Hello. I've got a few questions about video cards. My sister's main board on her computer has an on-board video, and it's crap. she can't play even the simplest 3-d games with it. So i was thinking about upgrading it to a better video card. My question is: What video card do you recommend for a $100 or slightly more budget? I would also like to know some more about installing it. Do i just put it into the AGP slot, or do i have to do something else to switch from the on-board video to the new video card? I would also like to know what everyone thinks about the processor. I know it's bad, but is it too bad? is it in dire need of an upgrade? I would also need a price range and maybe a link to a better processor if it's needed. Here are the specs: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ System Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OS : Windows XP Home Service Pack 2 [5.1 Build 2600] Display Mode : 1024 x 768 32bit 60Hz Memory : 480 MB DirectX : 9.0c ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CPU ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CPU Name : AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M (Thoroughbred) Vendor String : AuthenticAMD Name String : Unknown CPU Typ Platform : Socket A CPU Type : Original OEM processor Number(Logical) : 1 Family : 6 Generation : 7 Model : 8 Stepping : 1 Feature : MMX SSE MMX+ 3DNow! 3DNow!+ Current Original Clock : 1743.29 MHz 1400.00 MHz System Clock : 166.03 MHz 133.33 MHz System Bus : 332.06 MHz 266.67 MHz Multiplier : 10.50 10.50 Data Rate : DDR Over Clock : 24.52 % L1 I-Cache : 64 KB L1 D-Cache : 64 KB L2 Cache : 256 KB [Full:1743.29 MHz] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Device ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ChipSet : VIA KM400 North : VIA KM400 South : VIA VT8235 IDE Controller : VIA Bus Master IDE Controller ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Graphics ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Video : S3 UniChrome (VT8378) Video Product : VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP Video Vendor : VIA/S3 Graphics Co, Ltd. Video Chip : VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP Video RAM : 32 MB Driver Version : 6.14.10.0179-16.94.39.48 Driver Date : 2004/09/27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ HDD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Type Size Model ( Buffer Mode ) IDE 80.0GB WDC WD800JB-00JJC0 8192KB Ultra DMA/100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BIOS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vendor : Phoenix Technologies, LTD Caption : Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG Version : VKT400 - 42302e31 Date : SM BIOS Caption : 6.00 PG SM BIOS Version : 2.2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mother ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vendor : Product : KM400-8235 Version : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Computer System ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vendor : VIA Technologies, Inc. Product : KM400-8235 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CPUID Detail Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0x00000000 : EAX=0x00000001 EBX=0x68747541 ECX=0x444D4163 EDX=0x69746E65 0x00000001 : EAX=0x00000681 EBX=0x00000000 ECX=0x00000000 EDX=0x0383FBFF 0x80000000 : EAX=0x80000008 EBX=0x68747541 ECX=0x444D4163 EDX=0x69746E65 0x80000001 : EAX=0x00000781 EBX=0x00000000 ECX=0x00000000 EDX=0xC1CBFBFF 0x80000002 : EAX=0x6E6B6E55 EBX=0x206E776F ECX=0x20555043 EDX=0x00707954 0x80000003 : EAX=0x00000000 EBX=0x00000000 ECX=0x00000000 EDX=0x00000000 0x80000004 : EAX=0x00000000 EBX=0x00000000 ECX=0x00000000 EDX=0x00000000 0x80000005 : EAX=0x0408FF08 EBX=0xFF20FF10 ECX=0x40020140 EDX=0x40020140 0x80000006 : EAX=0x00000000 EBX=0x41004100 ECX=0x01008140 EDX=0x00000000 0x80000007 : EAX=0x00000000 EBX=0x00000000 ECX=0x00000000 EDX=0x00000007 0x80000008 : EAX=0x00002022 EBX=0x00000000 ECX=0x00000000 EDX=0x00000000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PCI Device List ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No Bus Dev Fnc VendorDeviceRev SubSystem Class DeviceType 0 0: 0: 0 1106h:3205h.00h 11063205h 060000h Host Bridge 1 0: 1: 0 1106h:B198h.00h 00000000h 060400h PCI to PCI Bridge 2 0: 10: 0 168Ch:001Ah.01h 1799700Ch 020000h Ethernet Controller 3 0: 16: 0 1106h:3038h.80h 11063038h 0C0300h UHCI USB Controller 4 0: 16: 1 1106h:3038h.80h 11063038h 0C0300h UHCI USB Controller 5 0: 16: 2 1106h:3038h.80h 11063038h 0C0300h UHCI USB Controller 6 0: 16: 3 1106h:3104h.82h 11063104h 0C0320h EHCI USB Controller 7 0: 17: 0 1106h:3177h.00h 11063177h 060100h ISA Bridge 8 0: 17: 1 1106h:0571h.06h 11060571h 01018Ah Bus Master IDE controller 9 0: 17: 5 1106h:3059h.50h 15658714h 040100h Audio Device 10 0: 18: 0 1106h:3065h.74h 11060102h 020000h Ethernet Controller 11 1: 0: 0 1106h:7205h.01h 11067205h 030000h VGA Compatible Controller No DeviceName 0 VIA VT8378 [KM400/A] Chipset Host Bridge 1 VIA VT8237 PCI Bridge 2 Unknown AR2413 802.11bg NIC 3 VIA VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller 4 VIA VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller 5 VIA VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller 6 VIA USB 2.0 7 VIA VT8235 ISA Bridge 8 VIA VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE 9 VIA VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller 10 VIA VT6102 [Rhine-II] 11 VIA VT8378 [S3 UniChrome] Integrated Video Oh, and I already plan on upgrading from 512mb to 1gb of RAM. Thank you!
No, it's a regular desktop. actually, it was custom built. My mom won it in a raffle and so it was free. However, it's not a great computer. It was built in 2006. Edit: Nevermind, i did a little bit more googling and looked on the mainboard's website and found what i was looking for.
well it would use an AGP card. what's your budget. Also DO NOT go for a 9550. also mobile athlon XPs aren't THAT bad. They were great overclockers, they've got fully unlocked multipliers.
