Video Card Recommendations?

[FalTorPan]

Several months ago I bought a new PC -- an HP m8100n. Its motherboard has integrated graphics, as well as a PCI Express x16 slot.

I'd like to have a dual-monitor desktop, but I've neither built nor upgraded a PC in eight years, so I'm not sure how to find a card to suit my needs. Where do I begin? For that matter, does anyone have any specific card recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Neroon]

Does your motherboard run with an AMD or Intel CPU? Each of those companies bought a big name player in the video card realm. Intel picked up nVidia and AMD bought ATI, so logically those cards will work better with their parent company's systems.

Then again, we have far greater expertise in this forum than I can provide, to advise you on this.

 

[Deks]

His motherboard runs with AMD.
But in all likelihood ... getting an ATI card is not guaranteed to work better simply because AMD bought ATI.

This really comes down to what kind of requirements you have in the video department.
Weather you are using your computer mostly for 3d art, gaming and some video editing, I would recommend a NVidia 8800 GT with 512 Mb Ram(GDDR 3).
That one is the latest mid range card that is actually around $230 and it's performance is extremely close to the 8800 GTX (which is considered to be one of the most powerful ones and of course twice as expensive as 8800 GT).

But I digress ... it really depends on what your needs are and how much you are willing to spend.
So I recommend you go here:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

From that chart see if you can find some cards that are in your price range but close to the top (that chart btw includes 8800 GT OC/overclocked/ version- which is not that much faster from the unclocked one btw ... so if they offer you the OC one in the store for a bigger price, skip it and get the regular one).
Compare the prices in your store to be on the safe side to see if you can afford any of those cards.

Best would be to say just how much money you can set aside for the graphics card.

 

[FalTorPan]

Thanks for the help so far!

My system's CPU is an "AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 5600+ 2.80 GHz." I regurgitated that info from the PC's Control Panel's System tab. I don't know current CPU models, numbers, etc.

The system has 3 GB of memory.

My single-monitor desktop display settings are 1680 x 1050. I'd like the dual-monitor desktop display settings to be... double that: 3360 x 1050, or thereabouts.

The monitor/monitors is/are a Sceptre X20WC-Gamer.

I'm willing to shell out $200-$300 for a decent card. All things being equal, cheaper is better, of course.

I'll check out that link. Thanks again!

 

[Arrqh]

Neroon said:
Does your motherboard run with an AMD or Intel CPU? Each of those companies bought a big name player in the video card realm. Intel picked up nVidia and AMD bought ATI, so logically those cards will work better with their parent company's systems.

Intel didn't buy nVidia... there's been rumors flying around about it ever since AMD bought ATI, but no actual purchase was made.

So far, at least

 

[Deks]

FalTorPan said:
Thanks for the help so far!

My system's CPU is an "AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 5600+ 2.80 GHz." I regurgitated that info from the PC's Control Panel's System tab. I don't know current CPU models, numbers, etc.

The system has 3 GB of memory.

My single-monitor desktop display settings are 1680 x 1050. I'd like the dual-monitor desktop display settings to be... double that: 3360 x 1050, or thereabouts.

The monitor/monitors is/are a Sceptre X20WC-Gamer.

I'm willing to shell out $200-$300 for a decent card. All things being equal, cheaper is better, of course.

I'll check out that link. Thanks again!

If you can shell out $200-300 for a graphics card ... then I personally suggest the Leadtek 8800 GT 512 Mb (don't get the 256 Mb version because the reduced memory will have a negative impact on some games and applications for example) which should be just below $250.

ATI cards while good still don't hold up in the newest games (which I brought up merely due to the performance).
So if you want to get a decent deal while thinking on having a gpu (made recently) that can run demanding software decently in the future, I think the 8800 GT would work for you.
Of course I could be mistaken, and the final decision is entirely yours.

 

[farmkid]

Do you play any modern games or do 3D modeling? If the answer is no, then you don't need to spend much on a video card. You won't be able to tell the difference between a $50 card and a $500 card (other than the $50 card will probably make less noise). What you will want to consider, though, is the non-3D features such as video decoding abilities. The last two generations of cards do a lot more than previous generations when it comes to cleaning up video during playback. The latest generation (Radeon 2x00 and GeForce 8x00) have improved HD decoding abilities compared to previous generations. If that is important to you, then ATI is probably the better option as they are usually a little ahead in that area. If not, then it really doesn't matter.

If you do play some of the newer games, buy all the card you can afford.

 

[Lindley]

I'd definitely suggest an nVidia 8-series card, although beyond that feel free to get whichever one fits your price range.

 

[ialfan]

Geforce 8800GT 512MB is my recommendation. Best card on the market right now considering price/performance.

 

[CommodoreKong]

I have to agree with everyone else saying 8800 GT 512MB. However I think they are kind of hard to find right now.

 

[Alaedhros]

farmkid said:
Do you play any modern games or do 3D modeling? If the answer is no, then you don't need to spend much on a video card. You won't be able to tell the difference between a $50 card and a $500 card (other than the $50 card will probably make less noise). What you will want to consider, though, is the non-3D features such as video decoding abilities. The last two generations of cards do a lot more than previous generations when it comes to cleaning up video during playback. The latest generation (Radeon 2x00 and GeForce 8x00) have improved HD decoding abilities compared to previous generations. If that is important to you, then ATI is probably the better option as they are usually a little ahead in that area. If not, then it really doesn't matter.

This is very good advice. Whilst you may have the money to buy an 8800 GT, if you're not gaming then it's a waste of both cash and energy. Something in the $50-$100 range is more than capable of powering two monitors. The benefit of using ATI, as farmkid noticed, is a little better hardware support for multimedia playback, but some think that their drivers are not quite as good as Nvidia's. For what it's worth, I would probably get an ATI HD2400 or HD2600.

 

[FalTorPan]

Thanks to everyone for his or her advice! I've been out of the hardware loop for years, so I appreciate the info.

I wound up purchasing a Radeon HD 2600 PRO. It's not the latest and greatest on the market, but it seems to have done the trick. I don't game, but I do standard-def video editing and 3D modeling -- although not at the highest end of the artistic spectrum.

I just finished installing the drivers, and so far the card is doing its job very well.

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[BriGuy]

I suggest you check your power supply and compare it to the requirements of the card.

I have an HP with an Athlon 64X2 4200. I bought an Nvidia 7900GS card about a year ago. The power supply that was in the computer was insufficient to run the card, so I had to get a new, bigger power supply.

Your system could become unstable and prone to crash if your power supply is weak.

As for cards, I would've recommended the 8800GT, too. AFAIK, it's the best thing out there, and the cost is really good for the performance it gives.