Graphic Card Drivers

[alexbluewave]

I got a bit of a problem with my graphic card drivers lately. Perhaps you have heard of it, it's called Star Wars The Old Republic. My graphic card driver seems to not be able to handle it which was told by a customer support agent of SWTOR. I experienced "blurred" colors in game and found myself unable to play. I went to my device manager and tried to update them, there already updated so I was wandering where and how to get a new graphic driver or some kind of online upgrade thingy. This would really help, thanks!

[Jake55778]

Well if your card was produced by one of the big two; namely Nvidia or ATI, then you'll likely find up to date drivers on their respective websites. Although often the most recent drivers are also the least stable, so it may turn out to be less a case of updating and more a case of downgrading depending on the specifics of the card setup and the game.
There are a couple of ways to find out what card you have if you're unsure. The easiest way IMO is to right click your desktop and select resolution options, then click advanced settings and it should list your adapter information under the first tab (windows 7).

[alexbluewave]

I'm pretty sure it's not ether of those. Like I said above there already fully updated. Do I have to go to Best Buy or some retail place to get a new card? Or can I just get them online?

[Jake55778]

Yours in an integrated card, meaning it's built into the computer's motherboard. Would I be right in think you're using a laptop? The vast majority of laptops won't allow you to upgrade the graphics card, and the ones that do offer only a very limited selection at increased cost.

If you're using a desktop then upgrading is more feasible, however there may still be obstacles. If the system is prebuilt (as in bought fully assembled from a store rather than selecting components yourself) then it will likely only include a power supply unit capable of running what's currently in the system, with very little room for expansion. The motherboard may also feature an older PCI bus not intended for housing modern graphics cards. And of course cooling may become an issue if the case is small or has poor airflow. From personal experience upgrading a store bought PC is generally more hassle than it's worth. You may end up having to replace multiple components to get everything fully compatible and the costs can quickly spiral upwards. In some cases it may even be easier just to rebuild a new machine from scratch and salvage whatever parts possible from the old one.

Basically upgrading your hardware is not something I'd recommend in your situation. Although it's always worth educating yourself on how to assemble PC components, you can save yourself a lot of money and future hassle by building a PC yourself vs buying premade.

If you ever do decide to build a PC from scratch my biggest tip would be: Futureproof your motherboard, casing, and power supply. It can be very tempting to blow half your budget on that top of the line CPU/GPU but having a solid base lets you swap out the flashier components without having to worry about compatibility, power requirements, or physical space inside the casing. Plus replacing a motherboard is probably the most hassle of any component.

[alexbluewave]

It's a laptop. I understand that it's very hard to install a hardware instead. I'm pretty sure that getting someone who has the proper level of skill I could find easily. I'm not currently sure if I should just think about buy a new desktop or laptop vs. getting a few new hardware upgrades in my laptop.

[Jake55778]

It's not just a case of difficulty, although it is certainly harder to install upgrades on a laptop, unless you have a very specific type of laptop upgrades will almost always be limited to RAM and HDD swaps; things that won't drastically affect your performance for gaming. The CPU in a laptop is built into the motherboard and cannot be removed, and in the vast majority of cases the same is true for the GPU.

Ultimately laptops just aren't well suited to gaming. By the time you have one with enough power to properly run modern games you have a laptop that weighs a ton, costs a fortune, and can't operate for more than a half hour without being plugged in to an electrical socket. Essentially at that point you've negated a laptop's only real advantage over a desktop: portability.

If you're considering buying/building a desktop then consider what it is you need it for and what kind of budget you'll be working with. There's no point building a top of the line rig just to surf the internet and play Minecraft. If it's just gaming you're after then a laptop + a console may be a more economical solution. If you're dead set on PC gaming and/or need the added power for other applications (video editing, 3D modeling, or any kind of intensive rendering) then consider things like futureproofing: are you willing to spend extra today to ensure that upgrading later is easier/cheaper?

[BlackKnight]

Firstly for future reference you would probably be better of using dxdiag for information regarding your hardware. To run it just click start and type in dxdiag and hit enter. Then you can click save all information and put that along with whatever problems you may have in the future. Helps the techy types find potential causes much quicker because your specifications of your hardware is always the first thing asked.

OT: If you getting 'blurred colours' it doesn't sound like you require a physical upgrade. To me it seems like their is some sort of incompatibility on the software side of things. Looking around I have found a case where there has been blurry textures which could be related to what your experiencing. The fix was this "finding swtor.exe in the game's install director, right-clicking it, opening its Properties, navigating to the Compatibility tab, and checking the box labeled Run as Administrator". Hopefully that might be able to help you out, if not then you may end up needing an upgrade. For this side of things if you want to keep your current laptop there are some external graphics cards that are available. However I wouldn't recommend this as they are overpriced. Another option is to buy a new laptop. However once again I wouldn't recommend doing so. The last thing is to get a gaming desktop pc. Doing this pretty much requires you to select your parts if you don't want to be paying an extra $1,000+ just because its pre-built. Most computer parts stores offer the option to build the pc for you, usually costing around $50. If your going down this path and need some help selecting the right parts to suit your needs and budget feel free to pm me or make a new thread about it.

EDIT: With upgrading the graphics card for your laptop its impossible. While the motherboards usually do support it, there just isn't the room to fit a graphics card in there. When you think about it your laptop is only a few centimetres thick. A good graphics card is a few inches high. There's no way that it would ever fit in there.

[alexbluewave]

Alright Jake I know where your coming from. Laptops are very good for gaming like one of my friends has a insanly good computer that can run Minecraft with no lag on a 1000x1000 texture pack fine.Blacknight, you can install a new graphics card on your laptop, my friends have done it before with there's. I sent them a dxdiag already and they said my best bet was a new graphics card driver as mine is from 2009. Gaming isn't just one of the things I need it for, but it's a big one on the list. I'm not so sure about this building my own desktop thing just because of price and my knack for wanting the best thing in the market. I'll try your suggestion Jake, thanks for the help.

[Jake55778]

There are 1000x1000 texture packs? I don't suppose you could provide a link? I am intrigued and wish to see how my own PC fares at running something like that.

Blacknight, you can install a new graphics card on your laptop, my friends have done it before with there's..

Oh it's certainly possible, just very unusual. Without knowing the exact details of your laptop model I can't say for certain, but the fact that your laptop already has an integrated GPU means it's unlikely that it would also have the option to install a dedicated GPU. No harm in asking though if you have friends familiar with the process.

[alexbluewave]

Well my friend found it, you might want to ask him about that one.