external video card w/ internal video

Sorry about the cryptic subject. My son has a P3 machine with an internal 4mb display and I need to provide him with a 64mb display to play a game we just got him.

My question is, if I get him a suitable display card and put it on an open pci slot will it work since his current display is builtin to the motherboard? Any info on how to do this would be most welcome.

Marty

 

Hello Marty,

The three ways of running graphics are: built-in, a graphics card add-in slot (AGP slot) or by using a PCI based graphics card.

Check if the motherboard has an AGP slot, that would give him the best graphics. You could check the graphics information in the motherboard manual or let us know the model and we could check.

A PCI based card is not the best solution because it runs at the at the speed of the PCI bus which will be lower than an AGP bus, but should provide the necessary requirements (check that AGP capability is not a specific requirement).

If you let us know whether or not the motherboard has an AGP slot for adding an AGP card we may be able to suggest some cards.

Matt

 

Did you ever solve the issue? Whether you get a PCI or AGP card, you should be able to enter BIOS and first disable the onboard video chip. Also, if you look around the BIOS, you will probably find an option to allocate more system ram to video. That could be the simplest solution, unless you already purchased a video card. However, it would be nice to know the make or model number of the motherboard.

 

Sorry I still haven't gotten to look inside the box. When I do will post back but at this point it may be some time.

Marty