memory only from Crucial Technology. I would rather pay the extra cost than waste time trying to track down the obscure program faults that bad memory can cause." The memory requirements of the versions of Windows VistaMost of the versions of Windows Vista require more RAM memory to run optimally on a computer that doesn't use memory-hungry applications than Windows XP. A video-editing application is an example of memory-intensive software. Only Windows Vista Home Basic has a recommended amount of memory of 512MB, which is the same amount recommended for Windows XP. Windows Vista Home Premium, the most popular version and Windows Vista Ultimate require 1GB (1024MB) of memory, which is twice the amount of memory recommended to run Windows XP. Read the information on the RAM pages of this site to find out if you should buy memory for use in single-channel or dual-channel modes.
For example, if your computer has an Asus motherboard, open the menu, scroll down to ASUS, and click GO. If, say, you have a Dell computer, scroll down to DELL, and do likewise. You will be taken to the relevant information on Crucial's website. If you don't know the make and model of the motherboard installed in your computer, here is a good free utility - Belarc Advisor - that creates an analysis of the hardware and software on a personal computer. Look under FREE DOWNLOAD - http://www.belarc.com/. Another utility that also provides detailed information on the memory itself is CPU-Z. Upgrade Checklist - Motherboards [Mainboards]Visit the Motherboards section of this site for more information on them.
Types of motherboard [mainboard] and PC casesClick here! to go to information about motherboards on this site, and visit the Build a PC pages on this site for information on installing a motherboard - and any of the other main components used to build a computer. When upgrading motherboards (also known as mainboards), you have to match the type of computer case to the type of motherboard. The type of motherboard is determined by determining its form factor. There are three main form factors used for current motherboards - ATX and micro-ATX, both of which can be fitted into an ATX case, BTX (Balanced Technology Extended), the latest form factor, that requires its own style of case and a special cooling unit, and SFF (Small Form Factor), used in mini PCs that usually come in cube form. The BTX form factor was supposed to replace the ATX form factor, but, so far, been a flop. Not many computers were using it in 2007. In 2007, ATX is still the most common form factor used. Its cases come in desktop (the case lies horizontally on the desk instead of vertically like a tower case) mini-tower, midi-tower, and full tower models. Mini-tower ATX cases are the most popular because they don't require using long cables and have enough internal space to maintain a flow of air that keeps the components cool. Mini-tower cases lack internal space, and full tower cases are very tall and require extended cables in order to be able to install CD/DVD drives in the top bays. If you want to read technical information on the different form factors, visit http://www.formfactors.org/. The power supply unit (PSU)All of the current processors from Intel and AMD require an extra four-pin 12V connector (shown in the image below) from the power supply unit, which powers the processor's voltage regulator. Most power supplies purchased in the last few years have one. If not, you have to upgrade it.
If you want to install a power-hungry PCI Express video card, the PSU must have a 24-pin main power connector that powers the motherboard itself. An ATX12V 2.0 PSU has it. The earlier ATX 1.3 PSUs have a 20-pin main power connector. The extra four pins in the new connector supply a second +12V power line (rail), because many components have switched to using the +12V power rail from the +5V rail. PCI Express video cards also require a power connector that provides extra power by connecting to the card itself. The image below show the old (left) and the new main power connectors. Visit http://www.jeantech.com/ and bring up a page containing information on a particular ATX12V 2.0 power supply to see images of the PCI Express power connector. See the image below of the new PSU ATX12V 2.0 standard, which has a 24-pin plug (right) that connects to the motherboard, whereas the ATX 1.3 standard uses a 20-pin plug (left). 
By using adapter cables or special ATX connectors with 20 or 24 pins, the new PSU specification can be made compatible with the earlier PSU standard. Therefore, should an old PSU fail, a new replacement using the new standard can be used with the earlier hardware. Some power supplies can be used with both 20-pin and 24-pin motherboard connectors. The 24-pin plug has a 4-pin plug that can be detached so that it can be fitted to a 20-pin motherboard power connector. The new SATA hard disk drives also have to be connected to a different power connector that the PSU provides. However, if you have a PSU that doesn't have them, you can buy an adapter that converts the old-style disk-drive power connector so that it plugs into an SATA drive. Visit this Motherboards page on this site for more information on power supplies. The video/graphics cardRead the Video and Graphics pages on this site if you need to determine that type of video/graphics card the computer you want to upgrade has. The make and model of processor you want to use determines the type of motherboard you can use. You have to choose the make and model of processor that best suits your computing needs, and then select the make and model of motherboard from the many manufacturers that can run it. See the Processors and Motherboards pages on this site if you need to know which kind of each of those components to buy. The motherboard you choose to run your choice of processor will either have an AGP slot for an AGP video card, or a PCI Express slot for a PCI Express video card. If the motherboard you are replacing uses an AGP video card, you can only reuse it if the replacement motherboard has an AGP slot, because an AGP video card doesn't fit into a PCI Express slot. Note that it is also possible to install a PCI video card in a PCI slot. A computer using one can't play the latest PC games, because it can only support early versions of Microsoft's DirectX graphics software that is essential for that purpose. See the first Gaming page on this site for more information on DirectX. If your existing motherboard had the graphics chip and the port that connects to the monitor built into it (intergrated graphics), you'll have to purchase a the kind of video card that matches the kind of video-slot the new motherboard you've chosen has. If you have one of the first AGP video cards that run at 3.3V, you won't be able to install it on a current motherboard, because it has a different AGP slot. Current AGP video cards run at 1.5V or less and current motherboards with an AGP slot have a universal AGP 3.0 slot that is compatible with them but which prevents a 3.3V AGP video card from being installed. All current motherboards still have old-technology PCI slots, so, if it meets your computing needs, you can use a PCI video card if the motherboard has a free PCI slot. (Don't confuse it with new PCI Express. They are completely different standards.) Motherboards that support the AGP and the PCI Express video standardsIf you have an AGP graphics card that you want to reuse while upgrading your PC's motherboard, processor, or RAM, motherboards are available that support the AGP and the new PCI Express standards. Such a motherboard has an AGP and a PCI Express slot. Having such a motherboard will allow you to upgrade to a PCI Express graphics card at a later date. An example of such a motherboard is the Asrock 939 DUAL-SATA2 Socket 939 board for AMD Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX processors. With a BIOS update, you'll probably be able to use the Athlon 64 X2 (dual-core) processors into the bargain. Enter "Asrock 939 DUAL-SATA2" in the Google search box at the top of this page, with its Web radio button enabled, for links to information and vendor sites. To find other such motherboards, try using this search: motherboard + support + "agp and pci express". RAM memoryRAM memory is installed in DIMM slots on a computer's motherboard. New PCs built before 2000 use SDRAM, which runs on a motherboard's FSB of 100MHz and 133MHz. SDRAM was replaced by DDR RAM. DDR2 RAM is now available and in use by the Socket LGA775 motherboards that run Intel's Pentium 4 and Celeron processors. AMD Socket AM2 processors also use DDR2 memory, but earlier AMD Socket 754 and Socket 939 processors use DDR memory. DDR3 memory is currently available, and more motherboards will be using it in 2008. Read the RAM pages on this site for more information on computer memory. Disk drivesSome new motherboards only provide one old-style IDE PATA connector for a ribbon cable in order to install IDE CD/DVD drives, which still use them. When IDE drives, which can still be bought new, were the only type apart from SCSI drives, all motherboards provided two IDE connectors, allowing the connection of four IDE drives because each ribbon cable has two connectors that connect to the drives. Therefore, one connector allows two drive to be connected to a single ribbon cable, but it isn't a good idea to connect a hard disk drive and a CD/DVD drive to the same cable because they work at different speeds. Any CD/DVD drive is much slower than any new IDE hard disk drive. The assumption by the manufacturers is that the user will install the new-style SATA hard disk drives on a new motherboard, so they provide four SATA connectors. They probably also only provide one old-style connector in order to help keep the market for new components healthy. But many users upgrading a computer have one or more old-style PATA IDE drives that can be reused. If you purchase such a motherboard, you will have to buy a PCI IDE adapter card in order install more IDE drives than the motherboard allows. Visit the Disk Drives pages on this site for more information about them. Version of WindowsIt is usually the case now that motherboard manufacturers only provide the Windows XP device drivers for the motherboard's chipset and for the other components that connect to it. You can install such a new motherboard if you're using Windows 98 or Windows Me, and get it to work to some extent, but it will be a much degraded experience, because those earlier versions of Windows will have to install the standard Windows drivers used in Safe mode, such as the standard VGA video driver that can only use a screen resolution of 640X480 pixels. If you're upgrading to one of the new 64-bit dual-core processors from Intel and AMD, you can't use Windows 98 and Windows Me. Even with Windows XP, the correct drivers and updates have to be installed and the BIOS has to support dual-core processors in order to get them to be recognised. If that is the case, Windows XP shows both processors in the Device Manager. Note that even in the case of a brand new motherboard, you may have to update the BIOS in order to be able to use both cores of a dual-core processor. If the BIOS isn't programmed to configure the system to use both cores, only one of them will be used. If you intend to upgrade to a version of Windows Vista, you should first check to make sure that your computer's hardware and software are supported. The Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate versions have different hardware requirements. Most recent computers that can run Windows XP comfortably should be able to run the Home Basic or Home Premium versions, with or without its new graphical features, depending on the type of graphics card that is installed. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/.../upgradeadvisor.mspx You may prefer using AMD's Advisor: AMD Vista Readiness Advisor - http://www.amd.com/ativra It is not a good idea to choose an in-place upgrade of Windows XP to Windows Vista, because the Upgrade versions build Vista over XP, which can lead to a problematic system. It is best to perform a clean installation of Vista. You should therefore also read this Q&A on this site: Microsoft's Vista Upgrade Advisor said my computer can run Windows Vista Ultimate but the upgrade from Windows XP always fails. Visit the Using Windows Vista section of this site for more information on the different versions of Windows Vista. How to replace the motherboard in a PC running Windows XPRead the Q&A called How can I replace the motherboard in my PC without having to reinstall Windows XP? to find out what the considerations are and how to do it. Upgrade Checklist - DVD WritersClick here! to go directly to the Disk Drives page on this site that provides information on CD/DVD drives, which includes CD/DVD writers. Visit this Build a PC page on this site for information on installing disk drives.
Fitting CD/DVD disk drives into the computer's case and connecting them to the computer's motherboard hasn't changed since the first PC CD-ROM drives became available over ten years ago. If there is a free 5.25" bay in the case, you'll be able to fit a CD/DVD drive in it quite easily. There are usually four 5.25" bays (for CD/DVD drives) and two 3.5" bays (for floppy disk drives) in the front of a computer's case, which are covered by removeable covers. They have to be removed so that only the front of the installed drives are exposed when they are installed in the bays. Of course, you only remove the cover of a particular bay if you want to install a drive in it. There may be another steel cutout behind each of the front covers that has to be removed in order to open the bay up. These can often be difficult to remove because the steel links that attach them to the case can be difficult to break. You should choose a bay that isn't so far away from the computer's motherboard that the IDE ribbon cable isn't long enough to connect it to the motherboard. The top bays in a full tower case are usually too far away from the motherboard to connect a drive with a standard 80-conductor ribbon cable; an extra-long cable is required. However, the top bay in a midi-tower case can usually be used with a standard ribbon cable. Upgrade Checklist - Hard Disk DrivesClick here! to go directly to the Disk Drives page on this site that provides information on hard disk drives. Visit this Build a PC page on this site for information on installing hard drives.
Relevant Knowledge Base articlesThe FDISK utility is used to partition and format hard drives in Windows 95/98/98 SE/Me, not in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Fdisk Does Not Recognize Full Size of Hard Disks Larger than 64 GB - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044 For drives larger than 64GB read: The Fdisk.exe utility may not be able to create a hard disk partition that is larger than 128 GB - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;327202 Fdisk.exe How to enable 48-bit Logical Block Addressing support for ATAPI disk drives in Windows XP - This article describes the Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) 48-bit Logical Block Addressing (LBA) support for ATA Packet Interface (ATAPI) disk drives that can increase the capacity of your hard disk to more than the current 137 gigabyte (GB) limit. - http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=303013 Unable to Partition Drives Larger Than 512 Gigabytes - APPLIES TO Windows 98 Standard Edition - Windows 98 Second Edition - Windows Millennium Edition. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;280737 "Windows Vista support for large-sector hard disk drives" November 28, 2006. - "Hard disk drive manufacturers will soon start producing hard disk drives that contain physical sector sizes that are larger than the traditional 512 bytes per sector. For example, sectors may be 1 kilobyte (KB), 2 KB, or 4 KB. This change will enable manufacturers to improve the capacity, the performance, and the reliability of their hard disk drives. This article discusses Windows Vista support for large-sector hard disk drives." - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923332 Windows 98 and Me and the original version of Windows XP do not natively support 48-bit LBA drives larger than 137GBThere are ways to make a hard drive larger than 137GB work with Windows 98 or Me, "...but you must work around some limitations and may likely need to upgrade components on your system in order to install and use your 48-bit LBA hard drive with Windows 98 or Me. Adding a 48-bit LBA hard drive for use with Windows 98 or Windows Me is the most complicated scenario compared to other more recent Microsoft operating systems such as Windows XP." For the information on how to use a large hard drive in Windows 98 and Me, visit this page: 48-bit LBA and Windows 98, 98 SE, Me - http://www.48bitlba.com/win98.htm For more information on the 137GB barrier, click the following link to download a PDF file on the subject. - http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/tp/137gb.pdf A patch to fix the 137GB barrier in Windows 98/98 SE/Me A patch is available that fixes the 137GB barrier in Windows 98/98SE/Me, but it only works if the motherboard's BIOS supports large disks (using 48-bit LBA). The download includes a program that tests the BIOS for this requirement. Download it from here: http://www.geocities.com/rloew/. It costs $10/£5. **** Upgrading a hard drive involves replacing and existing hard drive, or adding one or more additional hard drives. If you want to add a hard drive, you have to make sure that there is a free bay in the computer's case. A 3.5" drive fits into a 3.5" bay, but an adapter costing around £3 can be used to fit a 3.5" drive in a 5.25" bay. If the case is to small to accommodate an extra hard drive, you can make use of an external USB or FireWire hard drive or even a large-capacity USB flash drive. Full tower cases have some of their bays far away from the power supply and the motherboard. If you want to make use of one of these, you'll have to make sure that you can connect the power from the power supply to the drive, and you'll need an extra-long drive cable and sound cable, both of which connect to the drive and to the motherboard if it has an integrated sound chip. Otherwise, you connect the sound cable to the PCI sound card. Note that if you're installing an IDE ATA drive (not an SATA drive that uses a single SATA cable per drive), you can purchase a ribbon or round cable that connects a single drive or two drives. If you want to install four IDE ATA drives, most motherboards only have two connectors for the cables, so you'll have to use the cables that can accommodate two drives each, or use single-drive cables and install the other two drives on a PCI IDE adapter card. Note that if the computer's motherboard doesn't have SATA connectors, you'll have to use a PCI SATA adapter card if you want to install one or more SATA hard drives. SATA drive and power connectors started appearing on motherboards and power supplies respectively in 2004. If the power supply doesn't have an SATA power connector, you can buy an SATA adapter that connects to a standard molex power connector. You should not install a CD/DVD drive on the same cable as a hard drive if you don't want to reduce its performance. If you only use an additional hard drive for back-up or storage purposes, it won't matter if you install it on the same cable as a CD/DVD drive. Read the information in the blue table above if you want to determine if the BIOS of the computer you're upgrading can be or needs to be updated in order to install a large-capacity hard drive. If you need additional advice on how to overcome the various drive-size barriers, the hard-drive manufacturer's site usually provides it along with the required downloads. Upgrade Checklist - Video/Graphics CardsClick here! to go directly to the Video/Graphics Cards page on this site for detailed information on them. Visit this Build a PC page on this site for information on installing video cards.
The type of video/graphics cardMotherboards that support the AGP and the PCI Express graphics standardsIf you have an AGP graphics card that you want to reuse while upgrading your PC's motherboard, processor, or RAM, motherboards are available that support the AGP and the new PCI Express standards. Such a motherboard has an AGP and a PCI Express slot. Having such a motherboard will allow you to upgrade to a PCI Express graphics card at a later date. An example of such a motherboard is the Asrock 939 DUAL-SATA2 Socket 939 board for AMD Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX processors. With a BIOS update, you'll probably be able to use the Athlon 64 X2 (dual-core) processors into the bargain. Enter "Asrock 939 DUAL-SATA2" in the Google search box at the top of this page, with its Web radio button enabled, for links to information and vendor sites. To find other such motherboards, try using this search: motherboard + support + "agp and pci express". The AGP graphics standard is outgoing technology that is no longer found in new PCs. However, at the time of writing (March, 2008), it was possible to buy an AGP graphics card that supports DirectX 10, which the the latest version that only works with Windows Vista. An example of an affordable AGP card that supports DirectX 10 that can play the latest PC games is the Sapphire HD3850 graphics card that has 512MB of GDDR3 memory. Visit http://www.sapphiretech.com/uk/ to view the range of AGP cards. You can make use of the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to find local vendors. PCI Express is the latest graphics standard, so you should be able to upgrade a single PCI Express graphics card to a faster model if your PC has a power supply that can meet its need for power. You would have to buy a new motherboard if you want to go from using a single graphics card to using two cards using nVidia's SLI technology, or ATI's CrossFire technology. If a graphics card is to be used in conjunction with another graphics card using either of the above-mentioned technologies, they must support them, which means having the correct chipset. When the technology first became available, two identical video cards that support SLI mode were required, but that is no longer the case. nVidia's Version 80 driver has made it no longer necessary to have exactly the same video cards and firmware versions. SLI mode can also now be used without having to make use of an SLI bridge connector that is connected between the two cards. ATI's CrossFire system is more flexible. If the motherboard's BIOS supports CrossFire, you can upgrade any current X800 or X850 card to work as part of a dual-card system. It used to be a requirement that two ATI CrossFire graphics cards had to be linked by an external cable. However, its Catalyst 5.11 drivers - and later versions - eliminate the need for this, and also eliminate having to make use of a CrossFire Master card, but at the price of reduced performance. If your motherboard has an AGP slot, you have to find out which kind it is before you can buy an upgrade that will run from it. The information you require will be made available in the motherboard's user manual, a copy of which can be downloaded from its manufacturer's website if you don't have a printed manual. The latest AGP standard is described as AGP 3.0, 0.8V AGP, or AGP 8x. If your motherboard supports that standard you should be able to upgrade to any of the current AGP graphics cards - as long as your power supply can provide it with enough power. It would be a good idea to do a Google search to find out if there are any reported problems with the card you intend to buy and your PC's motherboard. For example, you might have a Socket 478 Asus P4S800-E motherboard and you might want to upgrade to an MSI GeForce 6800LE AGP 8x graphics card. Try entering "asus p4s800-e" + "msi geforce 6800le" (as is) in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button selected) to find out what kind of information, if any, turns up. If users have been having problems with that particular combination, the chances are excellent that some of them will have reported it somewhere on the web. An AGP slot that is described as AGP 2.0 or AGP 4x will only be able to run graphics cards that have AGP 2.0 or 1.5V AGP listed in their system requirements. An AGP 4x card should be able to run in an AGP 8x slot, but if an AGP 8x card is installed in an AGP 4x slot, if it works, it will only be able to run in AGP 4x mode, so there is not much point in installing an AGP 8x card in a motherboard that only supports AGP 4x mode. If the motherboard's AGP slot is described as 3.3V AGP 1.0, the only way you will be able to upgrade without upgrading the motherboard (and probably the processor, RAM, and the power supply), is if you can buy a superior card second-hand, because such cards went out of production long ago. For more information, read this Q&A on this site - The voltages used by the different kinds of AGP video cards - and read the other relevant Q&As on that page. If you want to upgrade to an AGP 2.0 or AGP 3.0 card, you'll have to upgrade the motherboard, which could also mean having to upgrade the RAM, processor, and power supply, so it would probably be wiser to buy a new PC. The importance of the processor when considering graphics upgradesThe graphics card draws the PC's graphics (of a PC game, etc.) and the processor runs the show. Therefore, there is no point in having a super-fast graphics card and a slow processor, because the processor won't be able to run the graphics as fast as the grahics card draws them. Tests run by various testers have found that a PC should have the minimum of a processor with a 2.0GHz clock speed or rating, and 512Mb of RAM to justify spending over £100 on a graphics card. The free CPU-Z utility displays plenty of processor, motherboard, and RAM information. Some high-end graphics cards need plenty of spaceBefore you buy a graphics card, make sure that it fits into the computer's case. Some cards have tall heatsink and fan units that make it impossible to install an adapter card in the PCI slot next to the graphics slot. Some cards have a heatsink and fan unit that cover almost the entire card. Click here! to see an image of such a card on this site. Depending on the design of your computer's motherboard and what you have installed on it, it might not be possible to install such a card. Some never cards are designed to occupy two adapter-card slots - the graphics slot and the one beside it so that its case cut-out is left open as an outlet for the air expelled by the graphics card's fan. Consider the power requirements of the graphics cardIf your computer's power supply is not up to running a particular make and model of graphics card, you will have to upgrade it. The amperage supplied by the power supply's +12-volt power line is important. It has to be able to supply 17 amps (17A) or more for a single card. The power requirements for dual-card SLI and CrossFire setups is very specific. To run two graphics cards requires a power supply that has two +12V power lines that supply at least 16A each. Many high-end PCI Express graphics cards require a dedicated connection to the power supply, and two such connections for a dual-card setup. The cable has a special six-pin PCI Express connector, but if a power supply doesn't provide one (or two for a dual-card setup), if the required adaptor(s) didn't come with the graphics card(s), you can buy an adaptor that connects to a the molex power plugs that are usually used to connect to disk drives. It is advisable to find out if a power supply has been certified for use in SLI systems by nVidia at http://www.nvidia.com/. SLIZone - http://www.slizone.com/ - is devoted to every aspect of SLI. You should be able to find out anything about it that you need to know, including recommended motherboards, drivers, and power supplies. Visit the ATI site and search for similar information on CrossFire setups. Here is its FAQ page: ATI CrossFire FAQ - http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/faq.html Can the PC's monitor display the output of the new graphics card?Any kind of decent CRT or LCD 15" monitor can display a screen resolution of 1024x768 pixels, but if you upgrade to a graphics card that can run smoothly at a resolution of 1280x1024, the PC's monitor must be able to support that resolution. A 17" CRT monitor, or larger, should be able to display that resolution at a minimum refresh rate of 72Hz, and preferably at 85Hz. An LCD TFT flat-panel monitor has to have a screen size of 17" (measured diagonally across the screen) or higher to have a native resolution of 1280x1024. It should have a pixel response time of 16ms or less. (Ms stands for a millisecond, which is a thousandth of a second.) If you are going to use it for playing the latest PC games, it should have a response time of at least 12ms. LCD monitors with a response time of only 2ms are currently available (December 2007). Video-In, Video-Out, and/or TV-outIf you want to display the output from a graphics card on a TV or display video from a TV or video recorder on a PC, its graphics card must have one or both of the following ports. A VIVO (Video-In, Video-Out) port on the graphics card allows the card to output graphics data to a TV or analog video cassette recorder (VCR), and allows graphics data to be captured to a computer from analog camcorders or VCRs. If the graphics card only has a TV-out port, it can only be used to output video to a TV, etc.; it can't import video from a TV or VCR to a computer. Note that you don't have to use a dedicated video-capture card. it is possible to have a graphics/video card that can capture video, etc. Several ATI All-In-Wonder video cards allow a user to capture and edit video, connect to video recorders (VCRs) and camcorders, and support DVD-authoring and burning. Examples are: All-In-Wonder 9600XT, All-In-Wonder 9600, All-In-Wonder 9200. Google searchesIf the information I have provided is not comprehensive
or clear enough for you, you should be able to find many sites offering the information
that you require. For example, if you want to know how to install a particular
computer component enter a phrase such as install + xxxx
(where xxxx stands for the device, such as RAM,
hard disk drive, etc.) in the Google search box at the top of this page,
with its Web radio button selected. Note that if a device has more than one word,
enclose it within double quotation marks. E.g., to find out how to install a hard
disk drive use the search term: install + "hard disk
drive".
PC Buyer Beware! Copyright © Eric Legge 2004-2009. All rights reserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
