Help my computer not suck

[DeeBye]

You might be able to go a bit higher on the Radeon. Wholesale on the SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9200 128MB AGP8X (OEM) is Can$75, so you should be able to find it up there (London?) for around Can$100.

Firstly, what is the difference between a "retail" version and a "OEM" version of various computer parts? This has always baffled me.

Secondly, is there any particular London-area shop you might suggest I check out? Ideally, I want to bring in my case, buy a new card, and have them install and test it on the spot. A reasonable dealer's warrantee would be nice too, just in case it craps out early (a couple of months would be grand). I'm not 100% committed to buying a new card, though. I'd like to browse around a bit, and try to convince my wife we really need one.

you could go totally loony with the RADEON 9800PRO 256MB DDR AGP8X TVO + DVI (OEM) at Can$608.00.

That's more than what I paid for my current computer :huh:

Something you can check without opening up the box is the BIOS setting that should be in Advanced->Chip Configuration, "Video Memory Cache Mode". Default will be UC (uncacheable), you will see an improvement if the on-board chipset supports the other option USWC (uncacheable, speculative write combining). If the chipset does NOT support that setting, you may need to do a hard BIOS reset to get the system to boot :S, make sure you know where the BIOS reset jumper is before you try it.

I tried this, and I couldn't find the setting. I found Advanced alright, but there was no Chip Configuration (I even checked my mainboard docs to be sure it wasn't under a different option).

<offtopic>
During this adventure, I noticed a BIOS option to "automagically set all settings for high performance" (paraphrased, obviously). I did just that, rebooted, and promptly lost mouse support. It took me awhile and many reboots to figure out that I had to enable "USB Legacy Support" for my optical Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Web to work. I should know better than to mess with unknown BIOS settings.
</offtopic>

I've decided that I will try to mess around with my current video card (can I call an onboard video card a "card"? or is it a video chipset?) to see if I can push a little more out of it.

The first order of business is to track down the latest video drivers. This has proven to be a daunting process. I don't fully trust Windows Update to supply me with the latest drivers.

I found the website for S3Graphics easily enough. I downloaded their little utility to determine the EXACT video card I have.

Chip name: ProSavageDDR (420, 430)

I then hit their download page to track down the correct driver. Since the utility told me I had a ProSavageDDR (420, 430) chip, I selected the ProSavageDDR (420) Drivers (there was no 430 option).

Now I'm confused. These seem to be the latest drivers (released June 3, 2003):

• Logo'd: ProSavageDDR WindowsXP/2K version 13.94.12 w/Util
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• Logo'd: ProSavageDDR WindowsXP/2K version 13.94.12 Rotation
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• Logo'd: ProSavageDDR WindowsXP/2K version 13.94.12 TVLargeFont<>
  [st]
  Did I track down the correct drivers? Which one of the above should I use? I've experienced the pleasure of updating onboard video drivers before (with my old Intel 810e), so I know a bit about it. But it still scares me to HELL. I don't want to be left with a blank screen in the middle of the process.
  
  I need for someone to reassure me that this is an easy process, and that I have nothing to worry about. Also, supply me with a step-by-step procedure manual so I don't mess up. It's like giving birth, I suppose. If it works, its a beautiful and glorious moment. If it doesn't work....
  
  -DeeBye