[2K] video card recomendation?
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  1. #1
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    [2K] video card recomendation?

    I have a computer that is currently running win2k but I plan to go to XP pro very soon. I got a samsung 23" HDTV to use as a tv and monitor for this system that is in a bedroom. the video card in it now is a nvidia mx440 64 MB AGP card that doesn't do the wide screen resolutions at all, the best I can get is 1280 x 768. things still look stretched out some. the tv can display 1366 x 768. I am looking for something cheaper that will look good. I don't need a fancy card I don't play any high end games.

    This is what I am thinking will work out but not sure:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814145067

    I am willing to spend up to $50 if needed, so I am open to other options.

    Thanks in advance

  2. #2
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    When it comes to graphics cards.....Cheap in, cheap out. That card you linked to will barely do 1280 x 1024....not all that much of an upgrade. I would suggest you read the user reviews there; they will give you a good idea of what to expect from that card. I am highly doubtful you will find a <50 buck AGP card that will be really decent. AGP is pretty long in the tooth now...no longer in manufacture as far as I know (except maybe in some back-alley Hong Kong noodle shop). What you will be buying is old stock.
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  3. #3
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    this may work too it has more memory but but didn't get great reviews

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814145067



    I just found this one:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131014

    claims to support up to 2048 x 1536

    seems other have used it in older systems as a cheap improvement
    Last edited by mparks; June 19th, 2008 at 04:47 PM.

  4. #4
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    Those 5200 cards and the MX cards are a step backwards.

    Fact is, you present card is the better of the two.


    Possible this will work.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130207

    After reading the reviews.

    Then check this out.
    http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...score,538.html

    Also. I do suggest getting at least a 19 inch monitor!

  5. #5
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    after reading Train's reply about My gfore4 MX440 64MB card possibly being better than both of the other cards I was looking at I decided to check for driver updates. I found there was one more since I last checked, I installed it and rebooted to find now my card will display a max of 1360 x 768 which looks very nice on my 23" Samsung LCD display. Thanks for the suggestions while you didn't really help me pick a new card it helped me to see that what I have isn't so bad after all and save me some $$.

    I am still going to go with the XP pro upgrade and get a bigger hard drive alpng with a memory card reader.

  6. #6
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    XP- 1 GB of ram makes for nive.

    Might even want to check your harware to make sure it is all compatable too.
    Kind of frustration to have buy a new printer and the like because we can not get XP drivers.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Train
    XP- 1 GB of ram makes for nive.

    Might even want to check your hardware to make sure it is all compatible too.
    Kind of frustration to have buy a new printer and the like because we can not get XP drivers.
    I have 1.5 GB of ram now. I built the system in 2004 so its not quite that out of date, XP was out then but I didn't want it back then. drivers should not be a problem any more them with 2000. I have a Biostar motherboard, AMD XP2400+, 1.5 gb of ram, 2 hard drives, a dual layer DVD-rw and a cd-rw, a 3com 905c NIC and sound blaster live 5.1 sound card as well as the video card we were talking about. My printer is an HP 1018 usb laserjet. I think every thing I have is built after XP came out.

    I will not attempt vista I have seen and used that on some computers, I think its a pig! I'd need 4GB of ram to make a system feel as fast as mine is now.

  8. #8
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    Vista 32 bit, only need 2 GB of ram.
    You have plenty for XP as 1 GB is plenty.

    As for you printer they do have drivers
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...oduct=1814094&
    For several OS's too.

    07 Nov 2002 dated version is for XP if your card is the Product # 3C905C-TX-M
    http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/r...X-M&order=desc

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Train
    Vista 32 bit, only need 2 GB of ram.
    You have plenty for XP as 1 GB is plenty.

    As for you printer they do have drivers
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...oduct=1814094&
    For several OS's too.

    07 Nov 2002 dated version is for XP if your card is the Product # 3C905C-TX-M
    http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/r...X-M&order=desc

    Thanks for those links I was just going to use the cd for the printer but if the web is newer I'll use it from there. The 3com link is for the exact card I have. not very common any more but once was what most business computers in industry used. I checked BioStar's web site they have drivers for the chipset and all the on-board stuff for 98 up to server 2003 so I'm covered there. next steps are for me to get the 120GB hard drive that was given to me new 2 years ago that I have never been able to use on any computer because it just comes up with write errors when you try to copy more than a few files small files to it and I think its the usb to IDE interface in it that's the problem. anyway I want that out of the enclosure and inside the computer to test then transfer my files from the my near full data drive to it so I have more room and use the 80 gig data drive to install XP and get rid of the old old 20 gig drive 200 is running on now.

    I figured I had enough RAM but I thought of getting another gigabyte because I have an open slot and its under $30 but I'm going to wait and see how it runs with XP first. I did by from new egg a built in memory card reader to install in place of the floppy drive I never ever use any more.

  10. #10
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    After you take the hd out of the case and install it, I recommend taking into concideration the fact that you just may want to format that thing, or even a step further and Zero write the it a couple time, thus bury and possible problems except a direct head strike , that needs a new hdd to correct, format it and it should be good as new.

    I have open slots also. But once I found out that the vertual quit getting hit at 768 MB of ram, I concider 1 GB more than plenty.

    If you decide to Zero write , which resets the hdd surface back to factory soecs, be darn sure it is the only hdd hooked up! Then use a boot floppy or cd to do the work.

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