Should I Upgrade

I have a Compaq Presario sr1010v and was givin a geforce video card , but im confussed if i can use it or not ? Im playing WOW on my compaq and it runs but not the greatest would like to upgrade but dont really want to spend a LOT of money . Can i upgrade the video card ? and would that even help.

Im sorry i dont know ? I spent 3 hours just trying to find out who made my motherboard . How would i find out about the AGP?

This is all i know about my computer. I hope it can help someone to help me.




System chassis Micro ATX Compaq Presario SR-series chassis

Dimensions (H x W x D): 16 x 7.25 x 15.25 inches
Motherboard name MSI: MS-6577 M-ATX
HP: Giovani2-GL6
Chipset 845GV
Front-side-bus (processor dependent) 400 MHz
Power output wattage 250 Watt
Memory Memory slots: Two DIMMS-I have 512

Maximum memory: 1 GB (HP tested and recommended), 2 GB (motherboard specified)
Expansion slots Three PCI slots (two available, one is occupied by the modem)
Drive bays Two 5.25-inch external (one or two occupied by CD/DVD drives, depending on configuration)

One external 3.5-inch (occupied by floppy)

One 3.5-inch internal (occupied by hard drive)
I/O ports Front ports:

* Two USB (Choosing 7-1 media card reader reduces front USB ports to one)
* Line-in
* Headphone
* Microphone

Back ports:

* Four USB
* One PS/2 mouse
* One PS/2 keyboard
* One parallel
* One serial
* One VGA
* Audio: line-in, line-out, microphone (these ports are covered if audio card chosen; will be included on card)
Communications One high-speed 56K ready data/fax
One 10/100 Base-T Fast Ethernet interface
Processor
Intel Celeron D 335 (2.8 GHz)
Hard drive
160 GB 7200 rpm Ultra DMA
Graphic card Integrated graphics
Sound card Integrated 5.1 capable sound with front audio ports

well it looks like you are stuck with pci.

you could get a pci video card (which would be better)
than onboard video.
this would help your gaming experience.

and you could add another 512 stick of ram.
this would make your computer more peppy.

thats about it.

you could do this for about 100$

i wouldnt spend anymore than that for an upgrade.

other than that i reccomend a new computer.

oops forgot about that.

What would be a good video card that i could use ?

it looks like you are using onboard video.
which means no video card.

where does the video cable from your monitor go.
follow it to the back of your computer.

does it go into the motherboard?

hell can you post pictures?
do you have a camera?

does the cable from the monitor plug in horizontal or vertical?

sounds like onboard to me.



does the card you have now look something like this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814139150

geforce can be pci,agp, and pci-e

does the connects on the card have a hook at the end?

the top picture is a pci card.
the bottom pic is a pci-e card.

see the difference in the gold things at the bottom
of each picture.

if it has a hook then it is agp or pci-e.


oops the pci-e card is upside down so the gold thingy,s
are at the top.

Then it should work in your system.

But installing it isn't THAT simple. You have to uninstall and disable your on board video card, then turn off your system and install the other one, and hook up your monitor to it and then install the new drivers for it.

That doesnt sound like something you can walk me threw,,LOL,,But i can take it to my local rip off computer store , and pay more then it's worth. AT another web site some guy told me even if i get a new video card i would need a new power supply. Does that sound right, cause i dont want the computer store to really rip me off.

yes if it looks like the first one then it should be pci=it will work.

dont know what kind it is, but it should be better than
your onboard.

in other words it should make the wow play a little better
to you probably a lot better

then if you want get a 512 stick of ram.
that will make your system last a little longer.
or until you can afford to upgrade to a whole new sys.

I check the specs for your computer online at HP.com and it says that it has integrated video and that no other option is available - which I presume means it has no AGP or PCIe slots for video cards. Thus the only option is the PCI slot - but be aware that this technology is 3 generations back and its been about 10 years that even most low end PC's had at least an AGP video slot.
The AGP were later replaced by the PCIe slots on new most new machines. Before about 3 years ago, there were no reliable integrated graphics with any power. Over the last several years they have matured and now most low end systems now have the integrated graphics, which now work fine for most funtions except gaming and heavy graphics, but most also usually have a PCIe upgrade slot.
I am not up on PCI cards so someone else needs to make a recommendation.

If you're gonna buy a new computer later, don't upgrade now.

Save your money toward buying a new computer.

However, what we're saying is there MIGHT be a way to install the card you have. If we walk you through it.

That could provide a decent enough framerate upgrade that you'll be able to last until you get a new PC.

first get your card in and see if it works.
if so have fun.

you could then get another stick of 512 ram.
but this would cost around 40 to 50 $

that would be the most i would spend on a sys like yours.

Well, it's because the way you talked about it, it's something that none of us would go to. I don't tell my friends, "HAY GUYZ LETS GO TO TEH COMPUTER STORE LOL".

Plus, no one goes to computer stores. They rape you on prices compared to Newegg, TigerDirect, ZipZoomFly.

Avoid "computer stores", ok? lol

Thank You Sirheck For helping me try to figure this all out.
If i can install the video card myself do i need a new power supply or was that just another guy having fun with me ?

Ok so i shouldnt go to my local computer store, but i can bake a mean cake ,cook the best roast you'll ever eat and run a 19 bed adult home with my eyes closed, but when it comes to computers I do not understand most of it, I turn it on and it works or it doesnt. So to you guys it might seem easy but to me it all sounds hard.

Im going to order more memory as u suggested. Thats easy to put in , I've got to really think about the video card cause im a real WITCH with out my computer and if i screw it up it will take me a while to get it fixed.

thanks for all your help