Installing Your New Video Card

Introduction

It's the nature of consumer electronics. As new products with more features are introduced, the hardware model it supercedes, benefit's from a price drop.

So, who wants this distressed merchandise? We do. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on Video cards.

A lot of folks run 300 MHz to 500 Mhz class machines. These one or two year old computers came equipped with, then fine and dandy, 4 or 8 meg video cards. Today the major Vid card players are releasing this generation of super cards. They are designed for 700 MHz and up machines with 64 meg of video ram the starting point.

These cards are pricey today and really need more than 500 MHz of processing speed to be taken advantage of. In their wake are the 32 meg cards, the VooDoo 3 and the Diamond Stealth III Extreme for example. They are available for about seventy dollars.

So, for the price of a 128 meg memory stick you can significantly improve your 3D effects, dabble in a little OpenGL and increase your video memory. If you have an AGP slot available, this would be a great time to put a card in that slot. In addition, the 32 meg cards are old enough now that compatibility issues are known, and updated drivers are available.

Getting Started

If you are considering a video upgrade it's time to do some shopping. Before you buy, visit the web site of the hardware manufacturer. Find their support forums and FAQ's. Dig through the knowledge base and see if there are any known issues with your configuration. Your primary concern is whether there are any compatibility problems between your Motherboard, or perhaps important software, and the new card.

Video card installations have a reputation that precedes them. I will go step by step to eliminate the potential potholes along the road. For this exercise we will remove the existing 8 meg PCI Video card from an AMD K-6 2, 400 MHz machine with a VIA chipset on the motherboard, and install a Diamond Stealth Extreme III AGP card. The process will be the same for other configs, read all the installation files that come with your new card. If something doesn't seem right, drop us a line and we will help you sort it out.

The spot that gets most folk side-ways is right at the beginning. For some reason there seems to be a cavalier attitude, when removing an existing card is discussed. As with most hardware upgrades, the proper removal of the existing installation is the key to the upgrade providing maximum performance.

So...JUST BEFORE we shutdown the machine, we have to prevent Windows from believing the old 8 meg card is still part of our system when we restart, after the physical installation of the new 32meg card.

There are two fairly easy ways to do this. My recommendation is to change your display adapter to "Standard Display Adapter (VGA)" at the Display Properties dialog box.

Get there by Right-Clicking in an open area of your desktop. Select "Properties" from the bottom of your context menu. Select the "Settings" tab. Select the "Advanced" button. In the new Dialog Box, select "Adapter". Select "Change". An "Update Device Driver Wizard" will appear...select "Next". IMPORTANT: Select the radio button that says "Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location so you can select the driver you want". Click the "Next" button. On the new Dialog Box, select the "Show all Hardware" option. It should be the last choice listed. Your menu options should immediately change. On the new menu's left hand pane, there should be a slider bar. Make sure it is all the way to the top. At the top of the left hand pane, select "(Standard Display Types)" There should now be 5 choices in the right hand pane. The first one should be "Standard Display Adapter (VGA)". That is what we are looking for, select that and click next. Your machine is now ready to shutdown for the removal of the old card and the installation of the new one.

I mentioned that there is another way to achieve this. You can remove the listing of the Display Adapter in Device Manager.

Right-Click on "My Computer". Select "Properties" from the bottom of the context menu. The "System Properties" dialog box will load. Select the "Device Manager" tab. Click the "+" sign next to "Display Adapters". Highlight the current adapter. Select the "Remove" button. Your system is now ready to shutdown for the removal of the old card and the installation of the new one.

If you choose the second method, when you restart, Windows will default to the Standard VGA Adapter and probably come up in Safe Mode. That's fine. I personally prefer the first method. In fact, I usually use the first method and swing by Device Mangaler on the way out to see if it still thinks the old adapter is part of our system.

Let's look at what we've done and why. We now have our machine configured to run with the plain vanilla Microsoft display drivers that ship with Windows. They're not real pretty, but they work. We need our best shot, at having a display when we restart. The problem of a totally blank screen should be obvious.

After we change cards and restart the machine, the new drivers will not be installed. They are still sitting on the CD that shipped with your new card. In these days of "Plug and Play" we want Windows to detect that we have changed a piece of hardware on restart, and search for, or ask us, for the drivers. We, of course, need to see the screen to be able to do our part. We also don't want Windows to get confused and try to run a set of drivers for a card that doesn't exist any longer. Please keep in mind that we are generally dealing with three separate components when we add or switch hardware.

The physical card itself. The Driver Set, often more than one file. Often referred to as the software. The Bell and Whistle features; may be more than one file. Also referred to as the software.

Installing the Card

When you're ready, it's time to take this darlin' down and have a look see. From the Start button, select "Shutdown"; make sure the Shutdown radio button is selected and click OK.

After you think the Hard Drive has spun down, flip the main power switch to Off. Disconnect all of the cables, and get the box to a spot where you can take your time and go to work.

IMPORTANT Note: At this point, static electricity and its' discharge may be your enemy. I say may, because it is a very real concern in the less humid parts of the world. A static discharge, to a board with a chip on it, may very well render it useless. That is why all the components are shipped in those shiny gray bags.

There are all sorts of ways to deal with this problem. The most important point is to eliminate any potential difference between you and the components. Touching a metal part of the case should eliminate the problem. It is kind of hard to work on the unit without do so. I'm told some folks insist on bare feet and a tile floor. If you feel the need to increase your Geek Factor, the Electronic supply houses can outfit you with a static discharge wrist strap. A wire from the strap is attached to the chassis of your machine. The point is made, for safety's sake; always touch the metal chassis or frame before you touch any components in the box.

With that out of the way, get your trusty screwdriver and remove the case cover. On most machines you will only need to remove one side panel.

Now that you can look around inside, you'll notice most of the cards fit into the same type of socket and are attached to the chassis by one screw. Those are your PCI sockets. Generally, your modem, soundcard and video card will all be PCI on an OEM machine.

For this example we will remove the original PCI Video card. To identify it, match the plug on the end of your monitor with the socket on the outside face of the video card. It should be a 15-pin connector. By convention the insulating surface of the socket will probably be blue. Just unscrew the retaining screw that holds the cards bracket to the machines chassis, and gently pull the card straight out.

Now we need to locate the AGP card socket, since the Diamond Stealth Extreme III AGP will be placed there. Naturally we are assuming that you have an open AGP slot. To get an idea of what we are looking for, open the anti-static bag that the Stealth card came in and take a look at the pin connectors on the edge of the card. They are noticeably different from the PCI card you now have lying on the table. There is probably only one AGP slot, or socket, on your motherboard. It may be near the top of the row of slots near the processor. The only other open type of socket available will be an ISA slot. That should be near the bottom of the board and is different than the two slots we have mentioned.

At this point, you should notice that the metal knockout is in place at the back of the chassis in line with the AGP slot. This has to be removed. Look at it closely and you will see that there is only a tiny tab of metal holding it in place on one edges opposing corners. Gently push or pry the unsecured edge. Once you can get a hold of it wiggle it back and forth until the tabs fail and dispose of it.

The Diamond Stealth Extreme III AGP can be configured for a 2X or 4X AGP multiplier. The multiplier you will use is a function of your motherboard. So, breakout your MB manual or visit their website to see if they make mention of it. In general, since we are looking at upgrading a 300mhz to 500mhz machine, 2X is appropriate. That is also the default configuration of the Diamond card. 4X support will be found on the newer machines. To activate this feature, there are a series of three jumpers that must be moved from their default open position to the closed state. Simply place the little jumpers across the two pins to close the connection. Your video card will now support AGP 4X.

Line the Stealth card pins up with the socket, take a moment to ensure that the bracket looks like it is aligned with its final position on the chassis and gently start the pins into the socket. It's probably a good idea to get each thumb on opposite ends of the top edge of the card and push it home. It should be securely in place and the bracket should line up easily with the screw hole. No bending or twisting is required or desired. Install the mounting screw and close the case back up. You did it.

One further item to keep an eye on, some systems will get cranky if a card, usually old video, is occupying the first PCI slot when an AGP card is installed. If you notice conflict problems down the road, keep this in mind.

Ok, time to see if step one paid off. Let's get the box back in position, plug in all your cables, and fire that puppy up.

Installing the Drivers

Remember your display is going to be in standard VGA mode with 640 x 400 resolution. It may even come up in Safe Mode. No problem. Windows should detect the new hardware and try to find the drivers for it. You of course have the drivers on the CD that shipped.

So, that when Windows presents you with the "Install New Hardware Wizard", follow Diamond's recommendation and select "Cancel". Let Windows finish booting up. At this point, just insert the CD in your drive. If you have not turned off "auto play", the installation program for your new card will load and walk you through the driver installation.

Now, if you have any problems with the installation program, you can manually install the drivers from the CD. In fact, you have nearly done this once before. In the following directions you'll notice steps "i." through "ix." are the same as those in the first section.

Manual Installation

Get there by Right-Clicking in an open area of your desktop. Select "Properties" from the bottom of your context menu. Select the "Settings" tab. Select the "Advanced" button. In the new Dialog Box, select "Adapter". Select Change. An "Update Device Driver Wizard" will appear...select "Next". IMPORTANT: Select the radio button that says "Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location so you can select the driver you want". Click the "Next" button. At that point select "Have Disk". Now insert the CD, if it Auto Starts, select "Quit". In the "Install from Disk" dialog box you will type the path to the new drivers. For the Diamond Stealth the path is "D:\Win9x\English\Drivers", where "D:" is the letter of your CD of DVD-ROM drive. The video card's .inf file should appear in the "Select Device" window. Choose the driver that applies to your Operating System and select "OK". Select "OK" again, then select "Next". The driver set should now copy to your system. Select "Finish", and then select "Close". You can now exit the "Display Properties" dialog box and Reboot your system.

Well, when the system comes up you will be running on your new video card. In a perfect world we would be all set. Run through a few applications and see if everything is as it should be. Be sure and check out a few of the games that were giving you problems before you installed the card. If everything is as it should be, congratulations.

Fine Tuning

If not, don't despair. Mine started to show some glitches also. There is a benefit to buying a product that has been in the marketplace for six months. The updates are ready. In the case of the Diamond Stealth Extreme III, a new driver set has been released. Make a trip to the web site and download the new file. It will contain a full set of install instructions. They will be very familiar to you, since we have run that routine twice already.

Another area of attention can be the System or Motherboard BIOS. Diamond lists a set of BIOS switch recommendations. They cover settings for a plethora of different BIOS. You can pick thru the list and see which settings may be available on your system. Actually, your default settings are probably sufficient. I don't want to be vague, but accessing and determining the BIOS on various machines is different. You can also wreck plenty of havoc in there. Most major manufactures go out of their way to hide the BIOS setup behind corporate splash screens at start-up, for just that reason.

So, if this is the sort of thing you would like to become familiar with, get a little help for your specific configuration. Diamond will be happy to help with their products, you can drop me a line, and your machines manufacturer may have a thought or two.

At the Diamond site there is also a BIOS update for the video card's firmware. This is not the same BIOS as the System or Motherboard BIOS. The update only applies to a specific run of cards. Read the text file carefully. You will determine if you have a card that will benefit, by checking the BIOS code in DOS. Flashing a BIOS can be a bit tricky, be patient and read over the text until you understand the process. If you have any questions, again feel free to get in touch with us.

In closing, one of the reasons I have no problems recommending Diamond's products is their excellent support team. They will work with you by phone until resolution. Many of you know, that kind of service is getting harder and harder to find.

Here is a screen shot of the OpenGL game Disasteroids 3D that is available from our Nice Files page. Download it and have some fun.

Until Next Time,