Hardware Upgrades

[thanser]

Hello:

I've just installed SUSE 11.1 on a spare Dell Dimension 2300 machine I had, and everything went well. I ran software updates, too.

My video performance is terrible, since I'm only using the onboard video that came with the Dell machine. I only have a PCI slot available, so I plan on installing a PCI graphics adapter card.

However, my concern is how LINUX will handle a hardware change when I boot up.

Does this version of SUSE (or any distribution, for that matter) detect the hardware change and install a driver automatically? Or do I need to have the drive available somewhere, like on a CD?

And, how do I know which PCI graphics card will be supported with this version? Will I need to go find a LINUX driver for this card online?

I don't want this hardware change to get messy and cause a headache, obviously.

Thanks.

[MikeTbob]

Hello and Welcome.
SUSE Linux is very good about detecting most hardware changes but you might have to go into the BIOS to disable the on-board video. I think if you stick with NVIDIA products you will have less trouble, but ATI products are good too.

[thanser]

Thank you so much!