nvidia to ati upgrade question....

[bob brozewicz]

hi folks,

i plan on upgrading my kids older pc's video card from a nvidia riva
tnt2 model 64 pro to an ATI RADEON 9250 256MB DDR PCI Graphics Card or
an ATI RADEON 9550 256MB DDR AGP Graphics Card. this will all depend if
they have an agp slot or not. looking at the everest report, it appears
they have an agp slot. i have not had a chance to physically look at the
pc. i will be doing it this coming weekend.

im also planing a memory upgrade as well, taking them from 386 meg to
768 meg.

more than likely. i will also need to replace the power supply as well.
i dont know what is in the pc currently.

my finances are limiting my selection of graphics card.

the system also has a via vt8363 (a) apollo kt133 (a) chipset.

looking back thru my ati manual there are via chipset driver information
listed before you even install the card.

im looking to see if someone can give some pointers into making the
upgrade go easily.

i have only started to look at the ati and viaarena websites for
assistance. i will be looking in more detail shortly.

any help as how to do the upgrade would be greatly appreciated.

bob brozewicz
pittsburgh, pa.

 

[cowboyz]

hi folks,

i plan on upgrading my kids older pc's video card from a nvidia riva tnt2
model 64 pro to an ATI RADEON 9250 256MB DDR PCI Graphics Card or an ATI
RADEON 9550 256MB DDR AGP Graphics Card. this will all depend if they have
an agp slot or not. looking at the everest report, it appears they have an
agp slot. i have not had a chance to physically look at the pc. i will be
doing it this coming weekend.

im also planing a memory upgrade as well, taking them from 386 meg to 768
meg.

more than likely. i will also need to replace the power supply as well. i
dont know what is in the pc currently.

my finances are limiting my selection of graphics card.

the system also has a via vt8363 (a) apollo kt133 (a) chipset.

looking back thru my ati manual there are via chipset driver information
listed before you even install the card.

im looking to see if someone can give some pointers into making the
upgrade go easily.

i have only started to look at the ati and viaarena websites for
assistance. i will be looking in more detail shortly.

any help as how to do the upgrade would be greatly appreciated.

bob brozewicz
pittsburgh, pa.

There are 2 ways to do this.

1. get a program called detonator destroyer and kill the nvidia drivers all
together. Install Ati drivers (cat 4.12 will be released soon, 4.4 does
well 4.8 are good too)

or

2. Slap the Ati card in and install the cat drivers and hope for the best.

Find the latest via drivers and install those. All should be good.


FWIW I just uninstalled the nvidia drivers then slapped the ati card in and
installed the cat drivers and all works good. YMMV

 

[Tod]

First uninstall Nvidia graphics software
Then run detonator destroyer, to clear out any left over Nvidia files.
switch display driver to "Standard VGA"
Turn off computer, install new card
Turn on computer, install new drivers from CD.

You might want to check out Nvidia 5200 Ultra's on www.ebay.com
But I'm very happy with my ATI 9600 PRO AIW

 

[Shawk]

First uninstall Nvidia graphics software
Then run detonator destroyer, to clear out any left over Nvidia files.
switch display driver to "Standard VGA"
Turn off computer, install new card
Turn on computer, install new drivers from CD.

You might want to check out Nvidia 5200 Ultra's on www.ebay.com
But I'm very happy with my ATI 9600 PRO AIW

As per Tod and if you get any issues download and install the Via 4in1's
from the Via Arena website. Particularly the AGP driver. You might
also want to re-install DX9 after the Via install - sometimes it
overwrites some files. I hear you on finances but try and stretch to a
9600Pro if possible. You'll be upgrading again in 6 months otherwise
(my daughter struggled with Sims 2 on her PC until I gave my old
9600Pro). I didn't have to replace my old PSU until I went up to a
9800Pro so try your existing PSU before spending the cash. The cards
you are talking about dont draw the kind of power that newer cards do.
Shaun.

 

[Tod]

I knew I for got something (VIA drivers), thanks shawk
VIA recommends reloading their drivers after any hardware change

 

[bob brozewicz]

id like to say thank you to all that have replied to my post. the
information is very helpful.

thank you,
bob brozewicz
pittsburgh, pa