Need help upgrading my graphic card

[stealthshadow]

Hey guys I just purchased a 6800 GS and want to know how to upgrade it on a machine with onboard video. I have upgraded before, but it was a card for card, not card for onboard, so I want to make sure I do everything correctly.

Basically my computer specs are these

AMD X2 4200+
2 Gb DDR SDRAM
Onboard nvidia 6100 (it uses 128 mbs of my memory so i don't have quiet 2 Gb but 128 less)

I just want to know every step if possible in order from 1 to whatever on how to succesfully and correctly get rid of the onboard card, get my 128 mbs of ram back, get rid of the old drivers (I have driver cleaner pro), install the 6800 GS, get the new drivers.

Also, my mobo is a nForce one so I don't know what will happen if I run driver cleaner pro, will it erase those drivers because they are nvidia ones too? or will they only delete the display drivers


Thanks.

 

[L00PY]

Turn your computer off. Disconnect the display cable from the mobo. Install PCIe card. Attach display cable to PCIe card. Turn computer on. You should see the boot sequence / BIOS splash screen on the display. You can enter the BIOS and disable the onboard at this point. Since you're going from NVidia to NVidia, I'd wouldn't worry about drivers at all. Assuming you're using the latest ones, they should be the same exact ones.

FYI, I did the same thing with an ATI onboard to ATI PCIe a couple of weeks ago.

 

[stealthshadow]

One more thing, when I go to control panel/add/remove to delete the old drivers in order to install the latest ones, it says that I have other nvidia drivers and it makes me choose what I want to uninstall

these are the options:

NVIDIA Display Driver
NVIDIA Ethernet Driver Components
NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management Driver

My question is where can i get the other two drivers?

I have a WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER 2005 with dual core AMD 4200+ (is this 64 bit). Can youy link me to the other drivers or is that all in the graphics driver. THanks.

 

[L00PY]

I'm saying you don't need to remove or delete the old drives. The video drivers used by your IGP are the same as the video drivers you need for your video card. You're seeing other NVidia drivers because you have a NVidia based motherboard. I'm pretty sure NVidia moved to a unified driver model a long time back and all the drivers are installed in a single package. So if you uninstall, you'll just be reinstalling the same ones back. Even if you went with an ATI card, you'd still need the NVidia mobo drivers.

 

[stealthshadow]

Ya i understand what you are saying, but the thing is that I do not have the latest drivers. I purchased this OEM Gateway system and it obviously has outdated drivers. So before i upgrade (shipment comes tomorrow) I'd like to update everything, and then follow your steps . Just wondering where i could get the rest of the drivers.

 

[L00PY]

If you don't know the mobo manufacturer/make, I'd just use Windows' upgrade facility. Set a rollback point, goto the driver and tell Windows to check for a newer one. You can uninstall them and have Windows search for newer ones online upon reinstall, but I'm not certain you'd be able to rollback if you do it that way.

 

[stealthshadow]

Ok so I just went into my BIOS to see if I can find the integrated graphics for tomorrows upgrade but I didn't know which one it was. I went into integrated peripherals and these are the options that I wasn't sure on 100 percent.

Which one of these is the onboard video card?

Onboard 1394
OnChip USB
MAC Lan
Onboard FPC Controller
Onboard Parallel Port
Parallel Port Mode

Oh and I have Phoenix BIOS.

Thanks

 

[imported_thefonz]

i used my 6100 for a while before i went to an x800gto.

There should be an option somewhere in your bios to disable your onboard graphics or to enable if no graphics card is detected. There is a screen in my bios to choose how much memory to allocate to the onboard, and the enable/disable is there, so take a look for that.

On some boards it is automatic when it detects a card in the graphics slot so you may not have to do anything in the bios, just plug and play.

Good luck with the upgrade.

Edit: In your post above^ do not disable any of those things as they have nothing to do with you gfx card.

 

[Gstanfor]

Just choose nvidia display driver when it asks you what you want to remove. It wont remove the other drivers unless you tell it to.

To get the latest drivers, goto www.nvidia.com, download drivers, platfrom/nfoce drivers, nforce4 430/410, choose your OS.

 

[stealthshadow]

Ok guys thanks for all of your help so far.

I just received my new card and immediately opened my computer to hook it up, but unfortunately i noticed that my powersupply only has place for one more of those white 4 pin connectors, while the graphic card has two white head 3 connectors.

Does this mean that I can not connect the graphics to my powersupply since I don't have another white thing to connect both? I called the eVga customer service and the guy said I should just try with one but I don't want to risk it yet. I was wondering if it would work if I just connect one of the white connectors instead of two (if worst comes to worst I can always unplug my DVDRW, but I DO NOT want to do that).

At the moment I have a 300 Watt Bestec powersupply and I have these things connected to my computer

DVD RW/CDRW
DVD ROM
TV TUNER CARD
The Phone Jack card
Ethernet Port
HardDrive
9-1 Media Card Reader
NO floppy
and everything else that is connected to the computer

PLEASE reply quickly, I really want to be able to game by the end of the day. Thanks in advance.

 

[L00PY]

If you're dying to play sooner rather than later, unplug the DVD ROM. You can use your burner to play DVDs. You can pick up a 4-pin Y-splitter in the morning from any computer shop.

 

[stealthshadow]

Would there be any difference between connecting one power connector instead of splitting that one and connecting both? Won't it still transmit the same amount of power though. Like the two splitters would each get 50 percent right? So in the end wouldn't it be the same thing? I am just wondering though. Hopefully everything will be stable without unplugging anything and just on one connector but thanks for the idea that sounds good.

I just want to understand whether the splitter splits the power given into two or does each one from the splitter get the same amount as the original. Thanks.

 

[Vinnybcfc]

No a splitter will take whatever power it needs no 50% cut down or anything like that

 

[stealthshadow]

Alright guys thanks for ALL of your help, it is GREATLY appreciated. I decided to just get a splitter.

My prolly LAST question is does is matter what brand I get? There is this one at compusa (the only B&M that carries these splitters). It is a Belking and it says one male to two female, I am guessing female for holes male for the metal inside. Just wondering if that is the right one, and if the brand matters at all?

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=864722&pfp=cat3

Thats the splitter, and this is the cable that I have for my graphic card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Showimage...R3+PCI+Express+x16+Video+Card+-+Retail

My last question is, just for my own future information, what is the difference between a splitter,converter, and adapter?

Thanks a lot.