Video Card Help

I'm trying to buy one at Best Buy so I can use their installation service. I don't know if they install video cards for you that were not bought in their store.
 
Really? It's very easy to install graphics cards. It simply cosists of pushing it into the slot, much like RAM. Arguably the easiest hardware to install.
 
Damn OP, you really want to pay those Geek Squad bitches $40 + tax just to plug in a video card??? Like Moxio said previously, you could buy a MUCH better card by just opting to read the instructions and install it yourself.
 
Oh I just realized that's a PCI card! No wonder you were trapped. Hah.

Well I'm sorry to say that even a 5500 won't run Sims 2 very well.
 
I know your tying to save cash and everything, but when it comes to video card you really shouldn't get a cheap one. If your planning on gettind next gen games for your PC then you'll need a much better one.

I would just go with an expensive one right away so you dont have to waste money on another one later. But if your not planning on any demanding games then go ahead and get a cheap one.
 
I think that Sony model has an AGP slot but even if it doesn't I would go to newegg.com and get either something like the ATI 9600 series or better most 9600 seems to be around the 40 to 60 dollar range or you can also find the plain 6600Le for around the same price. I would not touch 5200 is it nvidia FX 2d line, In the Nvidia FX line go with 5700 or better even if you are on a slim budget. Also with that Sony bear in mind even if you were to find a cheap higher mid range card like a vanilla nvidia 6800 you could have problems because of the weak power supplies that come in those pre built systems. So me being more knowledgeable about Nvidia products I would tell you to find a 6600 video card that stays in your budget.
 
You have an AGP slot in your Sony PC, so you could get any of these cards shown on the chart. Are you comfortable in buying from an online retailer? Because most of the time you save money and often able to get an even better video card for the price if you purchase online. The only drawback is that you have to wait a week for delivery and you have to install it yourself.
 
That's not a bad choice, I've had that card for about 2 years and I was able to play HL2 fairly well on it. But don't expect to run newer games well. So if you want the TV Tuner and a casual gaming AGP card I suppose you can't go wrong with that choice.
 
[quote name='SOSTrooper']So if you want the TV Tuner and a casual gaming AGP card I suppose you can't go wrong with that choice.[/quote]
Especially because its on sale for $129.99! Regular price $399.99! The sale ends tommorrow! HURRY! BUY IT!
 
http://shopati.ca/product.asp?sku=2984012

That is a better card, but it is a refurb (comes with year warranty) and lacks the AIW functions. Some people have been getting cards labeled as refurbs new from ATi recently.

If I were you, I would look at all the vendors that ship in Canada and then look at benchmarks, but I don't think there are many cards better than that for the price.
 
Ok someone mentioned earlier that my power supply may not be good enough for a new video card. I'm not too computer savy but is there a way to check my power supply on my computer?
 
[quote name='King']Ok someone mentioned earlier that my power supply may not be good enough for a new video card. I'm not too computer savy but is there a way to check my power supply on my computer?[/quote]

my dell dock from 2001 could run the fx5500. that card uses like 50 watts max. if you have a computer from the 2000 it should run that card just fine. save urself some money and buy a 7950gx2 and play sims2 on 4 screens at once with no slowdown
 
[quote name='King']Ok someone mentioned earlier that my power supply may not be good enough for a new video card. I'm not too computer savy but is there a way to check my power supply on my computer?[/QUOTE]

As long as you're not getting anything faster than nVidia 6800 or ATI X850 then your current power supply is fine. I run X800XL PCIE and AMD 64 3500+ on a 240W, no problem at all.
 
[quote name='King']Alright thanks a lot for all the help, I can't wait to start playing :D[/quote]Be sure to let us know how it works when you get it installed. :)
 
Got the video card this morning and am about to install it, now the instruction manual is telling me I need a new AGP driver (whatever that is) I was given a list of websites in the manual about where I can install the latest one. It is confusing because I am not sure which one I need. The official ATI site gave me two options that both seem correct... a Pro 128 driver, and then a Radeon 9800 Series driver, I really don't know which one. As well, when I right click on my AGP controller under Device Manager, I get the option to update my driver, is that a better way to do this? All help will be much appreciated, I will be dropping in and out until I need to get off the PC to actually put the card in itself.

I actually just tried to the Radeon 9800 Series driver, I had to download some Microsoft Framework thing first, and when I tried the driver (Catalyst 6.6 or something) it didn't work, said it couldn't download.
 
Never mind the last post, I got the card to work! The Sims 2 is running nice and smooth, thanks again for all the help guys.
 
I have one more question to ask, after using my new video card for about 3 days the monitor went black for about a split second while I was on the net. The light that indicates if the monitor is turned on stayed lit when this happened. Is this something to worry about? It has only done this about two times.
 
make sure the monitor is plugged in right, blow on the coneectors and then
make sure ur computer is clean
blow in the agp socket but make sure not to have static electricity touch the case and have ur arms on the case and put ur card in the meanwhile on something that wont conduct static electricity
 
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