Hi, I'm looking for a graphics card for my Acer computer, and I was told to start here. I'll post my Bel-Arc specs, because I'm not sure what kind of graphics card slot I have. If anyone could suggest one that's not too expensive, but maybe mid-range (good enough for some of the newer video games), I'd really appreciate it
Operating System System Model
Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 (build 6001)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States) Acer Aspire M5100 R01-A3
System Serial Number: PTS870X073803092F72702
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
3.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded Board: Acer F690GVM
Bus Clock: 199 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 10/10/2007
Drives Memory Modules c,d
489.63 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
364.23 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
Slot 'A0' has 1024 MB
Slot 'A2' has 1024 MB
Slot 'A4' has 1024 MB
Slot 'A6' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 244.96 GB 119.70 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 0) 244.67 GB 244.53 GB free
Network Drives
None detected
Users (mouse over user name for details) Printers
local user accounts last logon
Joe Wagner 9/3/2009 11:39:29 AM (admin)
Lisa Wagner 6/22/2009 1:48:27 PM (admin)
local system accounts
Administrator 1/16/2008 2:55:46 PM (admin)
Guest never
Marks a disabled account; Marks a locked account
HP Photosmart C4380 series on USB001
HP psc 2200 Series on USB002
Microsoft XPS Document Writer on XPSPort:
Send To Microsoft OneNote Driver on Send To Microsoft OneNote Port:
Controllers Display
Standard floppy disk controller
IDE Channel [Controller] (4x)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (2x) ATI Radeon X1250 [Display adapter]
Acer P191W [Monitor] (19.1"vis, s/n LAY090116320, January 2008)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (5x) High Definition Audio Device
Realtek High Definition Audio
Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device
Virus Protection [Back to Top] new Group Policies
No details available None discovered
Communications Other Devices
Motorola SM56 Speakerphone Modem
6TO4 Adapter
Marvell Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
primary Auto IP Address: 192.168.0.2 / 24
Gateway: 192.168.0.1
Dhcp Server: 192.168.0.1
Physical Address: 00:1C:25:54C:0F
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Networking Dns Servers: 192.168.0.1
205.171.3.25
Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
HID-compliant consumer control device (2x)
HID-compliant device (2x)
USB Human Interface Device (2x)
HP psc 2200
HID Keyboard Device
Standard PS/2 Keyboard
HID-compliant mouse
PS/2 Compatible Mouse
HP PSC 2200 Series (DOT4USB)
USB Composite Device
USB Mass Storage Device (2x)
USB Printing Support
USB Root Hub (6x)
Generic volume shadow copy
Compact Flash
MS/MS-Pro
psc 2210xi
SD/MMC
SM/xD-Picture
>
> Hi, I'm looking for a graphics card for my Acer computer, and I was told
> to start here. I'll post my Bel-Arc specs, because I'm not sure what
> kind of graphics card slot I have. If anyone could suggest one that's
> not too expensive, but maybe mid-range (good enough for some of the
> newer video games), I'd really appreciate it
>
>
You can open the computer and look to see what kind of graphics slot you
have. That will be the most accurate and avoid guesses based upon the mostly
meaningless stuff you've listed.
Look on the Acer website for information about your model computer. It
should specify the card slot type. It may also indicate how much power can
be supplied to the video card.
It's most likely to be a PCI Express x16 slot, which is good news. You can
put in almost any current graphics card that you want to use. There are lots
of choices from ATI and nVidia on the market.
However, you must be aware of something before you buy...and this bears
repeating: Some cards (especially upper middle and high end cards) will
require a LOT of power. You could end up buying a card that won't work in
your computer because of its power demands. Consumer grade
computers--especially budget priced ones--oftentimes do not have large power
supplies, or even power supplies of particularly good quality.
Open your computer (it won't bite) and look inside to see what you have. If
you're going to spend the money on this, you might as well do it right.
There are two things you want to look at--the type of slot that is in there
now, and what--if anything--is in it. You can find pictures of graphics card
slots by doing an image search on any popular search engine. Also check the
rating on your power supply. It should be at *least* 350 watts if you expect
to get much in the way of a better graphics card.
Looking for a graphics card 
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