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computerwriter.com
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Upgrade101-4 - graphics cardsToronto Star Fast Forward installer series part 4 for October 14/99Preparation and cautions (READ THIS FIRST)
You could have the most powerful computer in the world, but without a graphics controller you wouldn't be able to see anything it does. Working with the central processor, your operating system, and the software applications you run, the graphics controller is the component that produces the images you see on the computer's screen. It can drastically affect the apparent performance of the system. I can take two otherwise identical computers and, by putting a slow graphics controller in one of them and a fast controller in the other, make them appear to be two entirely different systems. I've deliberately used the term "controller" to identify this component, instead of the more colloquial terms graphics (or video) card, graphics (or video) board, or graphics (or video) adapter, because in today's systems, the graphics controller could either be a separate circuit board in an expansion slot, or its chipset could be integrated into the motherboard. Today, we're going to take an older, slower controller out of our test bed and replace it with a newer, faster model. This is a difficulty level 2 task (you have to open the case). Tools required are a Phillips screwdriver (or Torx driver if you have a Compaq), something to help pick up dropped screws (needle nosed plyers or small tweezers), possibly a small slotted screwdriver to disconnect and reconnect your monitor to the video port on the back of the computer, your system's manual, and the manual for your monitor (if separate). A working knowledge of some of the other components in your system, including the monitor, as well as any compatibility issues with specialized software you use would also be an asset. Before you shopBefore you go shopping, you'll need to know what type of graphics controller you have now. Basics first...if it's integrated into your system's motherboard, does the manual show you how to turn it off (i.e., disable it)? Under Windows 98, you may use more than one graphics controller at the same time (up to nine of them with separate monitors), but any graphics controller on your motherboard will be designated as the primary controller and that will impose certain restrictions on what you can do with a new one. Under earlier versions of Windows, and other operating systems, you're limited to one controller at a time. If you have a relatively new system, and the current graphics controller uses an embedded Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus, is there an open AGP slot to take a new one? You can use other expansion slots, such as the short, white, PCI (peripheral component interconnect) or longer, two-part, brown ISA (industry standard architecture) slots, but you won't be able to use today's fastest controllers if you do. If your current controller isn't on the motherboard, what type of expansion slot does it use? See the accompanying picture of a motherboard to identify the slot types, then look for available slots in this order: AGP, PCI, ISA. If your purpose is to provide your system with more apparent speed, Accelerated graphics port models give the best performance with the others providing it in descending order. Are there any additional components attached to your current video controller? Early ATI controllers had an optional add-on board used to get television signals into (and out of) a PC. This add-on board will only work with ATI controllers and you'll have to consult ATI to see if it will work with some of their newer models. Don't expect it to work with boards from other manufacturers (and the same will be true of similar products from Matrox, Diamond Multimedia and others). The same is also true of any "3D" accelerator cards that may have been added to an existing controller to give better game performance. You'll need to check with the manufacturer of the accelerator card to see if it is compatible with anything new you buy. MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) decoders for DVD-ROM will have the same constraints. While they may work with a wide variety of graphics controllers, there are others with which they will be incompatible. Most products I've checked in these three categories have lists of products with which they are compatible at the companies' Web sites. Assume that if your chosen product is <italic>not<italic> on the list that compatibility will be doubtful. Here, as with any other component, you need to make full disclosure of what you already have to the retailer from which you're planning to purchase the new component so that s/he can have an opportunity to talk you out of it. Otherwise, if you're assured your new purchase will work with what you have, get the assurance written on the sales agreement to avoid hassles later. If it's a dodgy proposition, particularly if the retailer isn't sure it will work, consider having the retailer install the new graphics card - and work out any incompatibilities - for you. Back to topShoppingWhile there is an abundance of inexpensive (and likewise mediocre) graphics controllers you can get for very little (would you believe under $40?), leading edge graphics controllers come from a variety of companies. The world's largest supplier of graphics controllers for Windows-based PCs is right in our own back yard. ATI Technologies, in Richmond Hill, has a solid reputation for reliable products that, depending on the time of year, are either at the top of the performance chart or darned close. Another well-regarded manufacturer is also Canadian. Montreal-based Matrox has its fans, too. Matrox produces not only products for arch gamers, but also TV video enhancements and high-end video editing products. US-based companies include Diamond Multimedia, Number Nine Corporation, and S3. Depending on the model, the amount and type of memory it has, and whether it also has MPEG decoding hardware, 3D accelerator processors, and/or integrated TV in/out, a new graphics controller can run anywhere from under $100 to nearly $500. So what do you really need? I've said that a faster graphics controller can produce better apparent performance, but face it, putting brand new racing tires on a ten year-old Ford isn't going to turn it into a Ferrari - and it would be overkill if all you ever used it for was driving to the store on Saturday. It might help if I explained what all these add-ons are for. Memory on a video card is used to do two things: produce more colours at higher resolutions and to aid in the acceleration of high-end "3D" games. If all you do is use business productivity software, the Internet, and perhaps some home productivity applications to create posters or greeting cards - particularly on a 15-inch screen - a graphics controller with more than 2 MB of memory is a waste of money (see sidebar: what's all this stuff about resolution?). If you want to see 16.7 million colours at 1024 by 768 on a 17-inch monitor, 4 MB of memory is all you need. Are you doing desktop publishing or high-end artwork on a 20-inch or larger monitor at 1280 by 1024 (or higher)? Then start looking for 8 MB video controllers. On the other hand, if the task is to run the latest games at high resolution, high colour values, and accelerated to the teeth or to do constant MPEG decoding, then some of the newer graphics controllers with up to 32 MB of memory may not be enough. Products such as ATI's "All-in-Wonder Pro" graphics controllers provide both computer and television video signals. They can put TV in a window on your screen, allow you to capture stills from broadcast, cable, or video recorder, and output your computer's video signal to a TV set (or video recorder). They are <italic>not<italic> broadcast quality editing components, but do add flexible functions to your computer. MPEG decoding in hardware is the optimum way to view movies from a DVD- (Digital Video Disc) ROM drive. Many graphics controllers offer software-based MPEG decoding, but the quality difference is significant. Hardware decoding reduces dropped frames (jerky motion), increases picture quality (no fuzzies at full-screen), and most importantly, lightens the load on your system's central processor, so you can be doing other tasks without having time to wallpaper the bathroom while waiting for the system to work. Three-dimensional (3D) game acceleration is provided by a special coprocessor that again relieves your CPU and graphics controller from having to do all the math associated with 3D rendering. The result when it's done properly is smoother motion, better colour, and superior graphics. There's one other item, but it's only of interest to a very few consumers this year. If you're also eyeing a digital (as opposed to analog) monitor, whether a cathode ray tube or LCD model, check to see if the monitor has special needs for connectors and/or specific brand(s) of graphics controller. If all else seems equal, pick the product that comes with drivers for the operating system you're using, and has both tech support phone numbers and Internet Web site, so you can get fast access to updated drivers. In our case, we've chosen a Diamond Viper V770, with 32 MB of RAM, AGP 2x and 4x support, a nVidia RIVA TNT2 graphics accelerator, and onboard MPEG-2 decoding. It retails for about $219. Last but not least, older terms for video "standards" such as VGA (video graphics array), SVGA (super VGA), XGA, 8514/8514a, and so on are meaningless in today's market. All new video graphics controllers produce all of these former standards. Once you've decided the resolution at which you're going to run your system, the number of colours you plan to see at any one time, extra needs (such as MPEG hardware decoding, TV interface, 3D acceleration) and you've done enough homework to establish the level of performance you want, these are the things to discuss with the vendor. Back to topInstallationRefer to the preparations for details on opening the case and precautions to take such as protecting your components from static electricity. Before you shut your computer off, do whatever you must (depending on the operating system you have) to set your system's video driver to "Standard VGA." Users of Windows 95 or 98, for example, merely right-click anywhere on the open desktop (other than on an icon or the taskbar), then select properties from the drop-down menu. You can also start this property applet from Control Panel (Start Menu, Settings). Select the Settings tab from the Display Properties dialogue, then click Advanced. Pick the Adapter tab this time, then click on Change. Choose Standard VGA from the list. Once you've changed the video driver, proceed to opening the box housing your new purchase. Leave the hardware alone for the time being. Read the instructions, first. If the manual says to install the software driver for the controller before you install the hardware, do so. Get your monitor's manual handy now, too. Note that the following instructions generally apply to any circuit boards you may either remove or install into your system in future. Once you've installed the software driver (or not, according to the instructions), dump static and power the computer - and your monitor - down before opening the system case. Follow the cable from your monitor to the video connector at the back of the computer. Disconnect it. Dump static again. If your graphics controller is on the motherboard, follow the instructions in the system manual to set the appropriate jumpers or DIP (dual inline pull) switches to disable it.
Try not to pinch any components on the board's surface between your fingers. You don't want to break them, just in case your new board doesn't work and you have to replace it later. Set the old board to one side where it won't get harmed. Dump static again. Remove the new board from its anti-static packaging and, following any pertinent instructions in the manual, insert it into the appropriate type of slot on your system's motherboard. Again, this is normally done by seating the back edge into the slot first, then gently rocking the board front to back until it's fully seated in the slot.
If that doesn't work, remove the board. Have a look at it and the space between your motherboard and the rear of the system's chassis. That little space may vary depending on your system and the backplate may jammed against either the motherboard or the chassis. You may need to gently bend the bottom portion of the backplate forward or backward a very small amount to get it to fit properly. Often you can apply enough pressure with your fingers to accomplish this, but you can use plyers. You do not want to apply so much pressure that you snap the backplate or rip it off the board. Gently, gently. Try re-seating the board. Then attach the holding screw to keep it in place.
Back to top Setup and fine-tuningBefore you'll get the most out of your new graphics controller, it and your monitor and your operating system have to be introduced to each other. If there were no instructions to install drivers before switching hardware, there will be some now. Follow the graphics controller's manual to install the appropriate software drivers for your operating system. Once that's done and before you go any farther, see what the manual has to say about monitor calibration. If you never operate outside Windows or the MacOS, there will be a setup routine for your monitor in the operating system - either as part of it, or supplied by the graphics controller's driver. If you also operate in DOS, then the setup application supplied with the graphics controller has to be run in this environment as well. The primary caution here is not to attempt to run your monitor at a resolution higher than its documentation says is can be run. You not only won't see a picture (making it difficult to change your settings later), but you could damage the monitor. Once your graphics controller drivers are installed and you've set your monitor appropriately, you can now change resolution and colour values to match from the Display Properties dialogue. One more hint: In later versions of Windows 95 and in Win98, you can place an icon in your System Tray that will allow you to change these settings on the fly, without restarting Windows. These options are located in the Advanced Properties dialogue under the General tab. Last, but not least, if you have an Internet connection, visit the graphics controller company's Web site to see if there have been any driver updates or enhancements. Even if your controller is brand new, the companies are constantly upgrading their drivers - often several times a year and particularly soon after releasing a new product (they get bugs in their software, too), so there may well have been changes between the time the controller got out the door and you bought it. Many companies had to re-do their drivers to make them fully compatible with Windows 98, so if your drivers are labelled as Win95, there's a good chance there will be newer ones available. Make checking the company Web site for new drivers a habit. Back to topTroubleshooting- My system starts okay and I see text on screen, but when I go into Windows, before I can install the new drivers, I either get an error message saying the video drivers are incorrect, or the picture is garbled and I can't see anything.Installing the new drivers should work, but you only get this message or the garbled screen if you didn't set your display properties to standard VGA before removing your old graphics controller. If your screen is unreadable, reinstall the old board (or re-enable the onboard video controller), then set the display properties to Standard VGA. - I don't see anything.Check the connector from the monitor. If you attached it loosely, tighten it up, then try again. Oh, yeah, turn it back on, too. - I don't see anything, but I hear some beeps.Check the new graphics controller to see if it's fully seated in its slot. If you're using PCI slots, try moving it to another slot. If nothing works, you may have either a compatibility issue, a bad controller, or it got static-zapped when you installed it. Throw yourself on the mercy of the vendor. - I get random errors and lock-ups.This is a particular problem with ISA-based controllers in earlier versions of Windows 3.1x. Read all documentation about upper memory blocks carefully - particularly if you're still using a product such as Quarterdeck's QEMM or some other memory manager. You may have to free up some memory areas or exclude them. This is when having phone tech support will come in very handy. Questions? E-mail troubleshooter@computerwriter.com for questions directly related to this series. Components for this series are provided by Grey-Tech Computers, Inc., Markham, Ontario www.greytech.com. What is all this stuff about resolution?The term "resolution" used in discussing computer graphics refers to the number of picture elements (pixels - the smallest portion of the screen the computer can change) you see on screen expressed as the number of horizontal elements by the number of rows of them. Typical resolutions used in today's environment include 640 by 480, 800 by 600, 1024 by 768, 1280 by 1024 and more. To produce any given resolution, both your graphics controller <italic>and<italic> monitor must be capable of rendering it. It is not uncommon for modern graphics controllers to be capable of creating very high resolutions. Not all monitors will follow them, nor may you want them to do so. When you increase resolution and the number of pixels increases, you can see more information on screen (see graphic). However, the physical size of the monitor doesn't increase, so to get more information on screen objects have to get smaller, not larger. Many people find that they become so small, that text becomes unreadable. It's a personal choice, but I find it difficult to work at a resolution higher than 800 by 600 on a 15-inch or smaller screen. 1024 by 768 (or at most 1152 by 920) is about my upper limit for a 17-inch monitor. And so it goes. And what does memory have to do with colour?The number of colours you can see on screen at various resolutions depends solely on the amount of memory on your graphics controller. It's a function of the number of bits of data used to describe the colours. 8-bit colour gives you 256 colours. Assigning 16-bits of data to colour gives you 65,535 colours. 24-bit colour (8 bits to each of the red, green, and blue colour channels) can render 16.7 million colours. And making any one of 786,432 pixels (1024 by 768) any one of 16.7 million colours is an awful lot of math for your CPU and graphics controller to handle |
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Back to Upgrade 101 Contents
If
your graphics controller is in a slot, undo the screw
holding its backplate in place. As you pull upwards
(gently), rock the board front to back slightly to help
loosen it from the slot. You may find it helps to reach
around to the back of the system, then to lift the back edge
of the board by putting your finger under the video
connector and pushing it up and in slightly.
At
this point you may have a problem getting the back of the
board (the part that has the backplate that shows through to
the back of your computer) to seat properly. Try the reverse
of removing it (reach around the back of the board and
gently push on the bottom of the backplate with your
finger).
Once
the board is in place, and before you reattach the case
cover, reconnect the monitor. Make sure the plug is firmly
seated onto the connector. If there are screws or
thumbscrews to hold it in place, tighten them. Power the
monitor up first, then your system (the graphics controller
needs to find a monitor before it will work properly). If
everything starts, that's good. If you hear some beeps
and/or don't get a picture, or the picture is garbled, go to
troubleshooting, below.
Part
5, Upgrading CD-ROM drives