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UPGRADING THE VIDEO CARD What to look out for and what will fit your system.
(Review by MS)

In one of my previous articles , I explained the importance of ghosts or shadow devices that can cause conflicts in after upgrading or exchanging a single PC component. Another article described the overall performance boost of a system that can be achieved by adding a video card to overcome the limitations of some of the integrated graphics chips or else, an outdated graphics adapter that is not capable of handling the demands of newer games.

Even though some of this may be redundant, I feel it is necessary to follow up on these two articles by providing a detailed description of the steps necessary for a successful installation of a new video card. The reason for this article is that, on occasion I have gone through hours and hours until the installation was really working. Admittedly, this was in the days of Windows95 but especially the owners of older Win95-based systems are the ones that may be most enticed by upgrading to a new video cards.

Usually the entire process starts with a display unit in one of the computer warehouses or boutiques, spawning the idea of upgrading to a more powerful video subsystem. Unfortunately, there are a few things that need to be investigated first, foremost, the compatibility with the existing hardware.

Therefore, the first logical step has to be to identify the system configuration of the existing setup. The first check can be done on the outside of your system by identifying the graphics port, that is, the connector, the monitor is attached to. If this connector is integrated into the so-called ATX I/O panel containing the printer, serial, USB, keyboard and mouse ports, it is most likely that the graphics used in this particular system are integrated into the mainboard. If, on the other hand, the video-out connector is part of one of these horizontal brackets on the back of the case (in case of a tower), it is almost guaranteed that the existing graphics adapter is in form of a "video card".

Typical ATX I/O panel of a board with integrated graphics. On the left are the keyboard (purple) and mouse (green) connectors as well as the two USB ports, followed to the right by the serial port 1 and the video out connector (circled)

Identifying the suitable interface

To be on the save side, use a screwdriver to open up the case and look inside. In general, there are three possibilities:

The existing video adapter is integrated in the mainboard, in this case, as already mentioned, the monitor cable will be attached directly to the mainboard itself. In this case, there are two possible configurations:
- In in a few cases (Intel i815(E) / i845G, GE based mainboards), there is an empty so-called AGP slot present, easily identified by its brown color.
- in In most other cases, however, there won't be a vacant AGP slot but there will be empty PCI slots, identified by their white color.
Typical mainboard configuration with the brown AGP slot above (to the left of) the 6 white PCI slots
The existing video card is an AGP card and occupies the single brown slot on top of the other white (PCI) slots.
The existing video card is a PCI card and occupies one of the PCI slots available.

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