Number 288 - May 2007
Video For Vista
by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@comcast.net,
Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.


   Adapting to a new operating system such as Microsoft's Vista can be a frustrating experience, but you can avoid aggravation with a little forethought. Study Vista's requirements, and see how much it differs from what you have installed on your present system. Then decide if you want to upgrade, buy new or leave well enough alone. Vista requires somewhat more memory and storage space than XP, but that's the easy part. Most of us already have enough hard disk space, and memory is cheap and easy to install.

   If any component of your present equipment is lacking, it's likely to be the video card. Vista is very demanding when it comes to graphics. If your PC is two years old or less, it's not ready for the garbage dump. It should run Vista without any glitches. Older laptops will probably not be able to run Vista, especially if your machine can't handle anything higher than XP home edition.

   Computers equipped with Windows Media Edition are almost certainly home free, but you may want to upgrade the video card anyway to take advantage of Vista's greater capabilities. Installing a new graphics card can deliver more noticeable improvements in performance than any other hardware enhancement. Graphics integrated with the motherboard won't cut it. A relatively powerful graphics card is necessary to take full advantage of what Vista has to offer.

   Video game developers are salivating over the detail they'll be able to show with DirectX 10, which won't run on anything except Vista. DirectX is the tool that renders 3-D graphics. Your video card must be capable of handling at least DirectX 9. Version 9 was released back in 2002, so your system is likely to support it. If you don't know what video card is installed in your computer, perform the following steps:

  • Choose Properties.


  • Right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop.


  • On the dialog box that appears, click the Hardware tab.


  • Click the Device Manager button.


  • Double click the line that says Display Adapters.


    •    If you want more detail about your system, go to http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html and download the free Belarc Advisor.


       You need to determine how your video card connects to your motherboard. Older systems use AGP slots. The newer PCI Express slots are much better than AGP, and the two are not interchangeable. Either one will work well with Vista. The important thing is to get an AGP card if that's what your system supports or a PCI Express card if your motherboard has PCIe slots.

       Please, please, please buy a video card with a DVI connection if your monitor has a Digital Video Interface. The difference between DVI and a standard hook-up can be spectacular. Don't wimp out on this opportunity to boost your video quality.

       Would you like to use your computer to capture video from a TV signal or VHS? You can buy a graphics card that supports TV video capture or you can buy a new machine with Windows Media Edition pre-installed and save yourself a lot of head-scratching.

       If you want all the non-essential but engaging features (bells and whistles), get a video card with at least 128 Megabytes of Video RAM. Get 256 Megabytes if you don't mind springing for the extra cash. More memory means better performance.

       Finally, you're going to need something called a Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM). Stop sweating, it's included with Vista. Any video card that's labeled as Vista compatible should work, but check the manufacturer's web site to be certain. Links to video card manufacturers can be found at www.microsoft.com. It's worthwhile spending a few extra minutes to confirm that the card you have in mind really does work with Vista.

       While you're at it, upgrade your memory to 2 Gigabytes of DDR2 or DDR3 RAM. DDR3 is more expensive than DDR3, but faster memory has always meant faster performance and DDR3 is no exception.

       If you have a flat panel display larger than nineteen inches, if you are a serious game player, if you do a lot of video editing, or if you like to watch movies and TV programs on your PC, buy the best video card you can afford. It will be worth it.

       Oh yes, install at least one hard drive with a minimum of 250 Gigabytes of storage. :

       Copyright 2007. This article is from the February 2007 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication.
      Number 288 - May 2007