Need help replacing old video card

English Hardware
#1

Hello,

My other PC failed to run OpenSUSE 13.2 with KDE, GNOME and Xfce, the system crashes immediately after every boot, and in most cases I get screen similar to this:

http://cdn.overclock.net/d/da/600x450px-LL-da083e37_Photo0778.jpeg

In other cases the system just freezed and didn’t respond at all.

Couldn’t manage to add the NVIDIA driver and see how it works.

Ubuntu MATE 15.04 worked only when Compiz mode was disabled, otherwise the system hanged. Ubuntu 14.04 crashes when using the Nouveau driver (get the same screen as the above), it works with the NVIDIA legacy driver v304 but the graphic performance and animations are choppy and fonts/text got blurred.

In order to be able to run OpenSUSE Leap 42.1 on this PC, obviously I need to change some hardware.

Here are the specs:

System:
Ubuntu 14.04
GNOME 3.8.4 (Ubuntu 2015-04-02)
Kernel 3.19.0-30-generic (#34~14.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 2 22:09:39 UTC 2015)
GCC Version: 4.8 (x86_64-linux-gnu)
Xorg version: 1.17.1 (13 May 2015 04:35:05AM)

CPU:
Vendor: AuthenticAMD
CPUs: 2
Model name: AMD Athlon™ II X2 240 Processor
Frequency: 1600.000 MHz
L2 cache: 1024 KB
Bogomips: 5625.55
Numbering: family(16) model(6) stepping(2)
Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm 3dnowext 3dnow constant_tsc rep_good nopl nonstop_tsc extd_apicid pni monitor cx16 popcnt lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw ibs skinit wdt hw_pstate npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save vmmcall

Memory:
Memory total: 2756 MiB, free: 72%
Swap total: 7284 MiB, free: 100%

HDD:
SCSI device: scsi2
Vendor: ATA
Model: Hitachi HDT72106

Motherboard:
NVIDIA nForce 630a

Graphic card:
NVIDIA GeForce 7025

Partitions of HDD:

  1. Ubuntu partition (/dev/sda6): 61gb (used 6.27gb)
  2. Ubuntu swap (/dev/sda5): 7.11gb
  3. NTFS partition (/dev/sda2) (no Windows): 527gb

Can I replace the video card only? If yes, can you recommend something?

Thanks in advance!

#2

Did you add “nomodeset” to the Boot-Options?

In Grub2 press e and add it at the End of the Boot-Line:

/boot/vmlinuz-4.2.3-6.g29faced-default root=UUID=d132c9d9-a8c5-4e11-bcf4-42ceb591cc3e video=1600x900 resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/5e6e20b1-15ec-4598-9d3d-efd0836aece2 splash=verbose quiet showopts nomodeset elevator=deadline

#3

That’s an onboard video card. If you need to replace some hardware, you’ll need a discrete video card. As for a recommendation, it all depends on your needs.

#4

What I need is to run Leap 42.1 with the latest KDE and perform common everyday tasks - web browsing, LibreOffice, Skype etc, watching movies and web video, youtube. I think that’s pretty much it. On this PC I don’t do any video editing or something heavier on the GPU.

I need an advice on what card would be compatible with Leap 42.1 KDE and will be able to run it well. Is every discrete GPU good for the job?

#5

I recommend a 930 or higher NVIDIA card. You will have to turn off the chip on the MB. I assume there is an option in the BIOS

#6

I would probably recommend you go with a Radeon HD 6450. It is more than enough card for your needs and it’s one of the cheapest. At ~$30, you can’t do a whole lot better. The only thing to make sure of is that your power supply can handle it.

#7

Thank you all!

I’ll try the HD 6450. oldtechaa](https://forums.opensuse.org/member.php/95802-oldtechaa), 1 gig or 2 gigs of ram?

#8

Rule of thumb is the more video RAM the better

#9

I would say for your needs you wont even use 1GB. But if 2GB is the same price or very very close, you might want to go for it.

I also would recommend you check back here and tell us your choice and provide a link before you buy.

#10

Sysinfo app showed the wrong motherboard. It’s not NVIDIA nForce 630a, it’s ASRock N68-S.
Here is a picture of my MB, if needed.](http://oi66.tinypic.com/vgj6n8.jpg)Here’s the video card I’ll eventually buy. They told me it’s the same as Radeon HD 6450.

This is my power supply: http://oi66.tinypic.com/33m5z49.jpg

Thanks!!!

#11

That should be fine. The power supply has got plenty of power, and the card has no 6 pin connector, so you’ll be fine.

#12

Using the new card now (HD 6450) with Leap 42.1 KDE, no complains at all :slight_smile:

Thank you all for help! Much appreciated!

Solved.