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When did selecting a video card become so insane? Any recommendations?
Back in my day all you needed was a GeForce3 and you were ready to go. Guess I'm getting old... LOL.
I currently run Vista Home Premium 32bit but plan to upgrade to Home Premium 64 in the somewhat near future with my next round of hardware upgrades. I power two 22" displays which are capable of HDMI input. I'm not a gamer anymore, guess I've outgrown 'em. I prefer ATI but would go Nvidia if they have some amazing product I'm not aware of.
Currently running an ATI Radeon x1050 which simply can not power these new monitors and ends up offloading most of its work on my already overtaxed AMD3800+
I currently run Vista Home Premium 32bit but plan to upgrade to Home Premium 64 in the somewhat near future with my next round of hardware upgrades. I power two 22" displays which are capable of HDMI input. I'm not a gamer anymore, guess I've outgrown 'em. I prefer ATI but would go Nvidia if they have some amazing product I'm not aware of.
Currently running an ATI Radeon x1050 which simply can not power these new monitors and ends up offloading most of its work on my already overtaxed AMD3800+
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Choosing a video card isn't insane. There are just tons of models. Here's an ATI recommendation that will easily drive two 22" displays in Vista, and will be OK for some light gaming on the side should you decide to play some games:
These are PCI express x16 cards. If you have a basic computer with no PCI express x8 or x16 slot, then you'll need to get something different. If you're not sure what you have, just put your computer model in a comment and I'll look it up for you. If you need an AGP or good old PCI card, it'll cost more and you'll end up with a worse card, but it can be done. Your system is old enough that there's a slight chance you need an AGP card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131133
Here's cheaper card that will use less power and work fine in Vista, but will be too slow for games:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127390
I've chosen low power fanless cards, as you don't play games, you certainly don't need any additional noise in your system or an "enhanced" power bill!
You can get something a bit cheaper if you really want. If you want an Nvidia cars, an 8400GS or something similar would fit the bill just fine. Odds are you won't be able to tell the difference (though the 4650 will be a lot quicker in games).
If you aren't playing any games, any modern cheapie card will run Windows just fine, though you'll want something with dual DVI outputs for your monitors - most cards will meet that need.
The HDMI inputs are intended for use as a TV, really. If they have that, they should have DVI too, which is pretty much the same thing, it just looks different. DVI is the standard output from PCs these days. VGA is still in use on cheap LCD panels, but it's only really at the bottom of the market.
These are PCI express x16 cards. If you have a basic computer with no PCI express x8 or x16 slot, then you'll need to get something different. If you're not sure what you have, just put your computer model in a comment and I'll look it up for you. If you need an AGP or good old PCI card, it'll cost more and you'll end up with a worse card, but it can be done. Your system is old enough that there's a slight chance you need an AGP card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131133
Here's cheaper card that will use less power and work fine in Vista, but will be too slow for games:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127390
I've chosen low power fanless cards, as you don't play games, you certainly don't need any additional noise in your system or an "enhanced" power bill!
You can get something a bit cheaper if you really want. If you want an Nvidia cars, an 8400GS or something similar would fit the bill just fine. Odds are you won't be able to tell the difference (though the 4650 will be a lot quicker in games).
If you aren't playing any games, any modern cheapie card will run Windows just fine, though you'll want something with dual DVI outputs for your monitors - most cards will meet that need.
The HDMI inputs are intended for use as a TV, really. If they have that, they should have DVI too, which is pretty much the same thing, it just looks different. DVI is the standard output from PCs these days. VGA is still in use on cheap LCD panels, but it's only really at the bottom of the market.
source(s):
Years of experience building and troubleshooting PCs.
Years of experience building and troubleshooting PCs.
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wow, thks for a great response! I'm on my iPhone so leaving a tip isn't possible at the moment. I'll be back to take care of you. Excellent!
Thanks! If you need any more help, feel free to ask!
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Reverse engineer someone else's proven design. Call a company that makes gaming systems. Check MaximumPC magazine, or even their website for ads. Call up and say you are sick of your old computer and what do they recommend with a Vista Ultimate OS for a two monitor system. Be casual, but ask if anyone recommends a better card than the one they spec out... and see where that conversation leads. If there's a real benefit those sales guys will know it.
Just remember to get the quote and not buy a new computer. Then, make sure the video card will work in your system, then search for a price on that card. I like geeks.com and pacificgeeks.com, or in a pinch, newegg.com or tigerdirect.com.
Just remember to get the quote and not buy a new computer. Then, make sure the video card will work in your system, then search for a price on that card. I like geeks.com and pacificgeeks.com, or in a pinch, newegg.com or tigerdirect.com.
Listening to sales people is an easy way to part with the money in your wallet quickly, and they tend to be better at selling than knowing anything.
Looking at pre-built systems isn't a half bad idea, but it doesn't really cover usage. All the modern video cards around these days will work fine.
Vista doesn't take anything special as far as modern video cards go. It needs full directX9 functionality for Aero Glass and the other effects used in Vista Ultimate, but that's it. It doesn't even need something with great performance, though a bottom end card will make for a slightly less smooth experience, a modern $40-60 card is more than enough. The cards that will give you full effects in Vista include any GeForce 6xxx, 7xxx, 8xxx, 9xxx, and GTX based card. The ATI cards that will give you full Aero Glass support include: 9500, 9600, 9700, x300, 600, 700, 800, x1300, x1400, x1550, x1600, and on and on and on. Something like the x1050 will even do it, but that's a very slow card and will cause some performance issues, and may not have enough memory to run aero glass with 2 22" displays. In the end, there's a lot more stuff out there that will meet his needs than what won't.
Looking at pre-built systems isn't a half bad idea, but it doesn't really cover usage. All the modern video cards around these days will work fine.
Vista doesn't take anything special as far as modern video cards go. It needs full directX9 functionality for Aero Glass and the other effects used in Vista Ultimate, but that's it. It doesn't even need something with great performance, though a bottom end card will make for a slightly less smooth experience, a modern $40-60 card is more than enough. The cards that will give you full effects in Vista include any GeForce 6xxx, 7xxx, 8xxx, 9xxx, and GTX based card. The ATI cards that will give you full Aero Glass support include: 9500, 9600, 9700, x300, 600, 700, 800, x1300, x1400, x1550, x1600, and on and on and on. Something like the x1050 will even do it, but that's a very slow card and will cause some performance issues, and may not have enough memory to run aero glass with 2 22" displays. In the end, there's a lot more stuff out there that will meet his needs than what won't.
Also, you need to have the right connectors available. I had some extra money to spend on a video card and I didn't have enough power cables to attach to it. It wanted 4 molexes. Yeesh. So, count your power cables and make sure you have an available slot of the correct type. Those have bitten me before.
Low end cards fon't need a lot of power, so they don't have external power connections. He doesn't need anything fancy for his needs.
Ars Technica has some good recent guides to help you figure out what's what. There's a general system-building guide from September, and a Home Theater PC guide from early December. Both of those should have a decent amount of stuff about video cards in them.
source(s):
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200809.ars
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200812-htpc.ars
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200809.ars
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200812-htpc.ars
Those are great guides for building a new PC, but the information in video cards is intended to be primarily towards building a gaming PC except in the extreme budget box which uses integrated video. They strive to make balanced systems, but the video card in even the budget box will frequently be overkill for a non-gamer.
Here's Nvidia's specialized Adobe card:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_cx_us.html;
and their 4GB card:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_5800_us.html
Also, if you don't have a PCI Express slot, I would suggest getting a new motherboard (that supports SLI if you are going for Nvidia). I tried to upgrade AGP/PCI and it wasn't worth it.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_cx_us.html;
and their 4GB card:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_5800_us.html
Also, if you don't have a PCI Express slot, I would suggest getting a new motherboard (that supports SLI if you are going for Nvidia). I tried to upgrade AGP/PCI and it wasn't worth it.
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