im not sure if my computer has a crappy integrated video card, but most likely does and im just wondering if there is anyway i can upgrade my pc to a better graphics card because ive also heard you cant remove the integrated card seeing how its part of the mother board. so yea ive just started to get into modifying my pc a bit, and if someone could clear a few things up here for me that'd be great.
If you have an AGP slot on your motherboard or a PCI/PCI-E you can put in a 3d accelerated graphics card. You do not need to remove the built in video card for this, it should automatically override your built in card so you plug the monitor into the new card and it should work immediately. (in VGA mode anyway, you will need to install the drivers to fully use it)
Look for an AGP slot (Brown Plastic) Or a PCI Express x16 slot (About 6" long and black)
If you've got either of these you can get some pretty sweet cards. If you don't then you'll need to upgrade your mobo or get some kind of PCI gfx card (not reccomended)
help, much?
so if i dont have the AGP or PCI express slot then what is the PCI gfx card?
im still not sure ill have to turn my pc off and take a look but i did just look a few minutes ago and there are quite a few slots available.
so if i dont have the AGP or PCI express slot then what is the PCI gfx card?
They're probably going to be worse than the integrated graphics, but if you really want to give it a shot, I think someone makes a n6200 or r9200 on PCI boards
(oh and PCI slots are those white ones that you have about 4 of)
alright if the PCI gfx card will make the graphics worse then i maybe not lol.
but yea ill check if ihave any slots available for a PCI express or AGP.
also if im not able to over ride my integrated card would upgrading my ram atleast improve the smoothness of gameplay? for example if im just looking to play WoW which doesnt need teh best graphics, but needs 512mb ram.
heh, well if you have less than 1GB ram, upgrade. but that's my oppinion
always make sure you have the recomended amount of ram for whatever your doing (more if you can)
Do what i did, and buy a new computer! lol
:3
heh, well if you have less than 1GB ram, upgrade. but that's my oppinion
always make sure you have the recomended amount of ram for whatever your doing (more if you can)
alright well im already getting an extra 512mb of ram, and i just looked in my computer again and there are 2 extra white slots beside where the modem you use for dial up is. would either of those 2 slots be able to be used for a better video card?
Do what i did, and buy a new computer! lol
:3
lol alright ill just pull $1000 right out of my pocket and go buy a new computer 
...plus its not really a new computer i need its the video card i need. buying a new computer might not really solve anything seeing how they dont really come with very nice video cards. plus i might need to buy a new computer anyways if i cant do anythign with the card i already have.
heh, well if you have less than 1GB ram, upgrade. but that's my oppinion
always make sure you have the recomended amount of ram for whatever your doing (more if you can)
alright well im already getting an extra 512mb of ram, and i just looked in my computer again and there are 2 extra white slots beside where the modem you use for dial up is. would either of those 2 slots be able to be used for a better video card?
Those are PCI slots 
no brown slot?
heh, well if you have less than 1GB ram, upgrade. but that's my oppinion
always make sure you have the recomended amount of ram for whatever your doing (more if you can)
alright well im already getting an extra 512mb of ram, and i just looked in my computer again and there are 2 extra white slots beside where the modem you use for dial up is. would either of those 2 slots be able to be used for a better video card?
Those are PCI slots
no brown slot?
no...well i guess ill just have to wait until i get a new computer to get a video card upgrade. unless there are some PCI video cards thats are better than the integrated one that i already have. and theres a difference between PCI and PCI express right?
yeah
in ranking order
early integrated graphics < PCI Graphics < Modern Integrated Graphics < AGP Graphics < PCI Express Graphics
yeah
in ranking order
early integrated graphics < PCI Graphics < Modern Integrated Graphics < AGP Graphics < PCI Express Graphics
well i jsut called my work (which is futureshop) and talked to the guy in computers, and he said that he's got a ATI 256mb PCI video card that'll work on my system. so ill probably go check that out. i was surprised that i could even get up to 256. with a pretty old system like mine i thought id haev to grab a 128mb PCI or soemthing.
remember that its bit interface (128mb, 256mb, 512mb etc) isn't everything. Its all about the benchmarks. Right now the best PCI card out is the ATI Radeon X1550 Pro, for $106.99 USD at
newegg
and it will surely beat your integrated graphics card which I am assuming utterly suxx since you don't have eather a AGP or a PCI-E slot, so it cant be any of the modern integrated cards.
remember that its bit interface (128mb, 256mb, 512mb etc) isn't everything. Its all about the benchmarks. Right now the best PCI card out is the ATI Radeon X1550 Pro, for $106.99 USD at
newegg
and it will surely beat your integrated graphics card which I am assuming utterly suxx since you don't have eather a AGP or a PCI-E slot, so it cant be any of the modern integrated cards.
yea it really does suck. i was surprised i can barly get away with playing WoW (even though the graphical requirements arent that high and you can tone them all the way down like i did). but yea thanks for the suggestion ill definitly check it out, and for now im just gonna get a 1gb stick of ram jsut to smooth out choppiness in gameplay.