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General discussion

integrated audio and video--upgradeable?

Sep 4, 2004 6:56AM PDT

My current desktop is old, slow and failing. I need to buy a new one soon, but I can't afford a high-end system. I would like to be able to connect a stereo to my new desktop to transfer old vinyl and cassettes to CD. I would also like to transfer digital video from my computer to a VCR. It seems everything I can afford has integrated audio and most have integrated video also. If I buy such a system, can audio and video cards be bought and inserted later? (I'm particularly interested in the audio in/out.)

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Re: integrated audio and video--upgradeable?
Sep 4, 2004 9:43AM PDT

Upgrading the audio in a system with integrated sound is somewhat easier then upgrading video with the same parameters. A lot a integrated video motherboards do not offer an AGP slot to upgrade, but most have at least one PCI slot available for sound.

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Re: integrated audio and video--upgradeable?
Sep 7, 2004 7:10AM PDT

Yes, you can upgrade your audio and video on an integrated motherboard. It is very easy to make those changes in the BIOS set up on your motherboard. I purchased an integrated motherboard recently and didn't like the on board sound, so I disabled it and I am using a Sound Blaster Live card, which takes up one PCI slot. The same thing can be accomplished with your on board video.