Computers/PCs => General Computer Forum => Topic started by: Beau on June 25, 2008, 02:25:31 AM
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Beau on June 25, 2008, 02:25:31 AM
So i have a video card in my comp, it's installed (hardware) and monitor is plugged into it, but now i'm told i need to go into bios or boot menu (one or the other, can't remember which) and set it as default, but that's where it gets hazy for me, as I can't seem to find what i need to look for to do this. I know how to get to bios and boot selections (F2 and F10) but other than that, i'm lost. I've got XP, and an emachines computer, if that helps. Thanks for any ideas!
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Chooglin on June 25, 2008, 04:43:38 PM
I assume you had onboard video before you installed the card? If this is the case,you need to disable the onboard video in the bios settings.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: daboss351 on June 25, 2008, 04:50:41 PM
yea theres a setting in bios for turning off your onboard, and on the slot that the card is in. I forgot to do this when I first put a card in my comp, and just having it made a difference, but once i got it working right, it works awesome! its been soooo long I forget....
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: bhazard on June 25, 2008, 08:43:44 PM
Make sure you install the drivers for it too.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: daminc on June 25, 2008, 08:49:11 PM
Be careful adding to much to an E-machine. the power supply is very small in those computers. extra cards and drives take there toll on them.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: cougarXLS on June 26, 2008, 10:58:47 AM
Quote from: daminc;224636
the power supply is very small in those computers. extra cards and drives take there toll on them.
Absolutly correct. Found that one out the hard way.
If my memory serves me, on some of the e-machines in the BIOS you can set three options for your video card. 1) Onboard 2) AGP/PCI 3) Both, with priority to Onboard
If you only have one monitor, turn off the onboard video.
As with onboard video, the video RAM is shared with the rest of the system RAM, so if you turn off the onboard vc, be sure to allocate some of that memory back to RAM. You don't have to, but why waste RAM?
But all in all, daminc is still dead on the mark.
G'luck!
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: daminc on June 26, 2008, 03:49:44 PM
Quote from: cougarXLS;224690
Absolutly correct. Found that one out the hard way.
If my memory serves me, on some of the e-machines in the BIOS you can set three options for your video card. 1) Onboard 2) AGP/PCI 3) Both, with priority to Onboard
If you only have one monitor, turn off the onboard video.
As with onboard video, the video RAM is shared with the rest of the system RAM, so if you turn off the onboard vc, be sure to allocate some of that memory back to RAM. You don't have to, but why waste RAM?
But all in all, daminc is still dead on the mark.
G'luck!
I've had tons of those in, when I had my shop. those and all the HPs from SAMs club.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Beau on June 27, 2008, 12:15:38 PM
Quote from: daboss351;224604
theres a setting in bios for turning off your onboard, and on the slot that the card is in.
Can anybody take me a step further with this? I know jack about BIOS...lol
on EDIT: i know how to get to bios, but once i'm there, i dunno where to look, what to do.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: cougarXLS on June 27, 2008, 12:25:30 PM
I can try... what model of e-machine do you have? I'll google it and find out exactly how to enter your BIOS and change the VC settings... it's been a number of years since I last laid hands on an e-machine.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Beau on June 27, 2008, 12:27:34 PM
W3118
Thanks for the help, and i'm looking too! :D
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Haystack on June 27, 2008, 03:48:31 PM
as per http://help.lockergnome.com/general/Video-card-working-PCI-SLOT-PROBLEM-SOLVED-ftopict48029.html
"To start with I installed the PCI card into a free slot it did not matter which one I used as during my install and all the problems i had I actually installed it into all three of my PCI slots thinking they were not working. They are and were working! Just letting you know it did not matter at all which one the PCI card went into.
Also a small note to say I also have a free agp port Not relevent but just pointing out that it is still emtpy.
That is the hardware sorted now moving on to the BIOS
This process works using Phoenix Award Bios V6 (That is what I have)
Start computer normally
Hit delete to enter BIOS ( You obviously need to do this before Windows welcome screen, if you do not catch it just start again)
When you are in the first screen of the BIOS
Select Advanced Chipset features
When you are in this screen
You will see On-Chip VGA Set this to Disabled
Finally click F10 or save and exit
Start computer normally.
Your PCI card should work fine all you need to do now is configure your software to work with 2 monitors. Which is very easy but will in some cases require you to restart your computer again to finalise these settings.
I must say it works a treat and the hard work was well worth the effort. I spent all day one saturday scratching my head using every search term I could and not really finding a solution that I understood.
I hope this really helps someone who may have been in my predicament. Feel free to ask any other questions as I have told you I think at least every step of the BIOS but only gone into small details on the hardware but I think that part is a bit easier to understand for most.
Good luck"
Just so you know, I was a emachines tech support guy for almost a year. You'd be surprised how many people on the phones don't even know what bios means or how to get there. Let me know if you need any further help. Send me a pm or email me.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: cougarXLS on June 27, 2008, 04:13:33 PM
Haystack... HAY!!! LOL, no word of a lie, I was just browsing the same URL (http://"http://help.lockergnome.com/general/Video-card-working-PCI-SLOT-PROBLEM-SOLVED-ftopict48029.html"). Great minds think alike ;)
FordTruckFreeek, try what Haystack has suggested.
You could also try, within the device manager of Windows, to disable the onboard video card. Once you get into the BIOS you should also be able to allocate most/all the shared RAM back to system RAM.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Beau on June 27, 2008, 08:04:32 PM
i tried the delete to get to bios, didnt work, but F2 does? as per those directions, couldn't find what they talked about.
also under device manager, it's got the new card only, and nothing of the onboard...
do i hit delete while IN the bios maybe?
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: kingcars on June 28, 2008, 12:47:50 AM
If this is a newer computer, it should automatically set the new card to default and turn off the old one. When I put a 6600GT in my old HP a320n (that we bought in 02/03), it did that. You say you have the monitor plugged into the new graphics card and I'm assuming it's showing picture since you're talking about going into the bios, so you should be ok anyway. Just be sure to install a fresh set of drivers.
EDIT: Oh, and now I see you're already in device manager...so if the monitor is plugged into the new card and you're already loaded into the OS fine, then there's no need to turn off the onboard since the computer has already done it for you.
However, you do definitely need to be careful as far as having a sufficient power supply.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Beau on June 28, 2008, 02:55:12 AM
yeah, apparently it auto-sets it i guess. thing is..In-game, all my video settings are still set automatically to low, if i bump em up, the game crashes still...btw, the game is The Elder Scrolls 4; Oblivion.
i've also got a gig of ram, but my processor is only 1.8, and minimum is 2, with 3 recommended....
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: cougarXLS on June 28, 2008, 06:29:34 PM
Quote from: FordTruckFreeek;225002
yeah, apparently it auto-sets it i guess. thing is..In-game, all my video settings are still set automatically to low, if i bump em up, the game crashes still...btw, the game is The Elder Scrolls 4; Oblivion.
i've also got a gig of ram, but my processor is only 1.8, and minimum is 2, with 3 recommended....
I like the auto-set idea, it makes sense. As far as the game goes, system requirements are usually a good indicator of how well the game will play on your machine.
G'luck...!
oh btw, if it is F2 that gets you into the BIOS (not a boot-order screen, but the actual BIOS), then that's where you would go to allocate shared system RAM from onboard video back to system RAM. You may notice an improvement in gameplay. If you don't see anything in the BIOS for that, then it is also possible that the auto-set when it turned off your onboard, automatically realocated the shared ram back to system ram.
I used to fix computers/printers/copiers/etc. but haven't in some time, so I am a little rusty, but will try to continue to help if you still need it. But it sounds like you're up an running.
Just remember the golden rule with e-machines.... their power supplies are smaller. Be careful. But hey, there's always aftermarket :D
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Haystack on June 29, 2008, 08:35:02 PM
also, you can change it somewhere in the device manager for the ram allocation. I'm pretty sure that you still have to disable it... Maybe not, that was one of the new models when I worked there. Thinking about it, its been over three years! lol. I wouldn't bother with it if its still working though. That is a wall mart model though, right?
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Beau on August 06, 2008, 04:20:46 PM
Yeah, I bought it from wal mart, lol. Well, thought I'd post back as to my experiences... 1st: The video card I had in was actually smaller than my onboard, and my 2 biggest games wouldn't even play, they froze up once they loaded. Games were Morrowind and Oblivion. (They played before I put the card in...)
So then I removed the card, and finally got my onboard to show up again thru the device manager, and am playing my games again (albeit slow and choppy as before.)
I have a PCI-e X16, and a X1 slot in my machine...guess I'll look online for a well rounded card to fit the X-16 slot...I know I'll probably have to upgrade my power supply as well, the one I have in there now is a 300 watt...so I'll most likely need a bigger one.
Sound like a good start, or should I save up for a tower with a dual-core and a big card already loaded in it?
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: cougarXLS on August 07, 2008, 10:57:44 AM
I was always one to make my old desktop bigger and better with newer mods and upgrades.... but there is nothing like a brand new computer right out of the box :hick:
Glad to hear you've got a good start!
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Haystack on August 08, 2008, 12:46:27 AM
I'd keep the box and just get a new power supply and card. Thats just me though.
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: GreyWolf30 on September 11, 2008, 12:23:54 PM
Quote from: FordTruckFreeek;230873
Yeah, I bought it from wal mart, lol. Well, thought I'd post back as to my experiences... 1st: The video card I had in was actually smaller than my onboard, and my 2 biggest games wouldn't even play, they froze up once they loaded. Games were Morrowind and Oblivion. (They played before I put the card in...)
So then I removed the card, and finally got my onboard to show up again thru the device manager, and am playing my games again (albeit slow and choppy as before.)
I have a PCI-e X16, and a X1 slot in my machine...guess I'll look online for a well rounded card to fit the X-16 slot...I know I'll probably have to upgrade my power supply as well, the one I have in there now is a 300 watt...so I'll most likely need a bigger one.
Sound like a good start, or should I save up for a tower with a dual-core and a big card already loaded in it?
You never did say what your original add-in card was...
Anyway... A good card at a low price would be the NVidia 7600GT (get the XFX Alpha Dog XXX, might be hard to find though). Skip the 8600 series. The 8800GT is a good pick although you will get more for your dollar with an ATI Radeon 4570 seeing as you play Oblivion. Oblivion was rough on my rig when I had an Athlon X2 4400+, 2G RAM and two BFG 7800GT-OCE cards in SLI. You will absolutely need more power. You have 2 choices (maybe just one without knowing your case design):
1) Purchase a 500W or better power supply (check measurements for fit) from Thermaltake, Cooler Master or Antec.
2) Purchase the 250W auxillary power supply from Thermaltake (this fits in a 5.25" drive bay).
Also, make sure your case can fit the new vid card. ATI is 9.5", NVidia 8XXX and 9XXX are between 9.5" and 10.5" and the 2XX series are 10.5"/10.75" long. Remember to add an inch for the PCI-e 6 pin power connctor for all but the 2XX series (you need an inch clearance on the "top" edge).
If you want a new rig, let me know. I have been building Gaming PCs for 9 years and run a small company doing the same here in MI. I also make cables to connect Creative Labs Sound Blaster cards to front panel headphone and microphone jacks ( http://www.mchcustomcomputers.com ).
I hope this helps!
Happy Gaming!
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: Beau on September 11, 2008, 12:47:45 PM
Sounds good, I will be definitely looking into something probably right after Christmas...I want to get another pc.
Thanks! :D
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: GreyWolf30 on September 11, 2008, 01:28:44 PM
Quote from: FordTruckFreeek;235824
Sounds good, I will be definitely looking into something probably right after Christmas...I want to get another pc.
Thanks! :D
When you are ready, let me know (via PM or e-mail) and I can give you a few builds to consider!
Title: setting a video card up
Post by: shame302 on September 11, 2008, 03:30:22 PM
Absolutely build a PC...store bought computers are behind the curve and you get so much more for your dollar building it.