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PCI Express replaced AGP.
Just look at the motherboard and see which slot you have.
I just hooked up a nice 1920 x 1200 monitor to my computer. As I thought, I now need a new video card. Mine is an older one and will only go 1600 x 1200.
Recommendations please?
This is an older Dell Dimension 3000 computer with a 2.4 Ghz processor and 2 GB Ram. It only has a 250 watt power supply which limits my options without upgrading. If I have to get a new power supply, I figure I may as well just just a new Windows 7 PC, but this XP system suits my fine still. I have had less trouble with this PC than any others, so I'm not ready to gamble on a new one.
Anyway, I'm thinking the GTS 250 meets my requirements fine and will go the next higher resolution as well. I didn't see a power consumption however. With 754 million transistors in the video processor, I doubt it's light on power. Seeing the power consumption on some video cards, I have realized I cannot just put any in that fits. I'm not even sure it works. It says PCI Express, as far as I know, I just have PCI slots. Is this the same?
Thoughts please?
Last edited by Wild Cobra; 06-05-2010 at 01:30 PM.
PCI Express replaced AGP.
Just look at the motherboard and see which slot you have.
Dammit. Radiacl difference, and I only have PCI. Maybe I should consider a new computer.
Suggestions for a card that will do 1920 x 1200 in a PCI slot? I'm not going back to a 1600 x 1280 tube monitor.
To be honest I didn't even think they still made pci cards but I was wrong. Newegg.com usually has the best prices and looking through the cards nothing really stood out as being any better then the other cards. Pci is old tech and they have pretty much hit the roof on what it could do.
But what size is your new monitor? If it's only like 20-30 inches your really not going to tell the difference between 1900 x 1200 and 1600 x 1200.
I'd just get the cheapest one you can find. I do agree with Cool Cat though, the resolution differences aren't that big to be noticeable, I'd probably just stick with the 1600X1200, otherwise I'd buy the cheapest 40.00 card NewEgg has.
If you're not going to game with it, and since you're buying old tech, this card would probably work just fine:
PNY VCGFX522PEB GeForce FX 5200 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Video Card
It's $30 after the $10 mail in rebate and free shipping.
Also specs says it works with 250W system and it's fanless.
eww. yeah. gotta upgrade, man. welcome to the 2010s. i had to deal with AGP up until about 6 weeks ago and that was a pain. you should see my heatsink i have to put on my chip to run that along with every thing else.
In my experience, the nvidia 5xxx series cards were notoriously bad at producing non-standard (wide screen) resolutions, and they don't have very current drivers, so it makes things unstable.
Go with the 6200 or 8400.
24"
It displays the 1600 x 1200 just fine. Things are a little fat however.
Maybe you cannot tell the difference, but I can. I would really like to open up some of my 11" x 17" schematic files properly.
Wow...
The differences are clear. Sorry you guys have such bad eyesight.
Upgrading should save you money on the electricity bill also. The P4 was a notorious power hog, and the newer processors should be both faster due to the multiple cores, and also consume quite a lot less with their speed-step technology.
I might get that one. I might just use this as an excuse to buy a newer PC.
Thanx.
If all your motherboard has is PCI slots, ot even AGP, then yeah... its time to upgrade. I would be suprised if your motherboard didnt have at least 1 popped capacitor on it by now.
PCI cards have a huge bandwith cap. You should have an AGP slot, which is better. If you don't, it's really time for a new computer. I'm running on a PCIexpress slot which is ideal but not required if you don't play demanding games or watch high definition movies.
You definitely need a new computer man.
Maybe it is just me, but I wouldn't be caught dead with a 250 Watt power supply.
My Graphics card is a ATI Radeon HD 5850. It requires a 500 Watt Power supply.
Last edited by xellos88330; 06-06-2010 at 06:02 PM.
Well, I bought a new system about 2 hrs ago. Just took it out of the box, haven't hooked it up yet. Believe it or not, what sold me on this particular one I bought is it comes with XP Professional installed, and uninstalled Windows 7 disks. I doubt I will install the Windows 7.
Lenovo M58e 7259-B3U for $549.99:
2.8 ghz Intel Pentium dual core E6300 w/2MB L2 Cache
3 GB DDR2 800 (PC2-6400) upgradable to 4GB
500 GB SATA 7200 RPM
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500, up to 2560 x 1600 (now I need a new monitor)
16X DVD?R/RW SuperMulti Drive
Gigabit ethernet on planar, Marvell 88E8057, Wake on LAN
I don't need this much computer, but it suit my desire of graphics resolution.
You got integrated graphics, which means the graphics processor is built into your motherboard. Those are the weakest kind. You need a dedicated graphics card if you're going to do anything graphics intensive like play new games or watch HD movies.
I've got that one too. It's a beast.
Last edited by DMX7; 06-06-2010 at 09:03 PM.
I know it's integrated, but I have a slot if i want something better. If i wanted a serious computer, i would have bought one from Alien Ware, or some other spendy beast. I think I did good for $550.
the only thing I foresee doing to this computer is adding RAM.
3 Gigs is plenty on Windows XP if you're not running anything too demanding. Alienware is a ripoff. The economical rigs from traditional vendors usually offer decent value but high end rigs are always a rip unless you build them yourself (what I always do).
Alienware is a piece of . Friend of mine bought one once instead of letting me build one for him for cheaper. It died 3 weeks later.... so he brought it to me to let me check it out. They sold him some badly refurbished . He sent the computer back and got a new one (Props to them for noticing they ed up), then that one ed up 2 months later. Alienware computers look pretty.... but can't be trusted IMHO.
As far as your new computer goes Wild Cobra, it is a decent barebones comp. If you don't expect to do anything graphics intensive, it is a solid choice. 3GB Ram is plenty for you running XP. I don't think you would need any more RAM than that.
I used to go with NVIDIA, but they pissed me off. A few old games that I like to play (Kohan Immortal Sovereigns) graphics are all ed up. The reason why was because NVIDIA stopped supporting backwards compatability with older games. I waited for them to release new drivers or something that will support it (they said they would) and nothing ever came. So now I am going with ATI. So far I am glad that I did. This card rules.
That's the way i see it. I don't do very much with a computer. I haven't even installed a game for maybe 6-8 years. This computer is way more than i need.
Got it all updated as of a few minutes ago. Office 2007, SP3 and other updates, all my device drivers, programs, etc.
I didn't need this much, but it was the only new computer I found available without mail ordering it that had XP. I just called Fry's, had them hold it, and drive 40 minutes to pick it up.
One of the best things about this computer is no extra BS software. bare bones on the software too.
tbh... upgrade your system before you upgrade your video card.
Even if you have a nice video card other parts of your computer are slowing you down.
NBA 2k10 looks nice on better video cards but without a sufficient processor like at least a core 2 duo 6000 it's bogus to upgrade anything.
There are also some cheap power supplies for sale for under 100 bucks wich are sufficient for your system. The only thing you have to take into consideration is the brand. There are a lot of manufactures out there providing up to 1000 Watts power supplies with insufficient power supplie on the 12V rail which is most important for a system.
Enermax, Be Quiet, Coolermaster, Seasonic or OZC provide good power supplies where less watts are sufficient to power your computer.
And honestly, before you upgrade your system with a ty card like the GTX 250 - get a new mainboard, processor and power supply beforehand.
I used windows XP from 2002-2009, and it was a great great operating system but Windows 7 has it beat in so many ways. Better interface, better stability, better security and pretty cool graphics. I especially love the new tool bar.
It's a better system for those not wanting to tweak it through their own file manipulation. I have heard from two people now who are great with computers that it's not a system for more advanced users.
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