new graphics card

[reaper]

hello there

i need some help if anyone knows the score with the graphics cards in vaio desktops do you have to send it back to sony or something coz even the open pci slots are like impossible to open ....... i want to get the matrox parhelia but am worried it will cost me loads to get it sorted out and when you restore the system it has the nvidia stored in its memory so would'nt that cause problems aswell .......... any have any advice i would be xtremely grateful

thanks ben

[grahambird80]

"i need some help if anyone knows the score with the graphics cards in vaio desktops do you have to send it back to sony"

No you do not need to send it to sony.

"open pci slots are like impossible to open

Make sure that your taking the case off the computer and not trying to get at the slots from the back. What model of computer do you have? most of the new white towers have 4 screws holding the outer case on at the back.

The older blue cases come apart by removing the top cover first (this is done using the 2 clips on the back of it) once that is off they you should be able to remove the side pannel easly. I am sure that you can find a article on this site on how to do it.

The new silver/gray cases just have slide off pannels that are released from the back with two clips.

Your sony should use an AGP slot for its graphics card. You will need to remove your current card and replace it with the new one.

The AGP slot will probabuly have a little clip at the end of the slot (nearest the front of the computer) all you need to do is push or pull this to the side to pull the card out.

You will also need to make sure that you have unscrewed the plate at the back of the computer that holds the back of the card in place.

"i want to get the matrox parhelia but am worried it will cost me loads to get it sorted out"

Are you going to use this card for gameing? If so i would suggest going for an ATi or Nvida card. Because you can get a 9600XT 256 by sapphire for about a £100 less than the matrox. And they will give you much better gaming performace, or are you looking for dual DVI monitor use?

"when you restore the system it has the nvidia stored in its memory so would'nt that cause problems aswell"

The nvida drivers will be installed but should not cause a problem as when the system starts up after a restore windows will see that a differnt card is installed and install standard windows drivers. You will need to unstall the nvida drivers and then install the new graphics card drivers.

[reaper]

thanks for your help, and i am using the matrox parhelia for video editing ......i wasnt to bothered about the price of the actual card its self but the money it would have cost me to get someone to install it but thanks to you thats now sorted ......i have one of the grey models -------model pcv-rs224 product name pcv-2226

thanks again ......