*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* FAQ Policy: ----------- Here is my policy for this FAQ. Please follow it. I do not answer to e-mails regarding to this FAQ unless the subject goes like this: "Video Card FAQ", and I may not even answer that e-mail. I do not like people e-mailing me, since I am paranoid about viruses well, my parents are anyways. I’m sorry if I have any information that is wrong. I will try my best to spot the error and fix it. You may try to contact me on the PC board at www.gamefaqs.com. That is your best bet for me to fix/update this FAQ. One website that is actually hosting this FAQ, and that is http://www.geocities.com/nightninja7/ Copyright policy: This FAQ has copyrights starting at the beginning of 2003. -NightNinja7 _____________________________________________________________________________ ___ ___ _ _____ ______ _____ _____ ___ ____ _____ \ \ / / | | | _ \ | ____| | ___ | | ____| / _ \ | _ \ | _ \ \ \ / / | | | | \ \ | |____ || || | | | |_| | | |_| | | | \ \ \ \ / / | | | | / / | ____| || || | | | _ | | / | | / / \ \/ / | | | |/ / | |____ ||___|| | |___ | | | | | |\ \ | |/ / \____/ |_| |____/ |______| |_____| |_____| |_| |_| |_| \_\ |____/ _____ _ _ _ _____ ______ / ____| | | | | | | | _ \ | _____| | | __ | | | | | | | | \ \ | |____ | | | | | | | | | | | / / | ____| | |_| | | |___| | | | | |/ / | |____ \_____| \_____/ |_| |____/ |______| _______________________________________________________________________________ Video Card FAQ. A guide on Video cards. FAQ by NightNinja7 Version .495 April 08, 2003 E-mail: NightNinja7@yahoo.com =============================================================================== Table of Contents =============================================================================== 1) Introduction 2) Frequently Asked Questions 3) Video Card Descriptions and Reviews 4) Video Card Troubles 5) Your Video Card 6) How to remove/replace your video card 7) Credits 8) Copyright 9) Video Card Guide: Log =============================================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, I made this video card guide, because I have seen numerous posts about questions on video cards, and which ones people would recommend. Video cards are used to produce the "wizzes" and "bangs" in video games, and basic graphical features. I found out that some people ask repetitive questions about video cards. I would like to answer some of those questions in this FAQ. This FAQ belongs in the time frame of April 08, 2003 -NightNinja7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Frequently Asked Questions --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. How can I tell if my computer has an AGP slot or not? You can tell if your computer has an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) slot or not if you open up your computer. Look inside, and see if you can spot a slot on the motherboard. The AGP slot on a normal motherboard would be brown, and PCI slots would be white. The AGP slot is smaller than a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slot, and is spaced farther away from the computer case slot. 2. Can an 8x AGP video card be used in a motherboard that has AGP slot that supports only 4x? Yes, you can use an 8x AGP video card on a 4x AGP slot, because it is backward compatible. You would lose a bit of performance, but it is not really noticeable unless you benchmark your computer. 3. Can a 4x AGP video card be used on a motherboard that has an 8x AGP slot? Yes it can be used. It is backward compatible. 4. Can a 4x AGP video card be used on a motherboard that supports AGP 2x? Well, it depends on the motherboard you have. Most 2x AGP video cards run on 3.3 volts while newer 4x/8x cards run on 1.5 volts. IF you plugged in a 1.5 volts video card into a motherboard AGP slot that runs on 3.3 volts, your video card or motherboard could be damaged. Please check your motherboard to make sure if it supports 1.5 volts or 3.3 volts. Some motherboards have universal AGP sockets that accept either 1.5 volts or 3.3 volt cards. 5. How does AGP Pro compare to AGP 8x/4x? Does that mean 8x/4x is better than Pro?* AGP pro has nothing to do with the transfer speed. AGP 8x is about 1% faster than 4x. The max capacity of 4x isn't even used yet, so 8x offers no real use except to be future proof for newer cards. and the main purpose of an agp bus is to allow the video card's processor's main access to system ram, not just to the system processor. As long as the card has plenty of VRAM (Video Random Access Memory) onboard, as most have at least 64 megs now, the need for system ram access (agp aperture) has grown less and less since the 16 and 32 meg days. AGP Pro is used to supply more power to graphics cards so that molex/floppy power connectors (the 9700Pro for example) are not necessary and AGP Pro is typically only used by professional level graphics cards such as an ATI FireGL or the Nvidia Quatro. 6. What is "AGP," and what does it stand for? AGP stands for Accelerated Graphics Port. Intel designed it, because gamers were demanding for a faster port. PCI slots were bottlenecking their systems. There is only one AGP slot on a motherboard. The speed of an AGP slot could be: 1X, 2X, 4X, and 8X. 7. If I do not have an AGP slot, but only a PCI slot, can I still get good graphics? Yes, you can still get good graphics, but the performance compared to an AGP video card would be worse. The best PCI graphics card out right now is the Nvidia Geforce 4 MX 440 PCI and the Radeon 9000 PCI. 8. Can I just add an AGP slot to my motherboard? No, you cannot just add an AGP slot to your motherboard. There is also no PCI to AGP converters either. It is not impossible to solder an AGP slot into a motherboard, but how would you get it to work? Quite simply, you cannot. The AGP slot is controlled by the North Bridge of a motherboard chipset. You cannot simply solder an AGP slot, and try to connect the lines. You also cannot shove an AGP slot into a PCI slot either. You have been warned. If you would like, here are some more information about an AGP slot: http://www.intel.com/technology/agp/info.htm 9. How do I find out my video card? Take a look at the end of this FAQ, it is listed in the table of contents under the title of "Your Video Card". 10. Are there any graphics card not made by ATI or Nvidia? Yes, there are other companies that produce graphics card such as SiS and Matrox. 11. I heard that ATI's drivers are not the greatest. They are tedious, and difficult to use. Is this true? ATI fixed the driver problems already. Their new Catalyst drivers are extremely well done, and are easier to use than before. 12. Which video card company is better, ATI or Nvidia? No one can truly say whether Nvidia is better than ATI or vice versa, as the video card market is more of a strike back type of industry. They will release one video card after the other, until one keeps getting sales over the other. Then it will probably buy the other out, and another company will come to fight the same war. 13. If I upgraded my video card would it help me do regular tasks such as word processing or surfing the net? Yes, upgrading your video card could help you do regular tasks such as surfing the net, because the time that takes a web page to load may be due to your video card. The time that it takes to transfer the information from the webpage to your monitor is affected by your video card. If your video card is faster and has more VRAM, the text and graphics may load faster. But, an easier solution for the lag in an internet connection would be upgrading your ISP (Internet Service Provider). There will be a bigger difference in the load time when you get a broadband connection (such as DSL or Cable) instead of getting a new video card. Also, a newer monitor might help the transfer time, because the monitor is the device that displays the text and pictures in a webpage. 14. When I take a look at some video cards on sale, I notice that some say "white box," "OEM," and "Bulk" What does that mean? Is it better or worse than retail products? OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer, "White Box" and "Bulk" means the same. An OEM just contains the product, and/or the drivers for the video card. Nothing more. A retail product on the other hand, contains the video card, drivers, cables, a manual, and sometimes some games or demos. Retail items have a warranty compared to an OEM item (which could be a big deciding point since the video card might fail), but an OEM item tends to be cheaper than most retail products. 15. Where do you buy these video cards? You can buy these video cards at any computer stores. I recommend these online store: www.newegg.com www.abspc.com You may check out www.pricewatch.com for price comparison, but some of the retailers that sell video cards are not always trustworty. Take a look at: www.resellerratings.com to see if that store is respectable and/or dependable. If you do not want to buy online, take a look at Best Buy, CompUSA, and Fry's Electronics for the video cards. If you want, here are their websites to find the location nearest you: www.bestbuy.com www.compusa.com www.frys.com for Fry's online store check out www.outpost.com 16. Which website do you go to for video card news and benchmarks? I go to: www.anandtech.com www.tomshardware.com and www.ocworkbench.com 17. What is the Ti4800? The TI 4800 is just a Ti 4600 with 8X AGP support. It has a slight increase of performance then a 4600, but it is very minimal. The difference might be a frame or two at the most. It is basically a marketing scheme by Nvidia. The Ti 4800SE is a Ti 4400 with 8X support. There is also another TI 4800 called the Ti 4800VTD8X, which is a Ti 4200 with 8X AGP support. It is manufactured by MSI (Microstar International). 18. I've been hearing this thing about turning Radeon 9500s to Radeon 9700s. Is it true? Yes, you've been hearing people use the hardware modification trick to turn your Radeon 9500 into a Radeon 9700 with the soldier and BIOS trick. There is also a software trick too, that unlocks an additional 4 pipelines. A regular Radeon 9500 only has 4 pipelines, and the pro has 8. Beware, some people have found out that their extra pipelines are screwed up on their nonpro versions, making the cheap 9700 trick useless and leaving them with a slow card. I do not recommend this trick. Use it at your own risk. Also, the ATI 9500 pro reference board does not have 8 pipelines. It has only 4. 19. If my video card says that it uses DDR memory, but my motherboard only has SDR/RDR memory, will it still work? Yes, your video card will work even if you have SDR/RDR memory, because the video card's memory does not affect your computer's memory at all. 20. What is integrated graphics?* Integrated graphics is a silicon device/chipset that emulates a video card. It uses your system memory and therefore has a lower performance in comparison to a regular graphics card. Integrated graphics do not have onboard VRAM (Video Ram) of their own, but it uses the system ram to store textures, anti-aliasing and antisotropic filtering, and other stressing things that makes a fast video card look good. Needless to say, nobody has any system ram that can push through 10-20 gigs per second. The highest current speed DDR running at 433 MHz only has a bandwidth of 3.5 gigs/second. They usually have settings in the BIOS(Basic Input/Output System) to set up how much RAM is used for it. However, if you MUST use integrated graphics, don't go above 32 megs, especially if it is a system with 128 or less total RAM. So what about the GPU itself? Well if it's something like a SiS integrated video chipset, it's something that was designed to be used integrated onto the motherboard. If it's something based from a GeForce/GeForce2 core (like the Nforce series motherboard), then it is just a underclocked version of the card that it came from. They hardly need a heat sink or a fan, and it cannot be overclocked. Thankfully, most newer integrated chipsets are integrated through the equivalent of an AGP slot, however, these boards may not have a free AGP slot for a better card, so be wary when buying a new motherboard. A general rule of thumb is to NEVER buy a board with integrated graphics. Integrated graphics are just fine if all you do is surf the web, and word processing, but are not good if you want to play games. 21. Does the Nvidia Geforce FX truly support DX 9 or not?** Technically speaking the Geforce FX is LESS compatible with DX 9 than the Radeon 9700 Pro. Why is that you ask? because the Radeon 9700 is COMPLETELY 100% COMPATIBLE, and the GeforceFX is missing a little feature called "displacement mapping". It is a very impressive feature indeed, and there was some discussion by Microsoft that Nvidia might not include it. Nvidia acted on that discussion and made their Geforce FX incompatible with that feature. ATI decided to make the Radeon 9700 pro compatible with that feature, and in the end, ATI guessed it right. Microsoft decided once and for all to include that feature.So the point is, the ATI Radeon 9500/9700 are FULLY DX9 compatible, and the Nvidia GeForce FX is NOT fully DX9 compatible. But, most games will probably not support "displacement mapping" since Nvidia's video card (Nvidia owns about half of the video card market) does not have that feature. 22. What is AA and AF? AA stands for Anti-aliasing. This tool basically blurs sharp edges in pictures to get rid of the jagged edges. AF stands for anisotropic filtering. It is used to address a specific kind of texture artifact that occurs only when a 3D surface is sloped to the view of the camera. Basically, AF is a feature in some video cards that sharpens the details of 3D objects that are fading-away. It gives the viewer more details in the game, but AF requires a lot of processing power. ATI and Nvidia both have new video cards that support AA and AF. 23. What is overclocking? Can it harm your video card? Overclocking is increasing the core or memory clock speed of a video card than what it is rated/designed for. Beware though, it can damage your video card and/or other PC components. It will also shorten the components life span (which is basically from 10 years into 5 years). I do not suggest you to overclock because there are risks, but if you really want to, go ahead. Do not blame me, or this guide if you damage your video card/components. 24. If overclocking damages your video card, why do people overclock? People overclock because to them it is a hobby. Some people like to see how far they can push their systems, and others will even go to the extent of using liquid cooling to cool down their video cards. Others like to brag about their 3Dmark scores. It really depends on the person. I personally do not overclock because to me the risks are great, but to others, they feel that the risks are minimal. 25. What is a Quadro or FireGL? I've seen these video cards on the market, and were more expensive than the Radeon 9700 pro. Is it better?** The Nvidia Quadro and the ATI FireGL are workstation cards used to make games, they excel at untextured polygons, but they are not meant for gaming. 26. What is the difference between a graphics card, and a video card? A graphics card and a video card are the same thing. I use both graphics card and video card in this FAQ. I am sorry if I confused you. * Seiken is credited for producing this FAQ question. I thank him for his time and effort. ** Sef is credited for producing this FAQ question. I thank him for his time and effort. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Video Cards Descriptions and Reviews -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- note: All prices listed below are in US dollars, and are subject to change. This is just a rough estimate about the prices. Do not complain to me if the price changes. The specs of the video card listed are from the reference card. Also, the letters NYR means "Not Yet Released". -$399- ATI Radeon 9800 Pro: The next ATI video card to be released. The ATI Radeon 9800 Pro is basically a Radeon 9700 Pro with a higher clock speed (380MHz core clock, and a 340MHz DDR memory clock (basically 680MHz).The performance of this card though, surpasses the Nvidia Geforce FX 5800 Ultra. The other differences between the Radeon 9800 Pro, and the Radeon 9700 Pro is that theRadeon 9700 pro contains these features: Smartshader 2.0, Smoothvision 2.0, and HyperZ 3. The Radeon 9800 pro contains: Smartshader 2.1, Smoothvision 2.1, and HyperZ 3+. *In comparison to Smartshader 2.0, version 2.1 has a new code that is called "F-Buffer". This new code makes it theoretically possible to run shader code of infinite length without having to resort to performance-reducing multi-pass operations. But in reality, the GPU will limit the operations. In comparison to SmoothVision 2.0, version 2.1 sports an optimized memory controller. The benefit of this improvement should be better performance in 4x and 6x FSAA in resolutions of 1024x768 and above. The color compression factor of the Radeon 9800 Pro is 6:1 compared to that of the GeForce FX 5800 (4:1). The optimizations in HyperZ 3+ mostly affect the improved Z-Cache, which is now more flexible and is optimized for stencil-buffer data. *this information came from the website Tom's Hardware Guides. -NYR-Nvidia Geforce FX 5800 Ultra: The cuurrent Nvidia graphics card that will NOT be released. Nvidia has confirmed that they will cancel the FX Ultra, and stop the preorder of the Geforce FX Ultra, but will give the FX Ultra to those that have preordered already. This card will compete directly with the Radeon 9700 pro. If your planning to get this card, be sure to have an extra PCI slot ready. The FX ultra has a huge fan that takes up a PCI slot. It also needs an extra power connector to supply its high power consumption. It consumes more power than the Radeon 9700 pro! If you fail to plug in the power connector to the card, it will still function. It will let you into your OS (operating system) without any problems. The card will underclock itself from the stock 500/1GHz settings to 250/500MHz; assuming that the GeForce FX's drivers are installed a window will pop up reminding you to plug in the power connector. The card's spec are: core speed 500mhz, memory speed is 500mhz (1 ghz DDR), 125 million transistors, and a 128 bit memory bus. It has a 256 bit .13 micron GPU (graphic processor unit), 4 pipelines, and DX 9 support. It also supports AGP 8X. -$319+ ATI Radeon 9700 Pro: the absolute best video card right now and will be the best for another month or so in this budget range. Don't get the All-in- wonder 9700 Pro unless you do a lot of TV recording and video editing. The AIW performs the same as a regular Radeon 9700 pro. The specs of the Radeon 9700 pro is: a 256-bit bus. Has 8 pipelines operable.It is built on a .15 GPU, and has a core clock cycle of 325mhz, and a memory cycle of 310 mhz (620 DDR). It has 4 vertex shaders, and 8 pixel pipelines. The Radeon 9700 pro needs a power connector that is used to power up hard drives (also called a Molex connector). It supports AGP 8X. How will it perform? It depends on your hardware. You need at least a 1.5 GHZ Processor or an AMD Athlon XP equivalent to use the full potential of the 9700 Pro. With a decent system, you can play Unreal Tournament 2003 at 1024x768 with full detail settings and anisotropic filtering. -$349 + or - Matrox Parhelia: The Matrox Parhelia is not a video card that goes for best performance, but designed for maximum display quality. In benchmarks, it scored lower than the Radeon 8500! With AA and AF turned on, it could barely beat the Nvidia Ti 200. This is not the greatest card, and for the hefty price tag, I do not reccommend getting this card unless you like to have three monitors connected together. The Matrox Parhelia supports up to three monitors at a maximum resolution of 3840 x 1024 @ 32bpp, and up to 2400 x 600 in games. Some games support this feature, and some don't. The specs of the Matrox Parhelia is: 128MB DDR, a GPU clock of 220 MHz, and a memory clock of 275 MHz (DDR). There is also an OEM version that runs at: 128MB DDR, a GPU clock of 200 MHz, and a memory clock 250 MHz (DDR). It supports AGP 8X. -$239+ or - Radeon 9700: This is a Radeonn 9700 pro with a lower clock speed. I recommend getting this card, if you want good performance, but you don't want to pay as much as the Radeon 9700 pro. It outperforms the Radeon 9500 pro and the Ti 4600. -$219+ or - Nvidia Geforce4 Ti 4600: It iis the top of the line Nvidia card out right now, until the FX Ultra gets released. It is a great card, but for the price, it isn't so great for the people who are arriving into the market. It supports DX 8, but it does not perform as well as the Radeon 9500 pro. The specs are: a .15 micron GPU, has a clock speed of 300 mhz, and a memory clock of 320 mhz (650 DDR). It contains 2 vertex shaders, and 4 pixel pipelines. -NYR- **ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (RV350): The evolved version of the Radeon 9500 pro, this video card is scheduled for release in April. It is a fully DirectX 9 compliant video card and is based largely on the R300 core, but with a few extra features. This is ATi's first .13 micron GPU, and boasts a 400mhz Core speed, and a 300 mhz DDR memory speed (basically 600mhz). The Radeon 9600 pro does add the new Smoothvision 2.1 and SmartShader 2.1 enhancements, but without F-Buffer. It has an optimized memory controller, so that even though it has half the theoretical pixel processing power due to its 4x1 architecture (as opposed to the 9500pro's 8x1) it makes up for it with the memory controller optimizations by the fact that it has a clock speed that's 125MHz higher than the Radeon 9500 pro. This card might be released sometime during April, remember it might. -$199+ or - ATI Radeon 9500 Pro: It is thhe little brother to the 9700 Pro. It has the same core but a lower clock speed. The core runs at 275mhz, and it has a 128-bit DDR memory interface with a 540MHz clock rate, not 256 bit, and eight pipelines. Also you need to get a new bios for the 9500PRO if you want to overclock. How will it perform? This card isn't too dependent on your hardware, but you should be able to use maximum detail on Unreal 2003 and still get good frame rates. -NYR- Nvidia Geforce FX 5600 Ultra: The ..13-micron GPU is one of Nvidia's newest video card. In the case of performance, this card is between the performance range of the Radeon 9500 and 9500 Pro with Beta drivers, remember BETA.. This card supports DX 9. -$179+ or- Nvidia Geforce 4 Ti 4400 128mbb: This is the younger brother of the Ti 4600. It is not a very good deal, since the price is high, and it performs worse than the Radeon9500 pro. I would not recommend getting this card, unless there is a very good deal, and the price around $150. -$149+ or - Radeon 9500 64mb: This is a RRadeon 9500 pro with a lower clock speed. It performs worse than a Ti 4400, and it performs similar to a Ti 4200. I'd suggest the Ti 4200 over the Radeon 9500, since it is cheaper. Some people get the Radeon 9500 because they want to use the software trick to turn it into a Radeon 9700. As I said before I do not reccommend this trick. -$149+ or - Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti4200 128 mmb: One of the best bang for the buck video card that you can get, preferably an MSI, Gainward or Leadtek one. In June 2001 this was THE card when it was released but it is starting to show its age now. It is still a very good deal right now. How will it perform? This card will get you decent frame rates, but you'll need a pretty fast processor to play Unreal 2003 with highest settings. This card will last a while because it has 128 MB of ram, but you might want to overclock it, as the 64 MB version has faster ram speed. -$99+ Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti4200 64 mb: Thiss video card outperforms the 128 mb version of itself. It is basically the same as the 128 Ti4200, but the memory is faster. How will it perform? On Idfuison7’s 2.4 GHz systems he was able to play Unreal 2003 at high settings with 50+ fps, but couldn't try the higher settings, but he was able to play Morrowind with full settings at 1024x768 and it didn't bring his system to its knees. -$89- ATI 8500: A very decent card, less powerful than a Ti4200. It performs much better than the ATI 9000 pro, even though the 9000 was released after the 8500, and it is usually more expensive than the 8500. The 8500 has a .15 micron GPU, 2 vertex shaders, 4 pixel pipelines, and the GPU clock is 275 mhz, while the memory clock is 275 mhz (550 DDR). How will it perform? Idfuison7 has this card, and it produced medium to high details on Unreal Tournament 2003 with 50+ fps on 1024X768. -NYR- Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 Ultra: The bbudget card of Nvidia's new FX series, the performance of the 5200 is slighty better than the Radeon 9000 with the Beta drivers. Remember, BETA. It supports DX 9. -$89- Nvidia Geforce 3 Ti500: A decent caard that is comparable to the Radeon 8500/9100. Their performance are basically equal in everyway, and the prices are near identical. -$79- Nvidia Geforce 3 Ti200: A video carrd that is comparable to the Radeon 8500Le in performance. Sadly, the price of this video card is around 10 dollars more than the 8500Le. This is because stores have stopped producing the Geforce 3's. -$70+ or - ATI 9100/8500LE: You'll have tto be a very experienced shopper to find a good quality version of these cards at this range, but the 8500LE/9100 is probably your best bet, but it will be very close to the 80-90 mark. ATI has relaunched the 8500 as the 9100. A warning to those who are going to get an OEM version of the Radeon 8500Le: According to an ATI spokeswoman, the LE version of the card is rated for 250mhz core, and 250 mhz DDR memory. However, this applies only to the ATI retailed-box version of the card. The OEM version of the card may not be at that clock speed. A respectable store should tell you the clock speed and memory speed. -NYR- Sis Xabre 600: A video card that iss manufactured not by ATI or Nvidia, but by Sis (Silicon Integrated Systems). Although this card is suppose to go head to head against the Radeon 8500Le, and the Nvidia Geforce 3 Ti 200 this card is outperformed by both video cards. This card has a .13 micron GPU, DX 8 support, and has a clock speed of 300/300. -$65+ or - Radeon 9000: This card is quitte similar in performance and pricing as the MX cards from Nvidia. The 8500/9100 and 8500Le performs much better than this card under any circumstances. It does not support DX 9, it supports DX 8.1, so the ATI 9000 do not have any advantages over the 8500, 9100/8500Le. One reason why you should get the Radeon 9000 is that there is a PCI version of this card. -$60+ or - Geforce MX 460: This video carrd is basically a souped up Geforce 2. This video card is neither very great in performance or price. It supports DX 7. For 10 dollars more, you could get the Radeon 8500Le/9100 or Geforce 3 Ti 200 that is DX 8 compliant, and produces more FPS than the MX. One reason you should get an MX card is that there are PCI versions of the card. In comparison to the Radeon 9000, it produces more frames per second. **this is credited to Sef. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Video Card Troubles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you're having trouble with your video card here are some tips: 1) Download the new drivers. 2) reinstall the video card. 3) take it back to the store that you bought it from. 4) call your manufacturer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Your Video Card -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to find out what kind of video card you have: For basically all versions of Windows 95 and up: 1. Go to the start menu, and click on run. 2. Then type "dxdiag". Then click ok. 3. After it loads, there should be a tab. Click on display and it should tell you your video card. Here is another universal way: 1. Go to your desktop. 2. Right click on properties. 3. Click on the settings tab. 4. Look around; under the picture of the monitor, it should say Display. 5. It tells you what your monitor is connected to. Here are other ways to find out your video card if the above steps do not work. Windows 98 SE- 1. Go to "My Computer," double click on "Control Panel" 2. Then double click "System". 3. Then go to "Device Manager" tab, and find where it says "Display Adapter" and click on the plus box next to it. 4. Take note of what it says, that is your video card. Windows 2000 Professional- 1. Go to "My Computer," double click on "Control Panel." 2. Then Double click on "Administrative Tools" 3. Double click on "Computer Management" 4. Scroll Down to "Device Manager" and double click. 5. There are two columns. On the right is where all your devices are listed. Double click on "Display adapter" You should see your video card. Windows XP- 1. Right click on the desktop and click on "Properties" 2. When the box comes up, click on the "Settings" tab 3. It should tell you what video card you are using. If you like downloading stuff to benchmark your computer, and would like to find out what your video card is, you can use sisoftsandra. I have never used this program before. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. How to remove/replace a video card. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First some quick steps: 1. Get all your supplies together. Such as your scredrivers, your other video card that you are going to replacethe a storage container to put your video card away, a container to put your screws away, and an anti-static wrist strap. For the storage container, I suggest an anti static bag that usually comes with a video card, or any other electronic components. I suggest an empty film container to put away your screws, so the screws do not get lost. 2. Remove your old video card drivers. 3. Locate a well lighted, roomy area to work with, such as a desk. 4. Remove all wiring that connects to your computer case, such as a phone line, a power cable, ect. Now we are ready to start. 1. Bring your case to your work area. 2. Remove the side of your case, and put the screws into a container. Now you will see the inside of your computer. 3. Put on the anti-static wrist strap. Follow the directions on how to put it on. 4. Find the video card. 5. Remove the screws holding onto the video card, and if it has an AGP lock, unlock it. 6. Carefully take your video card out, and put it inside the Anti-static bag. Try not to touch the connectors. 7. Bring out your new video card. 8. Put your video card into the AGP/PCI slot. If you are unsure if you have an AGP slot, please look at the Frequently Asked Question of this Video card guide. 9. Make sure the video card is firmly seated. Do not force it in. 10. Get a screw, and screw the video card in. 11. Test the system before you put the cover back on, by connecting these particular wires back together: the power cable, the monitor cable, thekeyboard, and the mouse. 12. Turn the computer on, and see if your Os recognizes your video card. If it does not recognize the video card, make sure you have firmly seated the video card, and see if you removed the old video card drivers 13. Install your new video drivers. Restart the computer, and see if it recognizes the new drivers. 14. If there is an error, and your computer locks up, boot into safe mode. To boot into safe mode, press F8 when the computer is starting up. 15. If all goes well, put your case back together, and your finished. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Credits ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks: Thank you Seiken for helping me, and adding FAQ question. Thank you Sef for helping me also. You gave me a lot of feed back, and I will never forget you. Good luck. Thank you Iduison7 for "letting" me create this FAQ. Credits: LiquidSn8k aa and ht 1337/ihasnogoodname seikensamurai197/The Seiken Samurai sefsefsefsef Insominator Idfuison7 Danto10 andrew632 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Copyright ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Geforce line of cards are made by Nvidia (copyrighted). The Radeon line of cards are made by ATI (copyrighted). The Windows Operating System is made by Microsoft (copyrighted). Unreal Tournament and Unreal Tournament 2003 is made by Epic Games (copyrighted) Quake3 is made by IDsoftware (copyrighted) Microstar International is copyrighted. Intel (copyrighted) AMD- Advance Micro Devices (copyrighted.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. Video Card Guide: Log ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ April 08, 2009 version .495 Removed one section. Fixed minor errors. March 12, 2003 version .49 Added new FAQ question, 2 new video cards, and minor errors. March 06, 2003 version .48 Added a new FAQ question, fixed minor errors, and added 2 new video cards. Febuary 27, 2003 version .47 Added a new FAQ question. Fixed minor errors. Febuary 24, 2003 version .46 Added new video card: Sis Xabre 600. Febuary 22, 2003 version .45 Fixed format, added extra information. Added FAQ question. Febuary 21, 2003 version .44 Fixed minor errors. Added new FAQ question. Revamped Guide. Febuary 13, 2003 version .43 Added a new FAQ question. Fixed minor errors. January 29, 2003 version .42 Fixed FAQ question. Seiken is credited for this question. Added the Matrox Parhelia. January 28, 2003 version .41 Added FAQ question. Sef is credited for this question. January 27, 2003 version .40 Added the Geforce FX Ultra, Radeon 9700, Ti 4400, and the Radeon 9500. I removed minor parts of the Log. Added extra info. Added another section, on how to replace your video card. January 23, 2003 version. 36 Added another FAQ question. Fixed minor spelling errors. January 22, 2003 version .35 Added FAQ question. January 21, 2003 version .345 Fixed an FAQ question. January 20, 2003 version .34 Added an FAQ question. Fixed minor errors. January 19, 2003 version .33 Added more info. Changed the Do's and Don'ts section to recommendations. Updated Video Card Descriptions and Reviews. Fixed minor errors. January 17, 2003 version .30 Removed an FAQ answer and question. Added a couple questions and answers. Fixed Video Card Guide: Log error. Received a review from ihasnogoodname. Added info to the Radeon 9500 pro, 9700 pro, Ti 4600, and 8500 section. Added a Copyright section. January 16, 2003 version .28 Added a new answer to the FAQ section. Fixed a Video Card Guide Log error. Received a review from Sef. January 12, 2003 version .25 Complete update to all data. Added more stuff to table of contetns. January 10, 2003 version .21 Video Card Guide put onto www.geocities.com/nightninja7 January 5, 2003 version .18 Updated guide. Made Table of Contents. Made introduction. December 29, 2002 version: .10 Video Card Guide Started