On-board video disappointment

[PCKlutz]

Alright, so I tried to save a few bucks by building a PC with a motherboard having an 8-mb shared memory built-in video. Alright, alright, I bought it from Fry's. I made that decision because a friend of mine has an old Compaq Presario with onboard video, and the video looks fine to me.

Everything works, but the video is a big step down from what I had before, which was a 16-mb Phoenix AGP video card. Graphics are alright -- I can live with it. But texts are a strain to read because they are not at all sharp. The onboard video, using 8 mb of RAM, is supposed to be capable of true color, but I have only tried the high color mode thus far.

The motherboard has no AGP slot, but has two PCI slots. Would an inexpensive PCI video card, say 16mb, significantly improve sharpness in video text? I am not into gaming, just internet surfing.

The bundled software also includes a video program called 3DEEP that is supposed to improve internet graphics. I haven't loaded it yet.

I just want to express my initial reaction -- everything is fine, except that texts look awful.

Any and all video card recommendations appreciated.

[Guzano]

you load the software there will be a difference. I would suggest trying it before you buy anything, you could save your self the trouble of having to buy one.

Laterz!!!

[scooby]

A good Video Card ........TNT or GeForce. I believe the PCI cards are becoming hard to find so they may be a bit more expensive than the AGPs

[Cricket]

Hi PCKlutz,

Do you know if the on-board video can be disabled in BIOS (or with a jumper)? Find out before you buy a new PCI video card.

Are you using the same monitor you used with the Phoenix video card with? If it's a different one, maybe the quality of the tube or type of mask is the culprit.

Do you know if there are updated video drivers available for that board? Newer drivers may help with the image quality.

Cricket

[PCKlutz]

Thanks, Cricket,

The onboard video is bios defeatable, but I think I will take your advice and see if latest video drivers are available first.

I wonder if moving down from 16mb to 8mb of video memory has anything to do with text clarity.

[Mr RodeoCC]

Load the software before doing anything else. They dont give you software for no reason, obviously the video part of the motherboard needs the software to get the clarity your after. If after you load the software the video isnt up to your expectations then look for a PCI video card. Choose wisely a card that will do what you're after. For high end video gaming expect to pay big bucks for a good card, for normal internet surfing and office word processing a 16 meg card will do fine. Now if I were you I would look more at a 32 or 64 meg card that will provide better performance for a longer period into the future. Technology will keep on advancing, programs will continue to grow, requiring more memory and possibly video capabilities. Look around at differant places for video cards. Tiger Direct has numerous choices from 25$ to over 300$. Good Luck

[mike breck]

I saw a review and benchtest recently of the Elsa Gladiac 511 in a UK magazine (which unfortunately I can't find now). It reported that this card gives almost AGP 1.0 performance which ain't bad for a PCI card.
You can see the specs here:

http://www.elsa.co.uk/international/...ac511tvpci.htm

Have a trawl around some the Hardware sites and see what they think about it.

[Nuclear Krusader]

How much RAM do you have?

Some MoBos have their own video RAM integrated, but other just take it from the main RAM, so, if you increase to 16MB of video RAM your performance will surely take a hit if you have less than 64MB.

If money is not an issue for ya, you better get a new MoBo with an AGP slot and put in a TNT2.