Detailed Help needed on Video Issues

Below are pertinent information on a computer I want to set up to run SL.

I have enough Memory and Processor speed to do the job.

The Video is where I am having issues. Please get down to the Video information where I will explain what I need help with.

Computer

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2


Motherboard

CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 1000 MHz (7.5 x 133)
Motherboard Name IBM 6648TBU
Motherboard Chipset Intel Solano i815E
System Memory 256 MB (SDRAM) PC133
BIOS Type IBM (03/01/02)

Display
Video Adapter Intel(R) 82815 Graphics Controller (32 MB)
3D Accelerator Intel i752

Ok, you made it down this far. I will now explain my video issues.

Issue one: The Intel 82815 only supports 24 bit color. SL needs 32 bit color in order to run. Yes, I obtained the most recent drivers. It is just the cheapo Integrated Graphics that IBM puts on their base model computer which is exactly that. Cheapo. It can't even support 32 bit color. I have seen 8 meg cards that support 32 bit color. Anyway. This means I will have to install a video card.

Issue two: The reason I gave all the specs. I need to know whether installing a new video card will automatically disable the onboard video. I restarted and went to the setup settings. They are extremely limited. I couldn't even change the boot sequence in the setup features. There is no way, in the settings, to disable the onboard graphics through the Bios that I can determine. So, I would need to know how to do that if it is neccessary.

Now, the question left is what Video Card to buy. It has to be a plain PCI card as there are no PCI express are AGP slots. Well there is one AGP. But, because of the way the computer is built there is no way to use it. Another brilliant IBM thought.

Ok, so these are the minimum video requirements.

Video/Graphics Card**:
nVidia GeForce 2, GeForce 4mx, or better
OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better

The system is only a 1 gig so I am looking to find something cheap along these requirements.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

SL min req is way outdated, triple it, 1ghz will give you about 5fps top (guess anyway)

Upgrading wouldnt really be worth it imo, withing a few months SL will give you issues, performance has gone down the drain last months,

min id recommend now
2ghz
1gig ram
nvidia 6600 -256mb ram

Wouldnt cost you alot really,
anything less youre looking at a laggy chatroom,

but if youre going for a pci card fx5200 nvidia is the only ones i could find -.- and their performance is pretty bad, and definatly min 1 gig ram,

I run SL on this pc right now
x2-4200
2gig ram
6800gt 256mb

and its medicore, right now it has the performance in SL as my 2 year old pc has.

Think anyone who start SL will get a "whoa laggy" after they leave the welcome place, then the lag will hit you like a rock, cant even compare -.-;

I had seen the card you mentioned while on either Tigerdirect or where you saw it, Newegg.

But, I am not ready to shell out 40 bucks for a video card for a computer I only payed $85 for not to long ago.

And I definitely will not be investing in any more memory. It would cost me $80 for 256 Meg chips. The limit on this Netvista is 512 MB.

Not even sure if I could upgrade the CPU because I have not been able to find any information on the motherboard. Motherboard Name The mother board is anIBM 6648-TBU. Any information on it would greatly be appreciated.

Also, I still need an answer to the question about disabling the Onboard Grpahics Card. I still have not been able to get the BIOS configuration if there is one. IBM is pretty bad about letting you make those kind of adjustments. They want you to buy a whole new computer instead.