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Which graphics card?
Name: Noel A Date: October 27, 2006 at 02:47:16 Pacific OS: Win XP CPU/Ram: 1.0Gb Product: AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz
Comment:
If this is not the right place to post this question, my apologies. I am about to buy a new monitor, Samsung wide screen 215TW, but my current graphics card, Radeeon 9200 series, does not support the Samsung resolution of 1680x1050. I mainly use my computer for the internet and photo editing and rarely play games. Can anyone suggest a suitable graphics card please. A friend has suggested a GeForce 7600GT (http://www.3dfuzion.com/cards_7600GT_pcie_256.asp) which looks OK but I am not sure if it is suitable. Thanks.
Name: jam Date: October 27, 2006 at 05:42:09 Pacific
Reply:
If you're running an Athlon 1.2GHz, there's no way your board has a PCI-Express slot. You'll have to check to see if your board has an AGP slot or not...you may only have standard PCI slots. Also, you'll want to avoid a card that requires the extra power plug-in because your power supply may not be able to handle the extra load. And since you're not a gamer, there's no need for a 7600GT.
Name: OtheHill Date: October 27, 2006 at 05:45:02 Pacific
Reply:
Your card probably will support that resolution. I believe that by default, only resolutions supported by the identified monitor are displayed. When the new monitor is installed you should have the options for wide screen displays. You may need to update your Radeon drivers.
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Response Number 3
Name: Noel A Date: October 27, 2006 at 12:05:53 Pacific
Reply:
Thank you for your quick and helpful replies. Graphics cards are a closed book as far as I am concerned but at least I now know that the 7600GT is not for me! I have no idea how to check if I have AGP or PCI slots - perhaps someone could enlighten me please. I have checked my computer using Belarc but can't find any relevant info there. According to my current monitor's booklet it supports resolutions up to 1920x1440 but when I look at my Display settings the nearest options I get are 1600x1200 or 1792x1344 - nothing in between. That is what makes me suspect that my current graphics card will not support the Samsung 1680x1050. Any other thoughts will me most welcome. Thanks.
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Response Number 4
Name: OtheHill Date: October 27, 2006 at 13:37:18 Pacific
Reply:
Reread my first repsonse. You don't see the wide screen relolutions currently because you don't have a 16:9 ratio monitor. When you install the new monitor you will then see available resolutions that the new monitor will support. There are many different wide screen ratios so the exact resolution may not be available. This means you may have a small band of black somewhere. Radeon 9200 cards are AGP 8x cards.
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Response Number 5
Name: Noel A Date: October 27, 2006 at 14:31:46 Pacific
Reply:
Thanks OtheHill. Sorry to be a pain but is your answer still the same after looking at this link (see resolutions supported at the bottom) http://ati.amd.com/products/radeon9... I am worried that my card was born before the wide screen appeared. Thanks
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Response Number 6
Name: OtheHill Date: October 27, 2006 at 16:25:51 Pacific
Reply:
The card isn't what determines the resolutions. The driver package does that. The only thing to be concerned with is the omount of memory on the card and wheather of not the Catalyst drivers support your older but not obsolete card. I will try to explain onece more about the list of resolutions available. The catalyst drivers ONLY show you the resolutions the your present monitor is capable of displaying. When you install a new wide screen LCD monitor the list of resolutions available will change accordingly. Hope this clears it up for you. If you are not a gamer, why do you want a wide screen display?
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Response Number 7
Name: Noel A Date: October 28, 2006 at 09:14:05 Pacific
Reply:
I apologise for being a bit thick and totally ignorant of the workings of graphics cards and monitors. I think I get the message now and thank you very much for your advice. I am getting a wide screen because in every other respect that particular monitor suits me fine and I think the extra space will be useful for photo editing as there is never enough space to accommodate the various palettes used in Photoshop CS2. I have thought hard and long about the wide screen aspect but have now more or less made up my mind Thanks
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