Suggestion for Graphics/Video card

bdr42023 · 29 Dec 2010

Hello Seven Forum,

I recently upgraded my Acer Veriton M410 to Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. I guess I got overly excited and didnt do the neccessary legwork. I have two issues. I need to find a video card that can do dual monitors. I have a PCI/PCIE x16 slot that i can use. My drawback is the power supply which is 250W.

I currently have a x1200 ATI card which doesnt support 7 64 bit. Any suggestions would be greatly apprecaited. My proc is an AMD Athlon x2.

The second issue is i have no sound. it says "no audio output device is installed". I have gone into the device control to tweak the settings. uninstalled/reinstalled it but with no success.

Thank you for your help.

BDR

bassfisher6522 · 29 Dec 2010

For a decent GPU you will need a decent PSU. On the PSU I would use at least a 500 watt. This will get you in the lower end of the Highend GPU's like (ATI 4xxx) series. The key to the GPU is set by the PSU, the higher wattage the better the GPU, as a general rule. Next is your budget, for $100 to $150, you could do very well on both.
For your sound issue, check your device manager for driver issues. Download the latest sound driver from Acers website. Here is your spec sheet.
Acer Support - Veriton M410 Specifications
Looking threw that I see you have Realtek for you audio. Check there support/download section for the 64 bit driver and download and install it.

IggyAZ · 29 Dec 2010

bassfisher6522 said:

For a decent GPU you will need a decent GPU. On the PSU I would use at least a 500 watt. This will get you in the lower end of the Highend GPU's like (ATI 4xxx) series. The key to the GPU is set by the PSU, the higher wattage the better the GPU, as a general rule. Next is your budget, for $100 to $150, you could do very well on both.
For your sound issue, check your device manager for driver issues. Download the latest sound driver from Acers website. Here is your spec sheet.
Acer Support - Veriton M410 Specifications
Looking threw that I see you have Realtek for you audio. Check there support/download section for the 64 bit driver and download and install it.

Thanks Bassfisher for your outstanding answer about having sufficient power supply. Many folks just buy a video card and wonder why it doesn't preform well.

Super answer.

bobkn · 29 Dec 2010

I'm not sure that you need a new graphics card. Your X1200 doesn't have full Win7 (WDDM 1.1) drivers, but the newest listed drivers:

ATI Catalyst

are for Vista (WDDM 1.0). I think that Aero Glass effects should be complete with them.

As for the audio drivers, as IggyAZ points out, uou have a Realtek ALC888 audio chipset. I suggest trying the HD Audio drivers directly form Realtek:

Realtek

They list the ALC888 as supported under Win7 X64.

As regards a possible new graphics card, yes, you might not meet the recommended requirements with a 250W PSU. The lowest-end DX11 card that I know of is the Radeon 5450; even that wants a 400W supply.

bdr42023 · 05 Jan 2011

Thank you for the suggestions. After much deliberation with upgrading my PSU and/or getting a super high end video card, I rolled the dice on an Nvidia GE 6200 512 PCI card. and this did the trick.

I am still having issues with the "no audio device is installed" but am downloading the drivers and will take it from there.

Thank you again for your help.

BDR.