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video card question

HemisAreSlow

HemisAreSlow

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my rents just gave me their old desk top since they switched to a mac for christmas.....I am thinking of putting it in my bed room with a wireless mouse and keyboard and using my plasma tv as the monitor.....is there a video card I can put in it that would have an HDMI out on it? computer is a compaq sr2180nx...graphics now are onboard..and I do believe it has a pci express slot
 
Your TV should have a VGA input on it - if your PC is within 6', I'd probably just use that. If you want to go any higher quality, you need a PCIe card that has DVI out. You can get a converter cable from DVI to HDMI... they are both digital signals, where VGA is an analog signal.

Personally, I like ATI cards - what are the specs on your PC? (processor, RAM, HD...)
 
You should have no issues running any of the newer cards, so anything with a DVI will work... generally speaking, more ram, faster refresh and more onboard capabilities are better.

It all depends on how much you want to spend... I find that Diamond Stealth or Poweredge cards, based on the full ATI chipset, are inexpensive and generally work quite well.

Here's a good example

With that PC, though, you have lots of options.
 
sweet....with that card will it run the audio through the dvi port as well? so with a dvi to hdmi adapter I would get the sound from the pc to the tv as well simply by installing that card?
 
Of course, that's because I like ATI (Canadian Company) chipsets, and because NVIDIA drivers are somewhat problematic, in my experience.

However, there are also lots of good GEForce cards out there... once you get 'em working well, they're stable and offer great capabilities, too.
 
A lot of it depends on what you want to do, Hemi... if you're into more involved games, like COD (stuff that Nick is trying to play), then you want your card to handle more of the load (saves on what your processor gets asked to do, and speeds things up).

If you want to do that, then don't order that card. Pay more, order one that has at least 512 mb VRAM on it, or one that you can add VRAM to later. It's a delicate balance... video cards can cost up to $1500, so you don't want to order more than you need, but on the other hand, ordering too little just frustrates the heck outta you.
 
JiFaire said:
Of course, that's because I like ATI (Canadian Company) chipsets, and because NVIDIA drivers are somewhat problematic, in my experience.

However, there are also lots of good GEForce cards out there... once you get 'em working well, they're stable and offer great capabilities, too.
Click to expand...
:eek:, I quit using ATI a couple of years ago because of driver issues....nVidia performs way better without any driver issues.....jmo/experience
 
i don't really plan on using the computer to play games.....got the 360 for that...looking to just be able to surf the internet and watch tv on hulu.com only game i might play is age of empires 3....computer runs it now with what it has so I would assume even that cheap card you showed me would run it fine...
 
Should be fine, Hemi ... I don't think I've seen one with a built-in HDMI port... cool.

If you aren't worried about gaming preformance, then the card performance isn't a huge deal. Go for it!
 
SfcJones said:
:eek:, I quit using ATI a couple of years ago because of driver issues....nVidia performs way better without any driver issues.....jmo/experience
Click to expand...

There ya go, Hemi ... contrasting opinions and experience.

FWIW, I've had issues with ATI's Catalyst driver set, but I've always gotten them to work. I've also had success with nVidia, but have also ended up editing the registry to try and remove them - they don't un-install worth a darn (as Nick is finding out).

6 of one and a half-dozen of the other, I'm afraid. I've probably installed a thousand different cards, and have had the most success in the last few years - systems are more stable, manufacturers are following the MS API more closely, and the drivers get released in ''beta' less often.

But when things go sideways, video drivers are a real pain-in-the-posterior.

Go with whichever card seems to offer you the best as far as price and needs... we'll try to help you out if you need it :)

Jim
 
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