Suitable PCI graphics card

AndysDad

I'm thinking of buying a new monitor capable of displaying 1920x1080 and just wondered if someone can suggest a PCI video card that will support that resolution.I've got a dell Dimension 3000 and it appears only to have PCI slots so I can't even install a PCI-e card.

gonzo127

to be honest, with that system i would be worried about adding the extra load of a graphics card on the PSU, and even then only having PCI options is limited to bad, very bad and worse as to graphics power, and also depends on your budget

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nvidia-GeForce-Profile-Height-Graphics/dp/B003PB8UQ2/ref=sr_1_17?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1307022410&sr=1-17

is probably the best you are likely to get, although £70 does seem like a lot of money to spend on that system.

this being said it will be powerfull enough to run a monitor at 1920x1080 for most normal things, although if you are thinking iplayer in HD you might be pushing the rest of the system a bit to hard.

i would personally be looking more at buying a new system than spending (much) money on your current system

asbokid

wouldn't want to spend much, given the age of the machine.. it's celeron-based? is there something on fleabay?

http://computers.shop.ebay.co.uk/Graphics-Video-Cards-/3762/i.html?Interface=PCI&LH_BIN=1&Type=Video%2520Card&Connectors=Dual%252DDVI|DVI&rt=nc&_dmpt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&_sc=1&_sop=15&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282

This one looks good for £15..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Radeon-X1550-256-MB-PCI-Graphics-Card-/120731367515?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item1c1c26785b

it works okay in the dell 3100...

http://www.amazon.com/Radeon-X1550-Pci-256MB-Dvi-i/dp/B000PBVS2S

Installing Linux is a good way to breathe new life into an old machine. It overcomes the conspiracy between Microsoft and the hardware makers who collude to force us to upgrade equipment on an unnecessarily frequent basis. Linux, by contrast, can run very well on most old hardware, even your Dell Dimension.

If you want something a bit more up-to-date, you might be better biting the bullet and buying a new secondhand machine! Dell Outlet often has some quite good refurb deals, or if you want a bucket-shop price, it's ebay again.. for perhaps a cheap m/b and cpu combo.

Hammyman

AndysDad wrote: »

I'm thinking of buying a new monitor capable of displaying 1920x1080 and just wondered if someone can suggest a PCI video card that will support that resolution.I've got a dell Dimension 3000 and it appears only to have PCI slots so I can't even install a PCI-e card.

Any PC built in the last 16 years has been able to support that resolution.

1920x1080 is not that high compared to the resolution of CRT monitors back in the late 1990's.

asbokid

he means a digital output of 1920x1080 hammyman.

a model of the radeon x1300 was made for the PCI bus.. and that can drive in digital at that resolution.

Hammyman

asbokid wrote: »

he means a digital output of 1920x1080 hammyman.

So? It makes no difference whatsoever if you're driving digital or analogue as long as it has the right connectivity. Every single chipset since the mid 1990s has been able to do this with headroom to spare.

How do you know its DVI input? The low rent 1080p ones I looked at on Ebuyer the other day were only VGA connectors.

jaydeeuk1

Hammyman wrote: »

So? It makes no difference whatsoever if you're driving digital or analogue as long as it has the right connectivity. Every single chipset since the mid 1990s has been able to do this with headroom to spare.

How do you know its DVI input? The low rent 1080p ones I looked at on Ebuyer the other day were only VGA connectors.

Not quite accurate. The 8mb rage xc chipset in my HP thin client t5700's don't even support widescreen let alone 1920x1080, yet these were manufactured in 2002, and chipset dates back from 1997/8.

And the 16mb geforce in the hp5720 doesn't support 1920x1080 either.

Hammyman

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

Not quite accurate. The 8mb rage xc chipset in my HP thin client t5700's don't even support widescreen let alone 1920x1080, yet these were manufactured in 2002, and chipset dates back from 1997/8.

And the 16mb geforce in the hp5720 doesn't support 1920x1080 either.

Thats a driver issue and nothing to do with the fact the chip isn't fast enough - I had all hell on to force the driver of my nVidia 9600GT to enable 1360x768 for the Matsui TV I use as a second monitor yet the ATI onboard graphics was happy to.

Cirrus Logic chips could run higher resolutions in the 1990s. The ATI Rage chipsets DEFINITELY are fast enough