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Screen and video card upgrade

jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Screen and video card upgrade

I need to replace one of the two 17" monitors on my PC with a flatscreen (I'm fed up with the lack of desk space). I am currently running one off the on-board controller and one off an old 2MB PCI card that won't support 32 bit colour at the resolution I run (I'd also like to increase the resolution on the second monitor to 1280x1024). The on-board graphics does not support widescreen resolutions. The PC has an AGP slot (but no PCI-E). I don't do gaming or anything else where graphics performance is an issue.
I've identified the following screen and a graphics card which I think should support both the new monitor and the old monitor I'm keeping at 1280x1024x32.
LG W2242T-SF 22" TFT Monitor 1680x1050
Sapphire X1650Pro 512MB DDR2 VGA DVI TV Out AGP Graphics Card
Any comments/alternative suggestions?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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8 REPLIES 8
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Screen and video card upgrade

I'm afraid it's not really a comment or suggestion, but I had no idea they were so cheap these days.
Peter_Vaughan
Grafter
Posts: 14,469
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Screen and video card upgrade

Hi Jelv,
I would go for the Samsung SM2243BW 22" TFT Monitor 1680x 8000:1 300cd/m2 5ms Response H/Adjust VGA/DVI Silver which is actually silver front, black back. Samsung make far superior monitors to LG in my opinion (the reviews of the LG are not that good!). You also get a VGA and DVI cable with it so no extra expense, not sure if you do with the LG.
I was thinking of the 22" Samsung but went for the the 24" version (SM2443BW, £235 at the time but they don't have it listed at the moment) as I needed the extra height for web development and cannot fault it. Set-up was very easy and it has touch sensitive controls. The big advantage is the stand is height adjustable which many other monitors don't have, including the LG model you quoted I think.
Graphics card is fine for what you want to do and will run both new and old monitors without any problems.
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: Screen and video card upgrade

Flat screens can run at a lower refresh rate than CRT's without any provacation of headaches.
So even your 2MB card might be semi-sufficient, if you tweak the refresh rate down a bit.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Screen and video card upgrade

Refresh rate has nothing to do with the memory usage on old cards. It's a simple formula:
horizontal resolution x vertical resolution x bits per pixel / 8
is the minimum bytes required.
1680 x 1250 x 32 / 8 = 8,400,000
In any case the card doesn't support that resolution as all those years ago widescreen hadn't even been thought of!
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
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VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
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Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: Screen and video card upgrade

Since I've got a (fairly cheap) 512MByte card running at a resolution of 1280 x 1024 x 32 bits,
and I hardly ever play games, what is all that memory for?
Seems like I've about 507MB "too much".  Smiley
What are these relatively fast GPU speeds for?
(Mine is 550Mhz)
The card was sold as suitable for occasional low quality games play.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Screen and video card upgrade

Quote from: Peter
I would go for the Samsung SM2243BW 22" TFT Monitor 1680x 8000:1 300cd/m2 5ms Response H/Adjust VGA/DVI Silver which is actually silver front, black back. Samsung make far superior monitors to LG in my opinion (the reviews of the LG are not that good!). You also get a VGA and DVI cable with it so no extra expense, not sure if you do with the LG.

Thanks for the recommendation Peter - I went for the Samsung as you suggested and it arrived today. When I checked around the ebuyer price was about £20 less than anyone else was showing. The only problem is that it makes the CRT monitor I'm keeping as a second monitor look crap!
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
Peter_Vaughan
Grafter
Posts: 14,469
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Screen and video card upgrade

Yep, same here... I was going to keep my existing 17" CRT and add the 24" widescreen so I had dual screen set-up for web development etc, but the CRT looked so bad compared to the TFT and out of place I need to save up to get another 24" screen to match now!!!  Roll_eyes Roll_eyes
Denzil
Grafter
Posts: 1,733
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: Screen and video card upgrade

Quote from: axisofevil
Since I've got a (fairly cheap) 512MByte card running at a resolution of 1280 x 1024 x 32 bits,
and I hardly ever play games, what is all that memory for?
Seems like I've about 507MB "too much".  Smiley
What are these relatively fast GPU speeds for?
(Mine is 550Mhz)
The card was sold as suitable for occasional low quality games play.

Games, mainly, especially those with fast-moving complex 3D environments. Having the processing and memory in the graphics card makes it better at the fast rendering. Most other applications don't need very much.