Oh no....computer commits mutiny!

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Have you opened up the case and looked inside? Sounds as though you might not have ever done so,..?
Anyway, now is a good time to take a look under the hood, and give it a good cleaning with some canned air. The number 1 problem with PC components is heat. And when fans and heat sinks get clogged with dust, it eventually kills those components.
Here is a good deal on a nice video card from Newegg. Maybe not state of the art, but not too shabby and EVGA is a good brand.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130534
Also, here is a bit of a tutorial for installing a card.http://www.build-my-home-computer.com/best-video-cards.html
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM if you have questions.

 

[Talbot]

Thanks for the pics. As the Major has confirmed, your graphics are driven from the motherboard. You might get away with a replacement graphics card, but the risk is that the overheating problem might not just be confined to the display part of the motherboard.

If you are going to go this way, get a low/average spec card so you limit your cash risk. Also, the card has to match the connector type on the motherboard.

You might not need to get into the BIOS settings - it might auto detect. My last motherboard had on board graphics, but when I plugged in a videocard it auto detected and ran like a champ.

P.S. Not sure aboutthe age of your system. Just while I'm thinking about it, check if your monitor takes a digital signal (DVI) or VGA.

The VGA connector has three rows of pins (I think 15 of them - perhaps someone can assist here), the DVI connector has a few more and they are arranged in two groupings (sorta). Show a pic if you'd prefer.

 

[TM]

Here is a link to the HP site: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=424215&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us

You can download pdf manuals from that site. It has an AGP 8X slot for a video card. newegg.com has a number of them: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?N=1069609639&Submit=ENE

Looks like it's an A620n not a 620n. That machine was introduced in 2004, so it's getting quite old now. You can pick up a newer machine pretty cheep these days, but avoid Windows 8 - Windows 7 really is superior.

Tony

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Wow, an AGP slot! Had no idea it was that old. Anyway, here is a pic of an AGP compared to the PCI Express I mentioned earlier, to help you to identify the proper slot for any video card you may opt to purchase.

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[John in Covina]

Ithink that belarc on the web can be used to read your PC

 

[Talbot]

Here is a link to the HP site: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=424215&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us

You can download pdf manuals from that site. It has an AGP 8X slot for a video card. newegg.com has a number of them: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?N=1069609639&Submit=ENE

Looks like it's an A620n not a 620n. That machine was introduced in 2004, so it's getting quite old now. You can pick up a newer machine pretty cheep these days, but avoid Windows 8 - Windows 7 really is superior.

Tony

Agreed. I made the mistake of 'upgrading' Win7 to Win8. Took it off after 3 days....