How can I tell what cards my BIOS will support?

[chrislake]

Hi,
I'm currently running a Gateway 700 series, P4 2.4 GHz, and MSI GeForce 4 Ti4200. A few months ago I ordered a video card, I think it was an ATI X9600 512MB card, tried to install it, but failed. I couldn't get any video on the monitor at all, even during boot. So I put my old card back in and contacted Gateway.

They told me that the card wasn't compatible with my BIOS. I was able to send the card back to them without a problem.

I'd like to upgrade my video card, to at least a 256MB size, and don't really understand how I can tell if the card will "work." From running Everest (AIDA 32), I know that I have AGP 4x running and enabled. And, most new AGP cards are 4x/8x. Is there anything else I need to look for?

I'm just trying to extend the life on a 4-year-old machine before biting a bullet and building my own. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks for the help.

Chris

[Rob]

I'm a little surprised this is such a problem. I suggest checking with Gateway technical support before purchasing a new video card. If they don't know then you'll just have to give it a try. Since your old video card was an NVIDIA type model, you may have better luck upgrading to another NVIDIA type model.

It's always a good idea to be using GoBack when doing this type of upgrade.

[chrislake]

Thanks for the info; I'll try again with them. I suspect that there is no good reason why the card I bought wouldn't work (I did buy it from Gateway), but that there's either something wrong with the card, or that I didn't properly wipe the old drivers before starting again.

Will acquire GoBack before I try another one. Thanks for that too, and I'll let you know how I go.

Chris