Old video card recommendation (?)
Sorry if these are stupid questions or insult anyone's intelligence...yeah, my gear is old...
I have an old Dell PC (OptiPlex GX240 ) with a "16 mb ati rage 128 ultra" video card, running XP.
This looked great through my 21" Dell DELL P1110 CRT monitor @ 1024x768 (there is a huge thread on this forum btw about that monitor & how to fix issues with it).
However now my old CRT monitor is having problems that I can't fix, so I bought a cheap/new Dell widescreen monitor, a E1914H, but the display looks like crap.
From what I've been able to figure out, this monitor looks best at "1366x768" (widescreen) but my graphics card only goes as high as 1024x768.
If I use this new monitor at 1024x768 I have to set the resolution to 4:3 for it to look OK, but then it is too small...again it looks HORRIBLE in widescreen, all stretched and not sharp etc.
I'd like to get a new/used video adapter that supports 1366x768 so I can match it to this monitor, but not sure what my options are (what will work in my old Dell PC?). Any cheap recommendations? Don't need it for 3D, gaming etc....
Thanks.
Comments
What's your budget? There are tons of cards that will do that resolution for even as low as $35 or even less.
Edit: Just realized how far back we're looking here. Is the current card AGP or PCIe?
It's AGP.
Hmm. I guess that means I can use basically any replacement card that is also AGP?
THANKS!
Oops, forgot to say, I'm looking for something cheap as possible...
This is pretty cheap. Maybe eBay would be cheaper, but you can at least return this.
Any card that is AGP should work, does your manual tell you if the AGP slot is 8x or not?
Just make sure the max support resolution is what you need.
Thanks. I've been doing some reading. I may be confused but seems like that would not work for my PC though (?).
The bus type shown in Control Panel properties etc says "AGP 1x, 2x, 4x". The card you linked to on Newegg is 8x? Is that compatible with 1/2/4x?
Thanks. I believe the slot is 1x, 2x, 4x. Or at least that is what Control Panel is saying....or is that just saying it about the existing card that is in there, not the slot itself??? I'm getting confused.
I found this on Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130635
Says 4x/8x card. About $25. So I'm thinking that might work - but can't find the max resolution spec for it. It might not do 1366x768??? Need to research more.
It's been so long since I have used anything AGP I'm a little foggy. I'm pretty sure an 8x card will work in a 4x slot. It just won't be as fast. That doesn't seem like it will be an issue for you though.
Ok,just figured something out. According to "PCwizard" my AGP slot is 4x.
I'm not sure what the difference between the RX and the LR editions of the card you linked are, but the LR version supports up to 2048x1536, so it should support your target resolution.
Hmmm. Ok, thanks. I assumed an 8x card wouldn't work in a 4x slot! I was looking at some choices on ebay and was really getting confused in that some said they were "4x/8x cards" yet when it got down to the part where it listed the "Compatible Slots" it said "AGP 8x" (suggesting it had to go in an 8x slot??).
AGP is backwards compatible. You'll be fine.
Thanks guys.
So as I understand it now, I should be OK with almost any AGP bus card, even if 8x rather than 4x, but I need to make sure it has max resolution of at least 1366x768 (since that is what I need for this new monitor).
I'm guessing a 4x card will be cheaper - but also may be harder to find, because it is so outdated (?). And not sure if any of those will do higher than 1024x768 anyways (am still investigating)
Another question- something else I've been coming across is mention of "watts" - IE: power drawn by these video cards. That some cards draw more power than others. And I have to make sure my power supply can handle that (yes/no)?
Any card you buy new will handle resolutions higher than 1366x768, but also including 1366x768. You will be very hard pressed to find a 4x card I would think, 8x has been the standard for 10 years? ish? As mentioned 8x cards will work perfectly in 4x slots. And you don't want to buy a 12 year old used video card just to save $14.
As far as wattage goes, I'd pop the case open and see what your PSU has. If it is 300W at least you will be fine with just about anything AGP8x, but you can always let us know how many watts it is and we can finger it out.
Haven't pulled the case apart to try to see for sure, but I believe the power supply is at most 250W - the Dell gx240 user guide confusingly lists 160W for "small form-factor computer", 180W for "small desktop computer" and 250W for "small mini-tower computer". Mine is a mini-tower, so I guess it is 250W.
My head is spinning from googling specs for a bunch of video cards I've found on sale on ebay or amazon that might work. I find it very confusing.
I'm leaning towards this one now, on ebay listed as "new" for only about $9.
Asus v8170se HP 5187-0481 4x 8x GeForce 4 MX 420 64MB AGP Video Card
Supports the resolution I need according to specs here:
http://www.gpuzoo.com/GPU-ASUS/V8170SE_T_-_V8170SE_T.html
Appears to have drivers for XP according to here:
http://www.asusdriversdownload.com/asus-drivers/asus-v8170se-graphic-card
Has VGA output that I need (I think).
Have no idea about power demands.
Am I missing anything obviously wrong/not kosher about this card, such that would not work with my PC? I guess for $9 I'm willing to take a chance on it working, as long as it isn't something that will fry the motherboard (or something really bad like that).
Thanks again for everyone's input.
It won't fry your motherboard and it will work fine. 250w is more than enough juice for that card. If memory serves me most cards from that gen used something like 5-10 watts.