Question

[chickfilafan]

My step-dad bought a new desktop and he said I could have the old one. He said that he had bought a new video card for it and it isn't compatible with the BIOS.

I know I will definitely buy some new stuff for it but I just want to know how I will know if everything is compatible. All I know about it was that it was a refurbished Compaq. He was able to play Everquest and WoW on it.

Thanks.

 

[aliasaid]

lol.. we're gonna need A LOT more information....

first, tell us the specs of your computer. i'm sure there's a sticker or something on the side of the thing, or better yet, use cpu-z and it'll tell give you a lot of info... or if you could give us the model number of the compaq, we could look up the specs..


oh and exactly which video card did your step-dad get for it? do you still have it?

i've never heard of a video card not compatible with the bios...

 

[Syrillian]

Not compatible with BIOS...?

Hmmmm.... Perhaps there was a mis-communication, as I have never heard of such a dilemma.

More information would certainly give us something to work with so that we can assist you.

If you are comfortable with opening the case, do so. (I am assuming that you have limited experience, forgive me if I am being over-presumptuous). See if you can see manufacturers part numbers and revesion/version umbers on the:

Motherboard
Power Supply
Video Card (if applicable)

If the system is up and running and you are online, download CPUz, Everest or SIW (perform an online search to find these free downloads).

With CPUz you will be able to determine the CPU specs
With Everest or SIW you will get valuable information on your entire system.

Harwdware specs, even model numbers will point us in the right direction.

 

[Syrillian]

Not compatible with BIOS...?

Hmmmm.... Perhaps there was a mis-communication, as I have never heard of such a dilemma.

More information would certainly give us something to work with so that we can assist you.

If you are comfortable with opening the case, do so. (I am assuming that you have limited experience, forgive me if I am being over-presumptuous). See if you can see manufacturers part numbers and revesion/version umbers on the:

Motherboard
Power Supply
Video Card (if applicable)

If the system is up and running and you are online, download CPUz, Everest or SIW (perform an online search to find these free downloads).

With CPUz you will be able to determine the CPU specs
With Everest or SIW you will get valuable information on your entire system.

Harwdware specs, even model numbers will point us in the right direction.

 

[Syrillian]

Not compatible with BIOS...?

Hmmmm.... Perhaps there was a mis-communication, as I have never heard of such a dilemma.

More information would certainly give us something to work with so that we can assist you.

If you are comfortable with opening the case, do so. (I am assuming that you have limited experience, forgive me if I am being over-presumptuous). See if you can see manufacturers part numbers and revesion/version umbers on the:

Motherboard
Power Supply
Video Card (if applicable)

If the system is up and running and you are online, download CPUz, Everest or SIW (perform an online search to find these free downloads).

With CPUz you will be able to determine the CPU specs
With Everest or SIW you will get valuable information on your entire system.

Harwdware specs, even model numbers will point us in the right direction.

 

[chickfilafan]

On the front there werent any stickers that were helpful. One does say AMD but it doesnt say anything else unless I didnt notice it. The case says Presario 6000 the only model number I found said: Creative labs SB0100. My step-dad said it was a $250 geforce card. But right before he said $250 he said it was $150 so I don't know which one it really is. I will see if I can get the computer working in a few minutes.

My experience in building a computer and where everything goes is limited. As for using one I would say I am slightly above average. But, I may just be average. I don't know.

 

[chickfilafan]

Ok, I downloaded cpuz. I dont have a wireless thing for the desktop so it cant go online. here are pictures of what cpuz said:

Sorry the pics are so small.

For the ram slots 1 & 2 are the same size.

How do I post the log file from siw?

 

[aliasaid]

lol from what i could make out from the pics... your comp is a socket A athlon xp running at 1.5 or 1.6 ghz.. (the p rating seems to be close to that as well..) and you have an agp 4X slot. if the card your stepdad bought was AGP, it should fit! give us more details on the geforce card...

 

[chickfilafan]

Here is some of what SIW said about the card:

AdapterCompatibility NVIDIA
AdapterDACType Integrated RAMDAC
AdapterRAM 256 MBytes
Availability 3
Caption NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500

 

[chickfilafan]

If I post more stuff from SIW, could someone tellme what all I should keep so I know what I shouldn't have to buy when I build my own computer? I know I am going to buy a new processor, motherboard, and hard drive I just dont know what kind yet.