This Video Card For Aero?

[amherst.d]

I've had Vista Business for a couple of days now, but the video card
that I currently have will not run Aero, and Vista gives it a score of
1.something. Will this video card work with Aero? http://
www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?
EdpNo=2145957&Tab=0&NoMapp=0

I'm not a gamer, I just want the cheapest video card that will run
Aero just fine. Anyone else have any other suggestions for cheap cards?

 

[Chad Harris]

1) The link doesn't tell me anything. Please just name the card--paste what
card it is but frankly I'd be hard pressed to find a new video card that
won't support Aero Glass in Vista.

2) For a number of reasons, Vista's score is of little help--it's as much a
marketing tool from MSFT as it is erratic. I wouldn't spend a nano second
looking at it, but we live in a "my whatever is bigger and better than yours
world" and MSFT loves to tap into this ego gratification weakness to propell
hardware sales.

Chances are if it's a new card period, whatever it is, it's going to run
Aero Glass, and Aero is not aero glass technically but that's what you
meant.

3) If you do a search on this group, there are a number of hints on how to
get Aero to show up and chances are they'll work. Just search with the word
aero. View>Find on your main OE/Win Mail screen.

CH

 

[Chad Harris]

I did the search for you.

 

[Chad Harris]

Go to (on the appearances and personalization window list)> themes and make
sure that you have Vista Aero instead of basic highlighted on that pulldown.
I have seen on Vista RTM boxes that Aero Glass can become temporarily
disabled out of the blue. I suspect that a number of 3rd party applications
could conflict and cause this. I'm trying to remember the thread that we
had where some outside influence or app was doing this repeatedly.

Additionally you can use the "Force Aero" command and check the registry to
make sure the value is set to comport with Aero Glass:

Ensure that you have the following registry value set to :

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\Composition set to 1 (32-bit DWORD)

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\CompositionPolicy set to 2 (32-bit
DWORD)

2/ Restart DWM by opening a command prompt with administrative privileges :

- Type 'net stop uxsms'
- Then 'net start uxsms'

If there is an advanced display properties tab>troubleshoot tab or similar
for that card, when you go to Personalization>Display Settings (link towards
bottom) then push the acceleration level all the way to the right, and
enable "Write combing." All of this is dependent on any settings like t
his available at this location.

Check that you have the best available driver for that card. This may entail
calling Tech support for the card at ATI and if there is a driver choice
asking them which driver(s) are working best.

Check bios setup settings, and if there is any kind of Aperture setting for
the card, set it at one half the RAM that the card has.

This might help, particularly in a Beta Build:

WINDOWS UPDATE REGISTRY HACK: Hardware drivers can be updated and installed
from Windows Update, but many of them are hidden. By using the next registry
hack, you can gain availability to hidden device drivers for many device
(including Windows Mobile Device Center): In Regedit, add the key
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WHOS", and recheck for updates in
Windows Update. You will now see the hidden driver updates, however, note
that these are BETA drivers and are not supported by neither MS nor hardware
vendors!

CH

 

[amherst.d]

Go to (on the appearances and personalization window list)> themes and make
sure that you have Vista Aero instead of basic highlighted on that pulldown.
I have seen on Vista RTM boxes that Aero Glass can become temporarily
disabled out of the blue. I suspect that a number of 3rd party applications
could conflict and cause this. I'm trying to remember the thread that we
had where some outside influence or app was doing this repeatedly.

Additionally you can use the "Force Aero" command and check the registry to
make sure the value is set to comport with Aero Glass:

Ensure that you have the following registry value set to :

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\Composition set to 1 (32-bit DWORD)

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\CompositionPolicy set to 2 (32-bit
DWORD)

2/ Restart DWM by opening a command prompt with administrative privileges :

- Type 'net stop uxsms'
- Then 'net start uxsms'

If there is an advanced display properties tab>troubleshoot tab or similar
for that card, when you go to Personalization>Display Settings (link towards
bottom) then push the acceleration level all the way to the right, and
enable "Write combing." All of this is dependent on any settings like t
his available at this location.

Check that you have the best available driver for that card. This may entail
calling Tech support for the card at ATI and if there is a driver choice
asking them which driver(s) are working best.

Check bios setup settings, and if there is any kind of Aperture setting for
the card, set it at one half the RAM that the card has.

This might help, particularly in a Beta Build:

WINDOWS UPDATE REGISTRY HACK: Hardware drivers can be updated and installed
from Windows Update, but many of them are hidden. By using the next registry
hack, you can gain availability to hidden device drivers for many device
(including Windows Mobile Device Center): In Regedit, add the key
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WHOS", and recheck for updates in
Windows Update. You will now see the hidden driver updates, however, note
that these are BETA drivers and are not supported by neither MS nor hardware
vendors!

CH

Thanks, I'll try that. My video card was very cheap, so I doubt that
it even supports DirectX 9, but I'll check.

The video card that linked to was the Diamond S120 Radeon 9550.

 

[Dale]

If I had to guess, I would say yes, it would work. Most older cards created
in the last 3 to 5 years will work with Aero. The requirements are not
nearly as stiff as the anti-Vista press would have you believe.

That said, the only sure way top tell, unless you can find someone who has
used your exact card, is to look on the manufacturer's site for the card and
the chipset both.

HTH,

Dale

 

[Dale]

The problem I think Chad had is the same problem I had to start. The url
had been split with a line break at either your end, Microsoft's end or my
end, who knows or cares. .. I just had to put it back together to find the
right card on TigerDirect.

Dale

 

[Daze N. Knights]

Inline:

Go to (on the appearances and personalization window list)> themes and make
sure that you have Vista Aero instead of basic highlighted on that pulldown.

Huh? I just checked mine and see no "Vista Aero" option. My theme became
"Modified Theme" as soon as I changed the wallpaper. The other options
on my drop-down menu are "My Current Theme," "Windows Vista," and
"Windows Classic." I don't see either a "Vista Aero" or a "basic"
anything. Does yours have those?

 

[Robert Firth]

I'm pretty sure he meant to go to Appearance and Personalization >
Personalization, which is available by right clicking on the desktop and
selecting "Personalize". Next, open "Window Color and Appearance". If Aero
isn't turned on, it will prompt you with a dialog to select a theme. Thats
where you would select Aero. Otherwise, the new color and appearance
selector screen will come up with a variety of color choices, including a
color mixer.

I hope that makes sense.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

 

[Daze N. Knights]

Yep. That makes sense, and thanks Robert. I was slightly concerned that
maybe I was missing something here, and now feel reassured that all is
well.

 

[Guest]

Will this video card work with Aero?

yes, it works fast with Aero!
Another very good graphics card for Aero is this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2746200&CatId=318
$49.99

 

[Daze N. Knights]

Mine says, under the Troubleshooting tab, "Your current display driver
does not allow changes to be made to your hardware acceleration
settings," and the "Change Settings" button is grayed out. But my
display drivers are still only Beta, and I think I'm essentially OK with
my Aero as things stand.

 

[Barry Watzman]

I don't think that the 9550 will support Glass, but the 9600 (EXCEPT for
the dumbed down "SE" version) will if it's adequately implemented. That
means, in particular, at least 128MB of memory.

 

[Guest]

I have an ATI Radeon x800GT (256 MB) and I scored a 5.9 graphics rating and a
4.1 processor rating (Athlon 64 3200+). I have no options for Aero and none
of the registry hacks have worked either. My copy of Vista Business is
registered.

A similar problem I'm having is Eve-Online (game, pretty graphically
intensive) will not run. It gets to the splash screen and then shuts off.

I'm guessing that these two problems are both coming from some kind of
DirectX problem. Any ideas?

 

[DandyDon]

You must have a card that supports DirectX9.0c and 128meg of onboard RAM for
Aero.

Try updating your video card drivers, and check your installed version of
Direct X. You only need DirectX10 for gaming, not display.

 

[Chad Harris]

Daze--

I think that what you see under the troubleshooting tab and what you can do
or can't do with hardware acceleration settings is very dependent on what
Vid card and what driver you have for it, because I've evolved through a
number of different possibilities on the same box depending on my driver
with my earlier card and depending on whether I use the MSFT driver that
Nvidia fed them months ago or a newer one that Nvidia has come out with.
You'd like to think Nvidia or ATI would feed every driver to MSFT to include
In MSFT update, for the population that isn't hovering on their sites and
discussing every cutting edge hiccup from them (gamers and video card
enthusiasts and advanced graphics apps users) but I don't know the calculus
of that.

If I were MSFT I'd sure ask for every driver from the main video card driver
producers.

CH