Do I need to 'disable' onboard graphics before installing new card

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Hi all,
Hope some kind soul can advise?
I have a new PC; Pentium 4-3ghz - 512mb RAM and PCI express slot.

It appears to be running some form of onboard graphics....Intel
Integrated(?)..and I would like to install a seperate and more powerful card.

I have done this on previous pcs but they had a card already,so it was a
case of out with the old and in with the new.

Sadly...I cannot work out how the onboard system works and whether or not I
need to uninstall any drivers or hardware?

I was alarmed to read that you are supposed to dig around on the m/board
looking for chips and ,'jumpers' to disconnect but I wouldn't know where to
look for any of this!! (Or what to do if I found it?)

Can some one here help me out ?

Much appreciated',

flo
 
Go into the BIOS and see if there is not an option to turn off the onboard
video. Instructions on getting onto the BIOS should be in the owner/s
manaul.

Otherwise, go to the web site of the motherboard manufacturer and ask for
help there.
 
PS.....sorry.......I might add that under 'Video Controller' in Device
Manager(WinXPsp2) it tells me that there are no devices or drivers(!?!)
installed, which seems odd considering I have quite a respectable display
.....just not fast enough for video or gaming!

(The pc was originally built up for commercial use and then found surplus-so
it didn't have any sound either!)
 
Thanks Jerry.......sadly (for reasons explained in my 2nd post) the pc did
not come with any document support so am not absolutely sure how to go into
the BIOS.....I have however installed sisoft Sandra wh I hope can tell me a
bit about what's going on?

flo
 
When you restart your system look for the message usually at the bottom of
the screen that says push XXX to enter settings/Bios.
On a lot of machines its the delete button...on some the F2.
Once in the Bios find the Video settings and see if there is a setting that
lets you change to a slot....PCI...AGP...PCI-E
If not then reduce the amt of memory allocated to the onboard video to 0
Then shut down and install your video card.................once you boot
into XP install the drivers for the new video card.
On a lot of older machine a new video card installation disables the onboard
video.
post back if you have any problems
peter
 
Thanks Peter;
I got into 'settings' and looked at the video setup-
The pc is using 8mb of RAM to power an 'integrated video controller'
But,interestingly, is set to automatically detect and use a second controller
if it finds one?
Presume this solves the problem without me having to fiddle about
uninstalling things?

yrs flo
 
If what you said is true then it should automatically turn off the onbioard
video when the video card is plugged in.

Go to www.belarc.com and download The Belarc Advisor for info about your
motherboard, etc.
 
Thats right and since you are using the build in XP video drivers you will
not have to uninstall them either.
Once you have the new Video Card installed and connected XP should detect
the card and again install its own drivers to match that card.
Then you can install the drivers that came with the new video card.
peter
 
Thanks Guys.......it all makes sense now!
Incidently-
Sometimes when I have installed new cards on other machines, the
size/resolution of the desktop that arrives BEFORE you get the new drivers
installed has been so peculiar that it has been difficult to navigate around
to initiate installation.....ie-'go' buttons are off the edge of the screen
etc.
Am I doing something wrong before I load up the new card ..or is it just a
question of fiddling around with display properties?
Thanks

flo
 
Nope, you're doing it right. It's just that you're not going to get a decent
resolution until you install the correct video driver to match the card. When
you install a new video card and fire up XP, Windows automatically pitches a
jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none video driver that usually shows up as
"Standard VGA Adapter" in the device manager. Until you install the proper
matching driver, the picture your video card produces in XP will be terrible.
 
Back
Top