Hello - I am hoping someone can help. I need to replace my graphics card, but not sure if I should replace using the same model or a different one.
Here is some background info:
I recently installed a scanner (that I had installed prior on the same pc and had setup for over a couple years -- but uninstalled at a certain point). After I re-installed the scanner, my screen went scrambled and the characters looked like unrecognizable glyphs. My pc then rebooted in a continuous loop. I was able start in safe mode and copied over all my files and tried to uninstall the scanner and reformat from a previous date. However, it never solved anything so I reformatted from the backup discs, but the issue continued to happen.
I was able to turn off the auto reboot, so that I could get the blue screen error which gives me the "ati2dvag" message. I looked online and show that this is a common problem that requires the video card driver to be updated/reinstalled. However, because the reformat didn't work, I never got to the initial setup so now my pc won't even let me into safe mode anymore. I can only get into the BIOS.
It seems like the only thing I replace the video card. The ATI Radeon X300 is now an outdated model, so not sure if I should search for a used replacement or just a card that is comparable or better. My concern is that if I tried to get a better card that my power supply cannot support it and I will most likely be increasing my hard drive space also and not sure how much I should allot for my power supply (and I will not be buying a new power supply).
If anyone can provide any insight or suggestions I greatly appreciate it. Here are my specs.
Model: Sony VIAO VGC-RB44G
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Processor:
- Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 640 with Intel®
Hyper-Threading Technology (3.20GHz1 , 2MB L2 Cache)
Front Side Bus Speed: 800MHz
Chipset: Intel® 915G
Memory: 2GB (512MB x 4)
Hard Drive: 250GB2 7200rpm Serial ATA Hard Drive
Graphics:
- ATI Radeon® X300
- 128MB DDR SDRAM
- Graphics Interface
- VGA-Out/DVI-D/TV-Out
- x16 PCI Express slot
Power Requirements:
- Min. 305W
- 100-120V 7A, 200-240V 3.5A (50/60Hz)
Power Managment: ACPI 1.0 Compliant
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