Newbie Question on changing video card.

[Krize]

hi all. recently my dad wants to change my computer's video card, GeForce 4 MX 420. I was told that i would have to check how much MB my computer can support for its video card. My current vid card, the mx 420 is 64MB. So is it that the next video card i buy for this computer would have to be 64MB as well? Or is it possible to upgrade it?

Another question is, is it very difficult to change the video card by myself? I have totally no experience on changing video cards. Roughly how long would it take for a newbie to change a video card?

[Snod Blatter]

The number of MB of memory on a card does not have to stay the same... you could whack a 256MB card in there without problems, if you wanted to. It's just how much memory is on the card itself for storing textures and information.

The most complicated bit about changing graphics cards are the drivers. The actual cards themselves are easy to swap over, just pull the old one out and slot the new one into its place. Do it all in this order:

1) Uninstall the drivers for your current card (usually listed under Add/Remove Programs in the control panel)

2) Run a driver cleaner program in safe mode after rebooting. I use this (http://www.drivercleaner.net/) one myself :)

3) Shutdown the machine, and swap the cards around.

4) Cross your fingers and switch it on. If it boots, you're making progress :D If it doesn't, put the old card back in and figure out a plan...

5) Install the drivers for your new card (which you downloaded earlier before starting all of this). Reboot when it tells you to.

That should do it, I think. The driver cleaner bit isn't totally necessary as such, but it will give you a bit more of a guarantee that you won't get conflicts with the old drivers for your other card :)