Replace Radeon x300 and x300 secondary for Windows 7

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Stacey_7

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May 18, 2016
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I need to upgrade my Windows XP to Windows 7 (already have software and operating a notebook on Windows 7) to do this I need to replace the incompatible Radeon x300 (the machine also tells me it has a x300 secondary)

AT/AT Compatible
Bios HP-CPC-10000527 (dated 27 Oct 2005)
Processor is an x86 family 15 model 4 stepping 9
Genuine Intel
1 processor and 1024mb (1gb?) physical memory

Can you advise me on the best graphics card to use please? I'm looking at the nvidia quadro 512mbs dual. My uses are mainly Spreadsheets, letters, photographs, and other general use. I will be building my business website shortly too.

Hopefully you will save me the expense of an off the shelf replacement PC.

Many thanks in advance

 
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hang-the-9
For your computer, it's so old that a used $100 Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad system will be the best thing to get rather than upgrading. It's like trying to upgrade a Model T Ford instead of just buying a $5,000 used Toyota. You can only upgrade things so far that are old, even maxed out with upgrades, you will have a slow system.

Your hard drive is likely original to the system, that on it's own will cause it to run slow even if you upgraded RAM and video card and the CPU.

You have a 13 year old CPU, in computer terms that is pretty much exactly the difference between a Model T Ford and a new Camry LOL

If you look around enough you may be able to get a computer for $50 that is several times faster than yours, Core 2 Duo systems don't...
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molletts

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Jun 16, 2009
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You should be able to install the Windows Vista drivers for the X300, available from AMD's website. I've certainly run Win7 on systems of this kind of vintage, using Vista drivers (or even XP ones in some cases) for hardware that didn't have native Win7 drivers (I worked in a school until recently, using dozens of decade-plus-old PCs).

You'd do well to add more memory, though. Win7 in 1GB is barely usable and the old CPU is going to need every bit of help it can get. If you can post the exact model of the machine, we should be able to determine what type of memory is needed.

The 32-bit Vista driver for legacy graphics cards, including the X300, can be found here: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/legacy?product=Legacy1&os=Windows%20Vista%20-%2032
 
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Stacey_7

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May 18, 2016
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Hi, thank you for your reply. Yes it's a desktop PC. The CPU details are Compaq Presario SR1000 or were you referring to the model number of the BIOS. Apologies, I have limited knowledge.
 
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Stacey_7

Commendable
May 18, 2016
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1,510
Hi, thank you for your reply. Yes it's a desktop PC. The CPU details are Compaq Presario SR1000 or were you referring to the model number of the BIOS. I'm also looking for a wireless network card so that I no longer need to use a use dongle, are there any that come without the need for an antennae.

Apologies, I have limited knowledge.
 
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molletts

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Crikey, I just looked that up - it's an old AGP system (pre-PCIe) so if you can't get the X300 to work with the Vista drivers (actually I should have "put 2 and 2" when you said "Radeon X300" and realised that it would have been an AGP card) you'll need to look for a PCI graphics card. (Used AGP ones will all be quite old so you'd have to check carefully for Win7 compatibility before buying.)

I believe there are a few GeForce GT 610 PCI cards around (I bought a Zotac one for someone else with an AGP PC a few years back) but you'll need to be careful to double-check that it's a PCI card and not a PCI Express (PCIe) one. Good luck finding one, though! (The part number of the Zotac one appears to be ZT-60604-10L, according to Amazon, where it's "currently unavailable".)
 
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Starcruiser

Starcruiser

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May 18, 2013
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The system doesn't even have a PCI express slot.
I'm sorry to report that your system is likely not fast enough to run Windows 7. That vague model number from the front of the computer turned up about 50 different similar systems. All of them are running DDR SDRAM, which is extremely slow and severely limits the amount of memory you can have. You'll need 1 GB minimum of faster RAM than that unless you want to wait 30 minutes for it to start up.
Suffice to say, this isn't really a viable upgrade option. While you meet the minimum (barely) it will be so slow as to be unusable.
 
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molletts

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Wrong Starcruiser. Read my post properly before firing off a reply.

I state clearly that the system is a pre-PCIe system with an AGP slot and advise Stacey to double-check that the card I suggest is a PCI one, not a PCIe one.
 
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Stacey_7

Commendable
May 18, 2016
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1,510
Thank you. Can you advise how the memory could be upgraded please? Can this be done by additional cards or would I need a new board? I'm not sure where the memory for operation is stored.

I'm thinking I may be better off just buying a new set up altogether but the costs to upgrading, in my experience, are generally less, hence this consideration first and foremost.
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

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Mar 25, 2010
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For your computer, it's so old that a used $100 Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad system will be the best thing to get rather than upgrading. It's like trying to upgrade a Model T Ford instead of just buying a $5,000 used Toyota. You can only upgrade things so far that are old, even maxed out with upgrades, you will have a slow system.

Your hard drive is likely original to the system, that on it's own will cause it to run slow even if you upgraded RAM and video card and the CPU.

You have a 13 year old CPU, in computer terms that is pretty much exactly the difference between a Model T Ford and a new Camry LOL

If you look around enough you may be able to get a computer for $50 that is several times faster than yours, Core 2 Duo systems don't go for much these days, and some people sell them very cheap. Try to keep the speed of that over 2.4 GHz, that will mean it's a newer model of Core 2 Duo and will be good for longer with running programs. Also look for 4 GB or RAM or more.
 
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