ok well my video card is pretty bad and i was just wondering where on my computer do i check to see what kind of video card i have and what type of card i need to buy?? thanks in advance
Right click MY COmputer / properties / device manager / display adapter
that will tell you what you have.
For more detailed info Start / run msinfo32.exe
then go to Components / display
and you will get more information than you can use.
As far as what kind of card to buy, it really depends on what you’re doing on the computer. Games? Buy an NVidia Geforce4 or ATI Radeon 8500. Windows applications? I understand that the Matrox G550 is tops here. CAD application? I think that 3DLabs (recently acquired by Creative Labs) is champion with their Wildcat and Oxygen cards.
Whatever you buy, buy second generation. Never buy the latest graphics card, unless you’re looking for screaming performance from new games, because you’ll be paying a premium for the latest thing.
Graphics cards are far, far advanced compared to everything we do on computers except for games and high-end graphics applications like CAD and 3D modelling. If all you do is surf the web, send email, and use Microsoft Office, anything you can get for $100 at Best Buy will be more than sufficient for your needs.
The exception to this is DVD: if you watch DVDs on your computer, set your budget at $200 and see what you can get. Generally, stick to ATI or an nVidia chipset card (they’re the leaders, and you shouldn’t have any problems with their products).
yeah, just buy what they tell you. It doesn’t matter at all what motherboard or system you have. ::sigh::
What if its a Mac sailor?
Even if it were a PC, there are all sorts of card slots to deal with. sigh.
To elaborate on what sailor posted, depending on how old your computer is, your motherboard may not even have the proper place to put most of the newest video cards (the AGP slot). If your motherboard doesn’t have an AGP slot, you really have to be careful with what you buy, as many of the video cards just plain wont fit (at least not without the use of duct tape and a rubber mallet).
And handy, I’m guessing that you missed the sarcastic tone of sailor’s post.
I gotta admit I was a might sarcastic in my post as well.
Some advice in the future cvandy3 is to post as much info about your computer as you can find out, e.g. brand, model, age (esp. if it’s a generic PC), motherboard info (if applicable), operating system, amount you’re willing to shell out and current and future computer needs. I’d assume if you were a CAD user that you’d already know what kind of video card you needed.
That said, some generic advice is don’t buy fancy hardware if you don’t need it. hansel is quite right in not buying bleeding edge hardware (and software) unless you’re an avid power user and absolutely need that kind of performance.
Any idea what’s wrong with your current vid card?