New Monitor means new video card?

[Carolen]

We have a computer that recently slowed down when we added a samsung LCD monitor to it.

I thought it was just by chance, but a recent conversation with a friend led me to believe the monitor may be the issue.

Will upgrading the video card have any effect on a computers speed when it comes to this monitor?

I have a Elitegroup mother board, K7SEM. Running two 512MB sticks of ram on a 1.3Ghz AMD Duron Processor.

My second questoin is, (if the answer to the first one is yes), how do I choose a new video card. I do not need some gaming monster, this is a business computer. I just need to speed it up to make customer transactions smoother. I already maxed out the ram and I am looking for even more improvement if its possible.

THANKS!

 

[emp]

That thing is old. Dinosaur-like old. What would help the most would be a format and clean installation of windows and maybe a cheapo PCI/AGP graphics card to make sure that it can run your monitor's native resolution.

 

[Carolen]

How do I choose which one exactly? I just bought RAM and had a bunch of issues with compatability so I want to make sure I buy a card that matches.

I don't have a say in buying a new computer and all we really need is to squeeze speed out of it.

I always have several programs open, Media Player, Quickbooks, AOL, IExplorer. I need to able to switch quickly between them and run transactions quickly through quickbooks.

 

[emp]

With newer programs, nothing will happen quickly. But as I said, to have your system be as quick as it can (Not fast by any means) you'll most likely need to format it, then do a clean installation of windows, thing that should take around an hour on your system. You'll notice how fast the OS performs once it's freshly installed, however as you start clogging it with more apps it will become sluggish.

I checked out the mobo's specs, and it seems you can take AGP 4x, so pretty much any recent AGP card out there will do for you. (Geforce FX or newer, or Radeon 9600 or newer).

If you for some reason won't be allowed to format, then the only thing you can do is defrag the hard drive and keep bugging for a new computer.

 

[Carolen]

I am allowed to upgrade the parts, and defrags etc. No way I can do a format we have too much information on the computer.

I am still working on the new computer, don't really know if we need it though. Kinda a waste of money since this one works ok and is much better now since I added the ram. (its used to only have 256 MB).

Thanks for your advice on the video cards, any more advice is appreciated. Do you guys think it will make a difference to upgrade the video card? Or are we just blowing money?

 

[emp]

Definitely blowing money, the computer itself is just too outdated to run recent apps fast.

EDIT: That is if you already have dedicated graphics, if you're running on onboard graphics, then you should get a modest graphics card.

 

[Zorg]

AOL aaaargh! Try closing some of the non essential programs. Maybe go with a lighter version music player.

Edit: Try this Start -> run and type "msconfig". Click on the startup tab and uncheck unneeded bloat that starts on the computer boot. If you don't know whether something is needed then Google it to find out what it is before you uncheck it. When you reboot you will be prompted that you are in selective startup mode. Just check don't show this again, or whatever it says, then click OK.

 

[Kamrooz]

If you have the money to blow on an upgrade and new card I would really suggest just getting a new pc. 4-500 can go a long way now-a-days on a budget build. If you want to save even more money you could reuse the case if it's decent as well as the optical drives (cd-roms)...Hard drive as well but that would require a format unless you take the new mobo driver installation approach. I wouldn't recommend that unless you know what you're doing though. But you can get a pretty nice rig for a cheap price.

 

[cleeve]

Did you increase resolution for the new monitor?

Plugging in a different monitor by itself should show no performance difference whatsoever.

 

[Carolen]

Its office policy, we use AOL as our mail thing and I have to monitor it all day. I stream Music to listen to through media player (that obviously not required by work ).

I do know a decent bit about computers. Doing a MOBO swap might be a little over my head though.

Sorry for being an idiot, how can I tell if I have onboard graphics or a card?

 

[Carolen]

I did turn up the resolution to the max I could which is 1280x1024

 

[cleeve]

Well, if your resolution is larger than it was before, that might slow things down a bit... especially if it's a slow SiS integrated graphic part.

 

[Anoobis]

You're going to have to define "slow down".

What size monitor (make and model would be preferred) and what have you moved up too (again, make and model would be preferred)

If this system works just fine for them, there is no reason to go and buy or build a new computer. Not when a when a $30 graphics card is all they need:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161188

I'm sure others can find something cheaper than that.

It's also very likely all that is needed is a correct driver for the onboard SIS GPU. Find out which version of the K7SEM you have:

K7SEM(V1.0) (which could possibly be listed without the V1.0 on the board itself)
K7SEM(V1.0+B1)
K7SEM(V3.0A)
K7SEM(V3.0C)

It's very possible a standard VGA driver could be in use here. If the older monitor was small, like a 14" or 15", you might not notice terribly bad scrolling effects caused by the lack of a proper driver. Switching to a newer larger monitor like an LCD (which should try to run in native res.) without a proper driver installed will cause poor onscreen performance that could be perceived as slowing computer performance.

EDIT: BTW, Windows is telling you 992MB of RAM because 32MB is set aside for the onboard graphics. I looks as though you have the K7SEM(V3.0A). Current drivers can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/34vv2n

 

[mike99]

Cheap AGP card http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=15&FilterCategories=264&Thumbnails=yes

or http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Products.asp?CatID=15&Category=Graphics+Cards&ThumbNails=Yes&FilterKeywords=&FilterMinPrice=&FilterMaxPrice=&FilterCategories=373&OrderBy=1
Even cheaper!
If you are using onboard graphics, monitor connects to socket on rear of motherboard, near printer and keyboard etc. Graphics card has vertical backplate with video socket on this plate.

Mike.

 

[Carolen]

Guys thank you very much for your help. I think we have decided not to worry about putting any more money into the computer at this time.

You are right though Anoobis, I do have V3.0A.

I am unsure on what the old monitor was, but the new one is a samsung SyncMaster 170mp. Not sure how big it is I would guess 17".