Well, I've just ordered off NewEgg...

[tropicaldawn]

WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE???!!!! I'M GOING TO BREAK MY COMPUTER 0MFG!!!!1111!!!!!!

*hypervenilates*

Ok, my little frenzy is over.

So here's the deal, had a sucky PC that could only mage 1-5 FPS at low settings in The Sims 2.

I upgraded the 256 mb RAM to 768 mb RAM so now I've got:

Celly 2.26ghz
768 mb RAM
You don't even want to know what the graphics card is.

So I've ordered a little 9600XT so all's fine and well,

EXCEPT

When I installed the new RAM, I broke my computer and had to get it repaired.

The problem was, it was DS DDR333 and my mobo could only take SS DDR333.

I DEFINETLY have an 8X AGP slot!

And seemingly my 300W PS is sufficient.

So all's well there.

Except whenever I read a tutorial about installing a graphics card, it scares the hell out of me!

The whole integrated card is apparently going to be a MAJOR issue I have been told.

And using certain screwdrivers will break my computer is another concern.

Anyone any advice?

[LiveSideways]

Just unscrew the blank slot cover on your pc, and put in your new video card. Remember to touch some bare metal of your chasis when you first bust open your rig (this will discharge static onto the chasis rather than a new vdeo card). Now turn on your pc but leave the monitor cable connected to the onboard video. In the bios change INIT FIRST DISPLAY (or something along those lines) to AGP Slot and diable your onboard video from somewhere else in the bios. Now reboot and plug the cable into your new card and you should be ready to rock.

[Avg]

The IGP is not a major issue, just make sure to change the bios option where it specifies which gpu to use, that is all.

[tropicaldawn]

Just unscrew the blank slot cover on your pc, and put in your new video card. Remember to touch some bare metal of your chasis when you first bust open your rig (this will discharge static onto the chasis rather than a new vdeo card). Now turn on your pc but leave the monitor cable connected to the onboard video. In the bios change INIT FIRST DISPLAY (or something along those lines) to AGP Slot and diable your onboard video from somewhere else in the bios. Now reboot and plug the cable into your new card and you should be ready to rock.

When should I install the drivers???

[LiveSideways]

When you boot it for the first time windows will find a generic one for the 9600xt. ATI wont let you install the drivers untill the hardware is in it anyway. Just install in when you boot with the card for the first time.

[Avg]

make sure to get rid of the integrated video card's driver, it could couse problems with the new card, use driver cleaner to get rid of every last bit of the driver.

[Dan0512]

Before you install anything- turn the PC on, acess BIOS and turn off integrated graphics.

Then turn the PC off and install the card. Most problems come when you install the card and have integrated graphics on.

dan

[LiveSideways]

Just out of curiousity what exactly did the people that fixed your PC the first time tell you? I find it hard to believe that any board that takes DDR cares wether the memory is double sided or single sided.

[Avg]

Just out of curiousity what exactly did the people that fixed your PC the first time tell you? I find it hard to believe that any board that takes DDR cares wether the memory is double sided or single sided.

Some older ones do, but it wouldn't break it if you used DS instead of SS all that would happen is that only half of the ram would get recognized.