Intel r g33 g31 express chipset family

[peggyb]

My video card integrated into my Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset is acting up and I am thinking of buying a video/graphics card rather than replace the motherboard. The salesman at Dell suggested I buy a 1G Radeon video card for $149.00 but I really don't want to spend that much money. I don't play games- I just use the internet.

I don't know if the 1G represents memory or speed or what memory or speed was on my Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset video card. I have an empty PCI slot.
Any suggestions?

 

[madtech01]

An entry level Graphics card from nvidia or AMD would probably solve your video issues. no clue what the "1G" stands for from dell, they may be trying to sell you a video card with 1 GB of memory on it.

that 149.00 is way to much though for your needs.

Check out this card from gigabyte with an nvidia chip-set on it.
its the GT 520
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125374

or check out this card from gigabyte with and AMD chip-set on it.
its the HD 6450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125377

Both of these cards would perform better than you integrated graphics on the motherboard and do the computer basics with no problems.

I picked the Gigabyte cards because they come with a 3 year warranty on them since the lifetime warranty companies seem to have gone out of business or stopped offering them.

 

[nutcase_63]

Is your motherboard agp or pci-e?
Dell advises you a 1 gig radeon so most likely its pci-e.
As madtech suggests,a vidcard 20-40$ will do for your needs,(nvidia gt220,240 etc)
1gig radeon is way overkill.

 

[rockyjohn]

At the low end, you should be able to get by with a video card for $35 or less - see the recommended non-gaming video cards here along with a brief description of what you would be purchasing:

http://www.upgradevideocards.com/nongaming.html

You could get the low end card model, the ASUS HD 5450, for only $20 after rebate with free shipping. While virtually useless for gaming it would probably run circles around your onboard video.

What model Dell do you have?
What size is the PSU?

The low end cards are low power- but you should double check to make sure you PC has enought power for it or faster cards.

If you get your specs and see what your graphics processor is, you can use the THG hiearchy chart to see how it ranks with discrete vide cards (if the integrated GPU is listed):

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997-7.html

The integrated graphics cards are listed in column three and you will find them near the bottom of the list since they are slow, matched mostly with discrete cards that are several generations old and discontinued years ago.

 

[peggyb]

I want to thank all who replied; I will research my options, but I feel more confident with several opinions. i am hesitant to select best answer since I need to check all of the answers out. My PC has 4 G ram- it is a Dell Inspiron 530 with a full size case. I have a spare PCI slot. My processor is 2.20 gigahertz Intel Celeron 450 & 320 G hard drive and a spare storage hard drive. I have Windows XP professional SP3. I am getting ready to install a larger hard drive.

 

[rockyjohn]

Your Dell 530 comes with a 300w PSU - which is better than many low end PCs. It should be adequate for installing a low end video card like you want, but if you ever consider adding a larger video card you should also upgrade the power supply at the same time.

 

[peggyb]

Your Dell 530 comes with a 300w PSU - which is better than many low end PCs. It should be adequate for installing a low end video card like you want, but if you ever consider adding a larger video card you should also upgrade the power supply at the same time.

Thanks