Driving myself crazy. Need Graphics card. Use XP Pro, have a PCIE slot (either 1.0 or 1.1, can't tell).?

Question

All I care about is that it have a DVI port, and hopefully a HDMI port, plus I would like 512 Mb memory on the card. Mem type in my puter is DDR2 (does it have to match that of the vid card?), I have a PSIE x16 slot. I don't run games. I am limited to DirectX 9.0c becuz of XP (can the DirectX 10 cards run 9.0c). My desktop is only 2.5 years old but not many in-store cards are compatible with it. Can you point me at a reliable card, and an online store that sells it. My PSU is 300 watts. Thanks in advance.

Oh yeah, I'd prefer an ATI card.

Answer 1

The motherboard memory and the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) memory do not need to match because they are run on different processors.

There is a new graphics card which has DDR5 memory. (Motherboards only go up to DDR2 at the moment)

You should buy a bigger PSU though (You can get an ATX PSU 500w for 16.GBP)

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146428

That is the GFX card I use at home on my gaming PC. It's reliable and quiet.

You never posted a price range so I estimated. If you don't live in the UK just search for that GFX card in one of your local computer shop websites (Sorry I don't know any).

Answer 2

Most of the new ati cards have dvi and hdmi outputs, look online and check the specs.

The 4850 and 4870 come highly recommended but aren't cheap.

512mb is average these days and it doesn't have to match pc ram.

Pci-e 2.0 cards still work in pci-e x16 slots.

DX10 cards work with 9.0c

Your psu may be a problem, some gfx cards require 2x pci-e power connectors and 300w to run: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psuca...

Answer 3

You can add any PCI Express card. Your psu isnt very big, but I ran a video card on a pc with only 250 watts and it worked just fine. I had directX10 with vista and directX9 with XP and cant tell hardly any difference, so dont worry. Get the best card you can afford. In the future you can upgrade it since they will be better and cheaper then. Go to Newegg.com and Pricewatch.com for best prices and selection.

Answer 4

dx10 cards will support dx9 games. microsoft blocks dx10 from running on xp although it is compatible. memory does not have to match. if you are using the card for photo apps or similar then any 512mb(onboard) card such as nvidia 9600 gt will do you. in my opinion the architecture of ATI cards is inherently flawed whereby the potential performance is better than an equivalent nvidia card, but the available drivers are utterly garbage.

just my opinion tho.

hope this helps.

have a look at this it might help......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVMA35XON...

Answer 5

There are many graphics cards that fit in a PCI-Express x16 slot, that have a DVI port on them. Some have the HDMI port. A Dedicated graphics card uses it's own GPU,( Graphics Processing Unit), and graphics ram. Therefore it does not depend on the system processor or ram resources. It operates independent of the system resources. No,the 'rams' do not have to match, is the short answer.

Don't know if you have PCI-E 1.0 or 1.1 version? (Neither do I, because you didn't list what motherboard you're referring to.) PCI-Express 2.0 is backward compatible, however. A graphics card based on the PCI-E 2.0 technology, will work in a PCI-E 1.0, or 1.1 version graphics slot.

(Will work on a mobo that has it's PCI-Express x16 slots based on PCI-E 1.0, or 1.1 technology.)

There was a problem back in the day, however, that PCI-Express 2.0 would not 'play very well' with a mobo based on PCI-E 1.0 technology. That's why PCI-E 1.1 was brought out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express  {More direct info on this page, under the PCI-Express 2.0 heading. Towards the bottom of the page.}

Computer made in 2006? It's going to be PCI-E 1.1!

"PCI-SIG announced the availability of the PCI Express Base 2.0 specification on 15 January 2007."

Now a with a PCI-E 2.0 graphics card you won't get the full features of the card. Will you notice?  I doubt it!  Really!  'Google' the 'net, ask sum 'Big Time' gamers!

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247265...

ATI man, huh? Well guess what? The AMD ATI HD 3850 and 3870 use less wattage than a 100 watt light bulb! 75 watts for the 12v rail is the requirement.

1.http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...

2.http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...

Psu?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/page/powe...

(I like Tigerdirect and Newegg for parts. Tigerdirect is much better at shipping, listing the product specifications, system requirements, handling any return issues,{2 day turn around. Never had to use it yet,

but sometimes bad parts are made!}, selection, plus price.)

Answer 6

Any card out has at least 1 dvi...some even come with HDMI.

ATI makes several cards in their HD series with dual DVI, maybe 1 dvi and 1 hdmi, with DDR5. (no the ram on the pc doesn;t have to match the ram on the card)

New cards support DX10 but don't need it to run. And run fine in XP.

You should upgrade your Power supply. 550 should be a minimum.

www.newegg.com is hands down the best retailer.Excellent customer support, fast shipping, low prices.