I'm using a Biostar M7NCG 400 motherboard which has a built-in graphics card that only supports one monitor. Can I upgrade to another graphics card (such as a Matrox G450)? What do I do with the built-in graphics card if I fit another?
Webmaker
According to your motherboard's specification here, it has an AGP 8x slot which you can add another discrete graphics card. Like what you've mentioned, Matrox G450 is compliant to your motherboard's AGP slot. By the way, you need not worry about the existing integrated graphics card, you can disable its usage via BIOS while you are using the dedicated graphics card.
Last edited by mystzero on Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:17 pm; edited 1 time in total Thanks for you reply. You say I can disable the built-in graphics card via the BIOS. I know what a BIOS is - at least I think I do - but can you give me a clue as to what I do to disable the built-in graphics card via the BIOS?
Webmaker
Well, i am not really familiar with your motherboard's BIOS since i am not using the same model as yours. However, there are similarities. Enter BIOS by pressing DEL (most commonly) when your pc is doing the power-on-setup test during boot time. After that, you will be presented with a menu. Search for option like Onboard Peripherals. Subsequently, find for an option that defines integrated graphics. I think you should be able to disable it from there.
Note: It might be different from what i said, but it should be something similar.
Thanks. I was thinking of using a Matrox G450 PCI. You mentioned using the AGP 8x slot...is there any reason why I can't use a PCI slot (my Biostar motherboard has at least 1)?
Webmaker
Yes, you can use the conventional PCI slot as well. However, take note that the AGP bus has a higher speed as compared to the PCI bus. Therefore, AGP is recommended.
