need help please new to this

as the title says i have very limited knowledge of computers and how they work but i want to upgrade my graphics card to play the latest pc games and have a pretty high level of graphics. the card i have now i dont know actually what type it is but it is not very good as when i play rome total war ( older pc game ) the graphics are poor and there are some glitches aswell due to the graphics card. so firstly can anyone help me to find out what card i have and i have looked inside my motherboard but i cant seem to find the graphics card any help would be appreciated and what are the good graphics cards out there?

 

Well, how much do you want to spend?
Secondly, it's critical we know what slot your video card currently uses (PCI, AGP, PCI Express).

You can download a program called [google]Everest Home Edition[/google] and it will give you a run down of your system (it can do other things as well).

 

dunno

the connector plugged into your monitor is the grfx card but grfx may be integrated into your mobo, but your mobo may have an avalable slot for a grfx card, this can tell you what you have (i think

Edit: yeah, how much do you want to spend ?

 

the video card is called= VIA/S3G UNICHROME PRO IGP
and it goes in the slot= AGP

and im looking to spend no more than £100


thanks for your help so far

 

hold on, which AGP ?

 

im not sure just says Bus type: AGP

 

in PCWizard (url posted earlier) theres a screen (like attached) the system the screenshot was taken on had a PCI Express bus

 

yeah thats were i got AGP from thats all it says just AGP

here is excactly what it says

General Information :
Manufacturer : VIA Technologies Inc (Foxconn International Inc)
Model : VIA/S3G UNICHROME PRO IGP
Bus Type : AGP
Total Memory : 64 MB
Texture Memory : 93 MB
Processor : VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP
Converter : Internal
Refresh Rate (min/max) : 50/120 Hz

GPU Information :
Number of GPU : 1

Video Bios Information :
Date : 12/15/05
ID : 98.90.00.15

General Features :
Width : 320 mm
Height : 240 mm
Pixel per inch : 96x96 dpi
bits per pixel : 32
Colour Bits/Planes : 1
Brushes : 4294967295
Pens : 4294967295
Markers : 0
Device Fonts : 0
Device Colours : 4294967295
Clip Output to Rectangle : Yes
Hardware Acceleration : Yes

Raster Capabilities :
Banding : No
Transfer Bitmaps : Yes
Bitmap >64 KB : Yes
Fonts larger than 64 K : Yes
DIBs : Yes
DIBTODEV : Yes
Flood Fills : Yes
Scaling : No
StretchBlt : Yes
StretchDIB : Yes

Curves Capabilities :
Chord Arcs : Yes
Circles : Yes
Elipses : Yes
Interiors : Yes
Pie Wedges : Yes
Rounded Rectangles : Yes
Styled Borders : Yes
Wide Borders : Yes
Wide, Styled Borders : Yes

Lines Capabilities :
Interiors : Yes
Markers : Yes
Polylines : Yes
Polymarkers : Yes
Styled : Yes
Wide : Yes
Wide, Styled : Yes

Polygonal Capabilities :
Interiors : Yes
Alternate Fill Polygons : Yes
Winding Fill Polygons : Yes
Rectangles : Yes
Scan Lines : Yes
Styled Borders : Yes
Wide Borders : Yes
Wide, Styled Borders : Yes

Text Capabilities :
Stroke Precision : Yes
Stroke Clip Precision : Yes
90° Character Rotation : No
Any Angle Character Rotation : No
Independant X-Y Scaling : No
Double Weighted Characters : No
Italic : No
Underline : Yes
Strikeout : Yes
Raster Fonts : Yes
Vector Fonts : Yes

Color Management Capabilities :
CMYK : No
Gamma Ramp : Yes
ICM Device : No

 

are you 100% sure it isn't Integrated Grfx
Integrated Grfx Port

is the monitor (D-Type connector)
running horizontally or vertically and presumably your using a midi tower case

 

well the place were you put a ring around to show me before says: AGP
and yes i am using a midi tower case and i dont know what you mean by the monitor part

 

the plug that connects your monitor to your grfx (its called a D Type connector)

its probably AGP 8X, how old is your mobo and what make & model is your mobo ?

 

i have no idea about the D type connector sorry and i dont know what you mean by mobo ?

if you can tell me were to find each thing on the PC wizard 2006 i would put it up on here if thats not to much trouble

 

mobo = Motherboard

what Motherboard do you have, & i'll download the manual & answer all you questions

Edit: Make & Model please

 

is this your motherboard ? Click Here

if it is,
you have integrated grfx, sharing you RAM (64Mb max)
but the good news is you also have an AGP slot that is 8X / 4X, so upgrading you grfx you will first need to disable the onboard grfx

 

yes that is my mobo, what graphics card would you reccommend then?
i have about £80 to a £100 to spend

 

well before you install a new grfx card, you'll first need to disable the onboard (integrated) grafx (it may be disabled automatically, but disable it anyway, just to be sure, you disable it in the BIOS) when you have it disabled only then install the new grfx card

BTW: to avoid static damage to the system your messing inside, you will need an anti-static strap, or just touch an exposed metal part of your system case every minute, while your inside your system

i wouldn't like to recommend a grfx card, as i feel i don't know enough about the graphics market, i would recommend you ask Karnislove, Addis, Big B, Mega or any of the HWF gods, sorry