I have a Compaq Presario desktop, model number SR1511NX. I want to upgrade the video capabilities, since the Compaq integrated video cards are basically crap. I am comfortable buying and installing the new board (though recommendatioins for good, cheap Direct X v.9 boards are welcome). My question concerns disabling the integrated board. I cannot find info for this particular model - do I disable via jumpers, BIOS, or other method? Is it necessary to disable the integrated video at all? Will a new board simply override the integrated one? Am I tired of typing “integrated” yet?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Older computers (I mean *really *older) used jumpers. These were (sometimes) marked on the MB. Look near the jumpers themselves.
Newer PCs disable the onboard via a bios setting. Look for a message that says something like “press [whatever key] to enter setup” when you first start up the pc. It’s in there, you just have to look for it.
“integrated”
“integrated”
“integrated”
Waddya know? It really *does *get boring after the third one.
Multiple video adapters are entirely possible. The default monitor is chosen based on the BIOS settings and which adapter has a monitor connected. The advantage to disabling the integrated video is freeing up the memory it used for VRAM (Not always true, some integrated video chipsets have dedicated VRAM). If you want dual monitors, then, of course, you won’t want to disable it.
I would think that if the OP wants dual monitors, he’d be far better off buying a video card with dual outputs (not a difficult task, any reasonably decent video card these days has 'em, almost certainly including the one the OP is planning on buying) and going ahead and disabling the integrated video through BIOS.
When one of my bosses decided he wanted dual monitors on his aging Dell home computer, I think I bought him like an ATI Radeon 9250 or something to that effect for like $40 on Newegg. They aren’t exactly pricey.
I recommend a card for the OP but I haven’t been keeping up with video cards lately. Just as a point of clarification, a quick googling suggests that you’ll be looking for an AGP card for this particular box?
Not necessarily. Using the dual outputs generally divides the card’s VRAM between the outputs. If the OP has a lot of RAM, setting the internal adapter to 16 MB or so will not significantly affect performance, and the main display will have the full amount of VRAM.
Someone else’s recommendation for a different model computer.
This other forum thread discusses your model and links to an excellent specs page.
Yup, AGP 8x to be precise. I’ll find an inexpensive card that works and disable the integrated card via BIOS. I thank you and my son thanks you. He’s the one that spent $20 hard earned bucks to download “Counter Strike” without first checking the system requirements. I didn’t buy the Presario for its gaming capabilities…