Looking for a video card for an old computer

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HuManBing

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Hey all,

I need some advice on where to look for compatible video cards for my computer. It's an aging HP Pavilion desktop with a 533 MHz processor, and about 10 Gb disk space, and 128 Mb RAM. I understand that I need to make sure the card is compatible with my motherboard, but I don't know how to find out my motherboard's make and model.

A) How do I find out motherboard make?
B) How do I go about finding a video card that will be compatible? (Presumably one from the same time period - maybe circa 1999/2000.)
C) Are there any other concerns such as RAM or processor speed?
 
This is the information picked up from a search online (somebody more knowledgeable than me is selling their HP Pavilion 6653C and posted their stats):

Details:

a.. Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard
b.. Model: Pavilion
c.. Model Number: 6653C
d.. System Number: D9943AR
e.. Serial Number: US02890858
f.. Support ID: 03-9943-0000-0289-0858
g.. HW BOM: 101, SW BOM: 51
h.. Processor: Intel Celeron 533 MHz
i.. Video Hardware Chipset: Intel 810
j.. BIOS: Mercury-G Software Build ID 2.30.26
k.. Memory: 128 MB SDRAM (Standard), 256 MB (Maximum)
l.. Hard Disk Size: 15 GB
m.. CD-ROM Drive Type: CD-R (Recordable)
n.. Network Card: 3Com 10/100
o.. Fax/Modem: Rockwell Chameleon combo card (supports V.90 K56 Flex
protocols)
p.. Ports: PS/2 Mouse, PS/2 Keyboard, USB (2), 1 Serial, 1 VGA, 1
Parallel, Line In, Line Out, Microphone, Game
q.. Video: PCI Local Bus, Intel 810 Controller, 11 MB


Is there a way for me to physically open up my computer and deduce my motherboard make?
 
That looks like an onboard video controller. You may or may not have an open PCI slot to use for a new video card. I am unsure if there is an AGP slot in there, but I doubt it.
 
How would I tell the difference between PCI and AGP? What do the slots physically look like?

I have 128 MB RAM - will this affect what vid card I can get? I have found a site that sells RAM that will work (only up to a max of 256 MB though) - would you recommend getting that RAM too?
 
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