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General discussion

upgrading video card- confused

Dec 11, 2004 12:26AM PST

I have a gateway g6-300. Pll 300mhz 320megs ram. stp 4mb agp video card w/chromatic Mpact2 driver.recently upgraded to xp. now the driver won't load.gateway says I need a new card.I'm confused about what is compatible with my system. agp 2x, 4x , agp2 ect. can someone explain?

Discussion is locked

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Re: upgrading video card- confused
Dec 11, 2004 12:40AM PST

I tried doing a search at Gateway for your model and came up with nothing. Are you sure gateway g6-300 is the correct model number? Also, XP has minimum requirements to operate properly. Did you check to make sure your computer met those requirements?

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Stripped the gears so to speak.
Dec 11, 2004 12:45AM PST

STB cards and drivers stopped development years ago (5?) so that's why you need a new card.

My advice? ANY Nvidia FX5200 that fits into your machine will do just fine. I'm going to just fixate on this under 99 buck card since it's an OK match for a P2 or P3 300MHz machine.

The card will operate in an AGP 2 and 4X slot just fine.

bob

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Re: Stripped the gears so to speak.
Dec 11, 2004 2:41AM PST

xp seems to be operating fine system, has more than minimum requirements- except for my flickering screen, which i assume is due to the default refresh rate. bought a ge force mx4000 plus card that the salesman said would work, but it doesn't.I am assuming this is because it is for agp 2.0 according to the package, and my system(built in 199Cool is agp. i don't understand the differences, can't find a good explanation on line.

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That is odd. Here's why.
Dec 11, 2004 2:49AM PST

AGP slots have keys to prevent you from plugging in an incompatible card.

Such flickers on your MX4000 card is usually due to driver issues. Many will never know how to do this proper or how to increase the refresh rate.

The short story is this. Latest motherboard drivers and video drivers and to know about refresh rates. If you get a defective card, nothing will help.

Bob

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Re: That is odd. Here's why.
Dec 12, 2004 7:13AM PST

I wasn't clear enough in previous posts. screen flickers with original card. with the mx 4000 installed, the system will not start.I understand what you mean about the cards being keyed.the mx4000 did appear to fit correctly. I have ordered a radeon 9200 based on a reccomendation from gateway.

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Take time to be clear about such.
Dec 12, 2004 7:18AM PST

Otherwise GIGO is what we get.

Bob

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Bin there done that
Dec 17, 2004 11:24PM PST

Before you change your vidio card, after listening what the conversation was about have you downloaded the updated drivers from gateway for motherboard as well as vidio card, it sounds like you might have just done an upgrade are partial, if you changed your system, to xp . B Bob

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Video card
Dec 18, 2004 12:21AM PST

Hi im Larry. I play a lot of games and built a lot of computers. It looks like Win xp won't reconize your video card. For the comp. you have i would just put in a cheap Nvidia, but way better than what you have. Around $50 with 64 mgs. Agp x4. It will help speed up things too. Check the box to make sure it says Win xp.
Lar