Home > Articles > Home & Office Computing > Microsoft Windows Vista & Home Server

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Bigger, Better Video Card

One surprising quirk about Windows Vista is its increased demands on the video adapter. That's because the new Aero interface offers a dynamic desktop, thumbnail and taskbar previews, and glasslike windows. This puts big demands on the graphics processor or GPU.

To run Vista, your graphics adapter must at a minimum be compatible with Microsoft's DirectX 9 technology, which is a set of Windows tools and components inside the operating system that drive what you see on the screen. That said, Vista ships with DirectX 10, which runs on DX9-compatible video adapters today. In the future, new generations of video cards will be able to harness new 3D features employed by DX10.

What You'll Need

Hardware-wise, if you want to run Vista Ultimate, you'll need a video card that has at least 128 megabytes of video RAM or VRAM (see Figure 4.8). I would argue that a machine with a video card with a minimum of 256MB of VRAM is really what you should be aiming for.

Figure 4.8

Figure 4.8 With Vista, you'll need a video card with 128MB of VRAM or more, like this ATI Radeon X1900. (Photo courtesy of ATI.)

In my Dell desktop machine, I run an nVidia GeForce 6800 card with 512MB of VRAM, and on the release version of Vista Ultimate, I've so far had no problem with what I see on display.

If your current system has a graphics adapter that's integrated directly onto the motherboard, your quickest way to get better graphics performance is to add a separate graphics card into your system.

Not all machines will have an expansion slot. An old 2.8GHz budget machine I bought from Dell a year or so ago doesn't have a graphics card expansion slot, so that machine is better used with Windows XP.

Determining DirectX on XP

You can find out what version of DirectX your XP (or older) system uses by clicking Start, Run, and then typing dxdiag (see Figure 4.9) and clicking OK.

Figure 4.9

Figure 4.9 Use the dxdiag utility to figure out what version of DirectX your old system is running. This Pentium III computer uses DX8.1.

If a dialog box pops up, asking whether it's OK to run the program, click Yes. When the DirectX diagnostic console pops up, look for the last item on the System Information list on the System tab. It will report what version of DirectX you're running.

On the Display tab, you'll see info about your video adapter, including the make, model, and approximate video memory (see Figure 4.10).

Figure 4.10

Figure 4.10 This Pentium III computer has a paltry 8MB of VRAM and is not suitable for any flavor of Vista.

It will list N/A if your computer uses graphics that are integrated onto the motherboard, because integrated graphics adapters don't have their own memory; they share the system RAM with the CPU.

Click through the other tabs (or click Next Page repeatedly) to get more information on your system, including audio specs.

If you want to run the Aero interface in Vista, you may need to upgrade your video card. So check to see whether there's a card slot inside your system that's available for an upgrade card or that your existing card already occupies.

It's worth remembering that a higher-end graphics card will consume more power. If your computer's power supply unit is already stretched to the limit, your system performance may become unreliable as the power requirements peak inside the computer. If you've upgraded or added other components in the machine since you bought it—like a second hard drive or DVD drive—and you haven't upgraded from the stock power supply that came with the machine, you might run into power problems if you upgrade to a Vista-compatible graphics card.

If this is the case, you may either steel yourself to install a larger power supply, or instead you may now be seeing the merits of saving for a new Vista-configured machine.

Upgrading Your Graphics Card: The Nitty Gritty

If you go ahead with a video card upgrade, you'll need to match the card with your motherboard. The standard graphics card interface over the last number of years was AGP (short for Accelerated Graphics Port), but newer machines use a new slot called PCI Express (PCI-X).

It's important to make sure not only that you get a card with the right interface, but also that your motherboard is compatible with the card that you get. You'll often see a multiplier rating beside the AGP interface, such as "AGP 8x." Some of the newer, faster graphics cards may not be compatible with older motherboards.

Check the specifications of your motherboard to see what type of graphics card it can handle. A system or motherboard manual or manufacturer's website should be able to tell you. Also investigate in the system specs what the maximum speed of that card can be.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020