Windows 7 drivers for an older graphics card?

[Levi Tomasini]

i have an old pci graphics card and i don't know much about it. i tried to get it working a while back but could never find drivers. all i know is that it is an ati radeon card. stickers on the back :

ATI radeon 7500 64m(pci) sn:wya2009090455

and

v7500-p64

843636001634

i dont know anything else about it.

 

[Adamsappleone]

Have you tried here: AMD Graphics Drivers & Software

 

[Digerati]

It does not appear there are drivers for newer operating systems for that older board. That's called progress! ???

Since the 7500 series GPUs came out in 2001, I would not expect AMD to continue support for that card either. There just likely are not that many still in use.

 

[Levi Tomasini]

i figured that would be the case. i think it might be a faulty card. windows saying "this device was unable to start" even with the generic drivers. no picture at boot up. really nothing at all. so. i think im going to get a new one.

ive got about a $100 budget needs to be pci have at least dx9 and support dual screens.

any suggestions?

 

[Digerati]

i figured that would be the case. i think it might be a faulty card. windows saying "this device was unable to start" even with the generic drivers. no picture at boot up. really nothing at all. so. i think im going to get a new one.

Well, if the motherboard you tried it on is as old as the card, it could be the slot - but it sounds like the card to me too.

Newegg has 41 PCI cards under $100 so there are still lots of PCI choices around - a good thing.

You just need to research what type connections you need. Hopefully 2 digital as they will carry you further into the future. And while PCI cards are bottlenecked a bit by the bus, graphics cards are still power hungry so you need to ensure your current PSU can support the increased load.

 

[Levi Tomasini]

the mobo is a 2006 dell. i had a pci wifi card in it for a long time and never had issues with it so i don't think its the slot. what would i need on my psu for a graphics card? i dint know they had and separate power requirements? i knew pci was slower but if i had the money to upgrade to a new pc i would c;

 

[Digerati]

what would i need on my psu for a graphics card?

Adequate power. For sure, this is probably a not a problem for you with a PCI graphics card. But it is important to note the big computer makers are notorious for using supplies that are barely adequate for the computer they come with. That means there is little reserve for any future expansion (more RAM, another drive, and/or a better graphics solution).

i dint know they had and separate power requirements?

Every device in your computer has its own power requirements. Most get that power through their motherboard connection (slot in this case). Many newer graphics cards are so power hungry, they require additional power connections directly from the PSU. The specifications for the card should state what is needed.

You said 2006 Dell. Note the PCI Express (PCIe) interface came out in late 2004. If your Dell has a PCIe slot, you can get much better performance for your money (with many more options) if you get a PCIe card. And note in spite of their similar names, PCI and PCIe are not compatible.

Plus, I note more and more of the latest motherboards are no longer coming with PCI slots. This means if you buy a PCI card now, you may not be able to carry it over to your next PC.

 

[Levi Tomasini]

i dont think my last post went through..

but ill sum it up.
i believe my mobo has 2 pci and one pcie1x [ithink] is there a speed difference in the two? and i realize pcie will be more compatible with a newer computer i might get. so that would be a plus. im just looking for an upgrade from integrated graphics. just dual screen capable and possibly some minor 3d games. nothing fancy.[get what you pay for right?] im on a low budget. but at this point anything is better than integrated graphics. i miss my aero effects my laptop had. windows rates my gpu at a 1

 

[Digerati]

I agree with your objective. Integrated graphics from 6 - 7 years ago left much to be desired. Fortunately, today's integrated graphics are much more powerful and often the board makers include dedicated RAM for the GPU so no, or only a minimum of system RAM is stolen... err, I mean "shared" for graphics processing.

So just about any card you add today will likely provide some noticeable performance gains. PCI uses a shared bus of 133Mbit/sec while PCIe x1 has a dedicated 250Mbit/sec channel. So going PCIe is still a better option, in terms of potential performance advantages.

But you really need to determine exactly what your motherboard supports. I recommend you visit Dell and look up the computer's specs.

 

[Levi Tomasini]

okay so i found the manual to my pc and it does have a pcie1x so ill be going that route. i never realized how much faster that would be. you'd think more pins would move more data but i guess thats progress.

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...ktops/dimension-3100_service manual_en-us.pdf

 

[Digerati]

Sounds like a plan.

 

[Levi Tomasini]

thanks