video card for compaq nx 7010

[neveluv22]

I am not real computer savvy, but I have this notebook and it comes with a 4x agb graphics card but when i wanted to load a pc sims game for my child it would not work. The game says it needs a direct x 9.0 compatable video card...what would be equivelant to that on my notebook? Is it going to cost alot to upgrade the video card? is there somewhere i could download the software? Is it possible to download the direct x 9.0 on my computer and where would i find this software?
Thank you, i hope someone out there can help as this has been a very frustrating situation.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Well the first thing to look at is the video card on this laptop, it appears from a quick googling that this laptop has an ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 AGP 4x.

Next we need to know what version of directx and windows you are running. Go to start > Run > type "dxdiag" without quotes and press enter. At the bottom you will see version, post that here. If its less than 9c we will need to update it to the latest version which is a free download from microsoft.

Lastly, what game is it? The sims 2 "should" run with those specs

If you have a T&L capable video card with at least 32 MB of video RAM then you need at least:

* 800 MHz processor or better
* 256 MB RAM if Windows Vista, XP, Windows ME, Windows 98 or Windows 2000
* At least 3.5 GB of hard drive space

If you have a non-T&L capable video card (an Intel Extreme Graphics or a Radeon 7000/VE Series) then you need at least:

* 2.0 GHz processor or better
* 256 MB RAM if Windows Vista, XP, Windows ME, Windows 98, or Windows 2000
* At least 3.5 GB of hard drive space

Get the most current driver for your video card. The manufacturers usually have the video drivers on their sites for you to download. Visit the nVidia site, the ATI site or the support site for your computer's manufacturer for the latest drivers for those video cards.

Supported video cards (and the more video memory the better):

* ATI RadeonTM series (7000 or better)
o Radeon 7000/VE series (non-T&L; requires 2.0 GHz processor)
o 7200, 7500
o 8500, All-In-Wonder 8500
o 9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800
o X300, X600, X800

Which again you should meet. Please post back with that info and we'll see what we can do.

As for upgrading the graphics card in a notebook, this is rarely an option.