How to best install a PCI Radeon 7000? *UPDATED*

[AnitaPeterson]

*edited to reflect updates*

Hi there,

I got a Powercolor Radeon 7000 PCI 32MB for my Asus Terminator SFF (no AGP slot)...

It's the first ATI card I buy, so I have absolutely no idea what the deal with these cards is...

I have two dilemmas. First one is related to the pathetic SIS 16 MB (shared) onboard video I'm currently using. The system runs Windows XP SP1. Should I uninstall the video drivers, and go VGA, like I used to have to do with Win9x? I'm not sure what the procedure is - whether I can actually disable the onboard video in BIOS - or whether it's automatically disabled if it senses a video card in the first PCI slot... Anyone here with some experience in adding a PCI card to an AGP-less machine (like a Dell or HP?)

The second issue: the drivers themselves. I have no illusions about the speed of the card, but I wonder if there aren't any better (or optimized) drivers available on the Net. The card has Composite Video-out, which is what I needed, since I'll be using a TV as monitor. Are there good drivers I should get, and drivers to avoid? I guess, since there's no tuner or Video-in on the card, that I'll only need the graphic drivers, no Multimedia Centre...

So, should I get the CATALYST Windows XP 4.5 from ATI's website, or do I get those Omega drivers I've heard people getting so excited about?

*edit*, well, it seems the Catalysts are still the best options for drivers, so the only issue that still gives me shivers is actually installing the card

Again, anyone with experience in installing PCI cards? Come forward people, I always see someone asking for a PCI card in ther FS/FT forum....

 

[orangat]

The Omega drivers are optimised for speed or quality (you choose). I didn't benchmark my old Nvidia Ti200 but they installed perfect and run fine with games.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Where are the Omegas at?

 

[LocutusX]

avoid the omega's. i've tried them and have come to the conclusion that its nothing more than an elaborate gimmick.

 

[GeneralGrievous]

The built in utilities that come with the omega drivers are nice. You can get them elsewhere but thats extra hassle.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Anyone with suggestions/experience in installing a PCI card?

 

[AnitaPeterson]

?

 

[DarkKnight]

to be safe you should first disable the onboard video in the bios (if its possible) and/or in windows set the driver to standard vga, then install the card and use the latest catalysts. It should run fine. I used to have a radeon 7200 PCi and I had no problems with it.

 

[orangat]

I haven;t had much experience with onbaord video but some m/boards have a jumper to disable onbaord video instead of the BIOS.
Then others have a BIOS setting to choose onboard/PCI/AGP for video.

My guess is to first set SVGA drivers first, reboot, check, shutdown, plug in card, boot, select PCI...

Good luck.

 

[Keysplayr]

First, download the things you need to a folder on your desktop. Even though your card is not DX9 capable, you will need DirectX 9 for the Cat 4.5 drivers to install, so download DX9 from Microsoft. Then download the Cat 4.5 drivers from ATI.

Then:

In "Add Remove Programs" in Windows Control Panel, uninstall the SIS video drivers. NOT THE CHIPSET DRIVERS. It will ask you to reboot, but say no.

Shut down your PC. Install your PCI card in the slot closest to the CPU if its available, if not, any PCI slot will work fine.

Make sure you switch your monitor cable from the onboard video to the PCI card.

Boot up and get into your BIOS and navigate to your "Onboard" or "integrated" peripherals if you have such an option. Disable onboard AGP video if the option exists. If it doesn't exist, chances are your motherboard supports PCI bus-mastering and will automatically shut down onboard video if there is a PCI video card detected.

Reboot to Windows

Install DX9

Reboot to Windows

Install Cat 4.5 drivers.

Reboot to Windows and you need to set your preferred res and color settings.

That is all you need to do. If anything goes wrong (always possible) We have to take it as it comes.

Keys

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: LocutusX
avoid the omega's. i've tried them and have come to the conclusion that its nothing more than an elaborate gimmick.

Regardless of whether you thing they are a gimmick or not, they are the arguably the best option for notebooks with ATI mobile chips.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Hmmm... I didn't see the option in BIOS, although I looked very carefully, and the manual does not mention a jumper. It's frustrating... I still lose 16 MB of memory, even though I disabled the SiS in Control Panel...

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
Hmmm... I didn't see the option in BIOS, although I looked very carefully, and the manual does not mention a jumper. It's frustrating... I still lose 16 MB of memory, even though I disabled the SiS in Control Panel...

You lose 16MB of memory even after the ATI card was installed?

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Yes... I've checked with ASUS... here's what they say:

http://www.asus.com/support/faq/qanda.aspx?KB_ID=80391

Oh, well...

 

[Keysplayr]

Well, 16 MB is not the end of the world anyways. You can still go ahead and install your vid your card as I mentioned above.

 

[BFG10K]

If you have onboard video remove the drivers for it and then shut down.

The stick the Radeon in and when you boot again go straight into the BIOS and disable onboard video and make sure "VGA init first" is set to PCI.

Then install the latest Catalyst from ATi and you should be done.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I have to say I'm impressed with the quality and options offered by the card. No regrets in buying it. I won't be playing games (nothing too new, anyway ) and all I do for the moment is video editing.

 

[3chordcharlie]

the asus answer 'looks' like you should be able to choose pci video, and the onboard should be disabled once you do... but maybe I'm reading it wrong. If it can't be disabled, all you need is another monitor and you'll be rocking with dual display instead of worrying about lost ram ;-)

 

[AnitaPeterson]

good point!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
Yes... I've checked with ASUS... here's what they say:

http://www.asus.com/support/faq/qanda.aspx?KB_ID=80391

Oh, well...

You can still disable the onboard video processer in Windows' Device Manager. Make sure to set the add-in video card as your primary display first. You might not see the Windows' start-up and shutdown screens though. Disabling the onboard, should certainly help your system memory bandwidth though.