New Computa

[SVENUK]

hopefully when i get home this evening there should be a nice new shiny Dell sitting in my lounge.
As it come with onboard graphics and sound card how do i disable them so i can fit dedicated cards
Is it a case of disabling them in the hardware settings or is there somewhere else.:confused:

[Stumpy Doofleer]

You usually need to go into Bios setup ussually by pressing Del key when the computer is loading up, that is how I did it on mine, but I was running windows 98 at the time, not Windows XP.

[floyd fan]

Don't think you will need to disable the on board graphics and sound card in XP. Just install the cards and XP should set them up. You may need the drivers for them though.

[P00DLE]

i wouldnt bother disabling the onboard sound my 2 current systems have onboard 5.1 and 7.1 sound which is spot on for all but high end stuff. What chipset is it you may find the onboard graphincs is pretty good esp if it is a n-force chipset.

[Converse]

If the omboard sound and graphics are better then leave well alone.
If not then disable them in Control Panel, shut down and go into Bios as it restarts. Disable them again in Bios, shut down again, insert new sound and graphics cards and then restart. As it restarts windows will recognise the new cards and you wil be prompted for drivers and utilities. If you dont have up-to-date disks it may be an idea to download the latest buts and pieces and save them in a folder prior to disabling the onboard stuff.
Remember to ground yourself by touching the chassis or even a radiator before inserting the new cards otherwiseyou risk frying your new computer!

[floyd fan]

Remember to ground yourself by touching the chassis or even a radiator before inserting the new cards otherwiseyou risk frying your new computer!

Keep the mains lead in the back of the PC (but no power) then just touching the case as you work will keep you earthed.

[SVENUK]

The onboard graphics uses system ram does it not. Would it not be better to fit a card then upgrading the memory chips.It's got 2 x 256 in at the moment.Then when i can afford it i can then upgrade them .

[freelanderPX54]

On board graphics cards do use RAM but this would only cause you a problem if you were playing graphics hungry games (3D modelling etc.)

[SVENUK]

thanks for the answers lads. will have to suck it and see if i have any issue's:)