How to Update Your Computer’s Video – It’s not as easy as it used to be .. or is it…By Mark Shapiro Are you happy with your computer? Does it do everything you want it to? Maybe you want to add a new video board or enable new video editing functions you don’t have right now. Maybe you want to convert your computer into a multimedia center machine, complete with the ability to play and record video like a Tivo or make its video screen look a lot prettier? Updating and adding extra boards to a personal computer used to be pretty straightforward. You went to the local electronics store or purchased an upgrade kit from a mail order or Internet supplier. You then just opened up your computer, found an open slot on the motherboard and slapped it in. After making few connections, installing the software and maybe making a few tweaks and changes to the bios settings, you were usually ready to go. Unfortunately things are a bit different now. It is a lot more complicated to add in a new board. Its not that the boards and software have changed much. No, in this case, it is because the computers have changed. In order to generate profits on entry-level computers, many manufacturers are now using motherboards with built-in video and graphics modules and not providing open slots for you to install add-in boards. In addition, you may have noticed that many computers are a lot smaller than they used to be. In addition to the standard tower and mini-tower cases, you now can find desktop and several varieties of small form factor and desktop/HPTC cases. These small size boxes can make it lot tougher to add now components. Many of the cases just don’t have the room inside that the older, larger full towers offer. Once again, this can put a crimp in your ability to add on and customize your computer. According to computer industry analysts Rob Enderle, “About 60% to 70% of computers sold to individuals and small businesses cannot handle a video card upgrade either because the box is too small or there are not extra slots for video cards on the motherboard. Because most customers are not asking for extra slots, manufacturers are not building them in.” The Graphic Board Conundrum Many new graphics and video boards used for gaming, improved video performance, video editing and personal video recording require AGP or PCI Express connector slots to the motherboard. Many inexpensive computers now found on store shelves or offered in the big splashy ads in your local newspaper don’t offer those slots. In fact, some don’t even offer open older PCI slots either. So what is the Solution? You have several options. One is to make sure that when you go shopping for a new computer, and you think you might want to soup it up with a high powered video board, that you careful do your research first. Think about what add-on boards you might want to add in and carefully check their requirements before you go shopping. Make sure that the motherboard inside your new computer has the requisite interface slots. Also make sure the case you are getting has both the extra space and the extra power requirements to handle these upgrades. Some of graphic and video editing cards require their own power connection to run their high-powered processors and cooling fans. For example, I had a screamer video board that I wanted to remove from my old computer and then install into a new one. I also had a new audio card and a new HDTV tuner card that I wanted to install. I wanted to upgrade to a newer system that had more power, more speed, more oomph. Plus I wanted to start using the new SATA storage capabilities to improve the speed and efficiency of my hard drives. When I visited a few local electronics stores, I discovered that most of their affordable and pre-made computers from major manufacturers like HP, Dell, IBM and Compaq came with motherboards that would not accept my older video boards or even some of the newer boards. It wasn’t hopeless. I had a choice of getting a more expensive pre-built “enterprise” level box or I could opt to have a computer made to order. I would need to pick out a motherboard that offered a variety of interface slots including AGP, PCIx (PCI eXtended) and PCI Express and then get a computer built around that. I ended up walking out of there and visiting a smaller computer shop that custom-made my computer to order. My new computer now has PCI Express, AGP and PCI Slots. It can handle almost anything. What are these slots and what are the differences? PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) has been around for a while and is probably the most common input – output connector or bus found in today’s computers. Regardless of video bus, most computers also have several PCI slots for adding in new boards and functions. Many years ago, PCI replaced the original ISA bus connectors on personal computers. On a personal computer, there are only a limited number of what are known as hardware interrupts (IRQs), and the PCI bus is designed to share them. This means that by using PCI buses, you don’t need to set the IRQs for specific devices like you had to do with the older ISA bus machines. ISA bus is very rare nowadays so you shouldn’t ever have to experience this issue. AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) is a high-speed 32-bit port used for attaching a video display adapter to a PC. More effective than PCI for video, it provides a direct connection between the video card and memory. You usually only found one AGP slot on the motherboard. AGP was introduced as a higher-speed alternative to PCI display adapters, and it freed a PCI slot for another peripheral device. The brown AGP slot is slightly shorter than the white PCI slot and is located about an inch farther back. AGP is quickly being replaced by the newer and faster PCI Express.
Occasionally you may find what are known as PCIx slots. PCIx is not PCI Express. PCIx is an enhanced PCI bus technology that is backward compatible with existing PCI cards. PCI and 32-bit PCI-X slots are physically the same, and PCI cards can plug into PCI-X slots. PCI-X cards will run in PCI slots, but at the slower PCI rates. The 64-bit PCI-X slots are longer. First introduced in 1999, PCI-X offered increased speed over PCI and has steadily increased to more than 30 times that of the original PCI bus. The current state of the art for video cards is PCI Express or PCX. This is a high-speed peripheral connection technology that Intel introduced in 2002. Initially used for high-speed display adapters, and intended to eventually replace the PCI and AGP buses entirely, PCI Express was designed to match the higher speeds of today's CPUs. It can accommodate Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet and even support chip-to-chip transfers.
Remember – even though it is sometimes abbreviated "PCX," PCI Express is not the same as "PCI-X". As a result of the confusion, "PCI-E" or "PCIE" are the correct abbreviations when you go shopping for a new computer or video board.
As you can see, matching up add-in boards and your computer can be a bit difficult, You need to take the time to know the specifications of your boards and of your computer’s motherboard before you head down to the computer store with your check book in hand. It is easy to make a mistake. Trying to squeeze the wrong type of add-in board into the wrong type or wrong size of connector slot can be disastrous for your computer, for the board, and for your pocketbook. Take your time and read the specifications. Analyst Rob Enderle recommends that if you do decide to upgrade, after checking to make sure the box is big enough and you have the right slots, make sure you stay with a major card manufacturers like MSI, ATI, Asus, Biostar, etc. using chips from the major graphics chip companies ATI or nVidia. The cards manufactured by smaller companies may not have been tested with the latest operating systems and/or the most common computer brands and models. In addition, if you plan on doing several upgrades, try to stay with the same manufacturer. For example, if you want to upgrade your audio system as well as your video, get your audio and video cards from the same maker if possible. Connecting Power Another issue is power. Some of the more powerful video display boards run so hot that they have their own onboard cooling system that requires power. This means that you need a power supply that not only has an extra power connector but also provides the additional wattage to operate the add-in board. Luckily, most power computers can handle this. However, if you do have an “entry level” computer that you picked up for a just a few hundred bucks, you ought to check the power rating before you try to upgrade to a power hungry board. You need at least 300 watts or better. Changing Bios settings You also need to pay attention to the instructions when you decide to install a new board, especially if it is one that is replacing an existing board or an integrated module built on the motherboard. Many motherboards now ship with integrated audio and video modules. If you wish to upgrade, you will need to go into the bios setting on your computer and switch the audio and/or video settings to work with the new device you have installed. For instance, after I physically installed a new Diamond Extreme sound audio card, I then had to go to the BIOS CMOS and disable the existing integrated audio device. When I finished booting the computer, Windows found and installed the new device. External Upgrades All the above may sound confusing and tiny bit scary. There are other ways of making your computer do better video and video editing tricks. Instead of opening up your computer, you can use external boxes that connect to your computer via either Firewire or USB 2,0 connectors. In addition to being a lot easier to connect and set up, using an external box has a few other benefits as well. They are easier to share to move from one computer to another when you want to upgrade. Simply unplug the connector cable from one and re-connect the cable to the new box. Install the software. Pretty easy. Also, as these connect via USB or Firewire, often you can use the same box with computers with different operating systems. Assuming the manufacturer provides the software for both Macs and Windows machines, you should be able to use the same external device with both. The negative of using external boxes is that you will now have yet another electronic device taking up space on your desk or computer table. Also, these external boxes need to be powered. This means a plug into a wall socket or another power converter sitting behind your computer workstation area. Here is a small sampling of some devices that you can use – Analog to Digital Converters enable you to convert the your analog video from an older 8mm or VHS camcorder or VHS and input it into your computer – usually via a Firewire cable. ADS-Tech has a nice selection to choose among. An external TV Tuner box enables you to watch TV on your computer. You plug your cable connection into the box and then run the USB cable from the box into your computer. You can get these from ADS-Tech, ATI, Hauppauge, Pinnacle, Star Tech and others. Many of these TV Tuner boxes also function as Personal Video Recorders or PVRs, enabling you to record your favorite shows onto your computer’s hard drive and then playing it back when ever you want. Most of these are for Windows machines, but if you use a Mac computer, Hauppauge offers a USB connected TV Tuner – Personal Video Recorder device for Macs. MultiScreen adapters – Matrox recently announced its DualHead2Go device for laptops computers. According to Matrox, this is the only external box that enables you to power multiple monitors from a single computer video output and stretch your screen across two or three monitors. Pretty cool. Links Hauppauge Mac Products - http://www.eskapelabs.com/products.html Hauppauge Windows products http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/prods_usbs.html Matrox www.matrox.com
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