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AGP, PCI, video card, Video Memory, IRQ's and all the other terms you'll hear when you talk about graphics cards can be confusing. But they are some things you will hear and may need to know when talking about getting a new video or graphics card. I will first talk a bit about what a graphics card is and what it does for you. And then help you find the right one for you and your computer. First, just what is all the talk about. A graphics card or video card is the same thing, they are two terms used to describe the same computer component. It is an interface and processing cards for the video portion of the computer between the computer and monitor. Whether you have an LCD or a CRT, you need a graphics card, this can not be a separate card anyway. Many computer manufacturers have been part of the motherboard or an all-purpose card that has the graphics components to it. This is known as onboard graphics. You can check if you have a separate card by going to the computer information section of the Control Panel. Click the Start button in the lower corner of your desktop. Then click on Control Panel. Click System, then Hardware, then Device Manager, you should have a dropdown list of the things on your computer. Go to the video card and double click it. This will show what is connected to the graphics card or video card. If there is a chip set or something with the chip in it, there is an on-board graphics card. If there is something else such as ATI or Nvidia and then a bunch of numbers and letters, it is a plug in card that is running the screen. There are some things you need to know before buying a new graphics card. Two different connectors are used to connect two different types of cards and the computer does not have some kind of connection you need to know this before you run off to the store. The contacts are called AGP or PCI, this is just one type of connection used for the card. One is better than the other in the way you handle information when it is used, but if you do not have what you need to use what you have. All computers have PCI connectors. These contacts are common to many different cards are connected, for example, audio, modem and graphics card. One AGP connector is larger and is brown so it is easy to distinguish them. And now it's time to dig out the screwdriver and open her up. This is the best way to tell if you can get an AGP card or if you need a PCI one. This way you will be able to exclude cards that are AGP interface. You should easily see the PCI connectors, they are white or off-white and all in a row. You may have a short extension of one of these that some cards are connected to. The brown plug, if you have one, is better than the whites. This is the AGP connector. So now you know if you have an AGP or not. If you have only the white connectors you can just get a PCI graphics card. Now we go into the Windows Help to find out what is compatible with your computer. In the Help section, you should have a compatible hardware and software section. This will connect you to the internet and a place called the Microsoft Marketplace. They will list all hardware that is compatible with your computer. If you do not have this feature, you should be able to go to the website of the manufacturer of your computer and find a similar function. You must decide what type of upgrade you do if you get a better card. How much you spend is an important factor. Also if you want the TV and video functions in one card you need to get one of these functions. There are three main types of graphics cards on the market. One is just plain videos, no extras, but from there you can get better quality and more memory on the graphics card. The more memory you have, the better quality you will see on the screen. Memory is a feature that is important when we talk about gaming or video editing quality. The memory card has only the memory that the computer does not need to use their own, the card will use their own memory when handling video data. The more memory the card has, the better the quality of games and video editing. Today, there are cards that go up to 256 MB of memory but it is top of the line. Most games require not so much. Just a couple of games today have a requirement of 128 MB and it is only a few, most have 64MB or less. If you plan to do a lot of gaming or video editing I would consider the higher around 128 MB. If you are serious games, you might want to have maximum memory, but it is not really needed. Next is the kind of extras such as video editing and capture. This has special connections to connect your camera or video player device to the card and will capture video and you can edit it using a program on your computer. The second function of the graphics card is TV viewing. You can connect either cable or an antenna and watch TV on your PC. This is a nice feature for video enthusiasts who want to play on a button and play later. You can record a lot of video on your computer and edit the show later. There are cards that have all these features or two of them. You can decide what you want and compare it to the list of compatible hardware. I would also recommend that you go to CNET.com and locate where opinions about what cards are good and which ones have what feature. If you want one that is a simple replacement for the graphics as a gaming card, I suggest an Nvidia compatible card. They are very good and has very little setup as far as a driver. If you want one that is to edit movies and such you can get a pretty good one from Nvidia, but ATI cards are usually better at this sort of thing. Even for television viewing ATI has cornered the market. The disadvantage is the ATI is a bit touchier for driver loading. You may need to play with the drivers as far as getting the old ones removed them and the new on your system. ATI is aware of this problem and keep working on it with better drivers and updates. You should compare the cards and see which one has better features as you want. But the most important thing you need to look at the plug, if it is PCI or AGP, and compatibility. If you have a computer that is a year old and you just have to have the brand new card that X Company has come out with, make sure it can go into your computer. Some video cards draw too much current from the power and will not work on earlier computer configurations. They design some of which only work in newer models of computers. If you are totally bad, you can always ask. Go to the computer store where you got your computer or a place that sells parts and tell what kind of computer you have and ask them to tell you what works in your state. They should be able to help, tell us what price range you are looking at and what to do. If they can not help you, go elsewhere. Find out before you buy so you will not have to take it back. Once you have the new card, you must prepare your computer to replace the old. This usually means removing the old drivers and then shut down the computer. After installing the card and install drivers. Follow the instructions on the card and if you have problems consult the help or support for the card. Here are some places you can go to get help on some cards: ATI ATI Web site: http://www.ati.com/Web site for help installing the ATI card: http://rage3d.com / board / index.php s = 81c39822c0d563ba3cc592e3c5b3e6f2 NVIDIA? http://www.nvidia.com/page/home CNET Video Reviews: http://reviews.cnet.com/Video_card/4502-3025_7-0.? HTML tag = dir.vc If you have an LCD monitor, most graphics cards are compatible, they usually have an analog connection on the LCD screen that will connect the monitor to the card. If they do not have an analog connection on the LCD screen, you can get an adapter that works. When you buy your card, make sure it is compatible, and you get what you want.