[ecc83]

Hi, I have just got a new pc, 3G 1Gram.
it has an on board ATI series 200 video "card" and I have a Radeon 7000 32MB TV-OUT card which would not run very well on my old 600m machine.

Is there any advantage in my fitting the 7K? I do not do games (music nut) but the Catalys software is all on board. Would this other card take some load off the pc?
Dave.

 

[MunkyPhil]

A dedicated video card deals solely with images and video, it handles none of the other processing that the computer does so whether you keep the 200 or replace it with the 7000 you won't see a difference if you don't use graphics intensive programs. You could set the AGP aperture in the BIOS to its lowest value so that your RAM isn't used for video but this wouldn't take effect unless your video card needed more texture memory. Just out of principle though, I would put in the better card.

I think the best way to keep a computer like yours running fast is to install as little as possible, keep as much data as possible on DVDs etc, keep background processes to a minimum and use disk utilities such as defragmenter and diskcheck regularly. Your 3GHz with a gig of RAM is more than enough to play music and do any other task like word processing etc so you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[ecc83]

Ati 7000

Thanks MonkeyPhil.
I'll probably fit it when the warrenty runs out, mind you I've already been in and fitted a 160G hdd and another DVD burner.
I might also see if I can trade it for a card which will drive two monitors.
I've done all the sound tweaks, you are right it's quick enough. I might see if I can trade the card for one that will drive two monitors. Vuseful.
Dave.

 

[ecc83]

sorry for the duplication
dave

 

[MunkyPhil]

No problem Dave, don't hesitate to post if you need further advice.

Phil

 

[ecc83]

Hi, whislt looking for video i/o to usb I came across a usb to Rj45 network adapter www.cableuniverse.co.uk, at only £12.00 I might give one a go as it would free up a pci slot.
Dave.

 

[MunkyPhil]

It might be worth a try, do you need the extra PCI slot though? With computers, I'm a believer in not fixing what isn't broken, except for that one time when I decided to do an overclock. If you can foresee a use for the extra slot I would spend the money, otherwise I wouldn't - regardless of price.

 

[quezicotl]

You can hook up a monitor to your computers output and up to a card that can put just one monitor and do the same thing.