Will I need a new graphics card?

[siw]

I thinking of upgrading my current Dell E151FPb 15" TFT monitor that came with my PC (3yr old Dell Dimension 2400) at one of the 19" widescreen models. The E151FPb only gives me a choice of 1024x768 and 800x600, and I don't know what the graphic card is that came with it.

Will I have to buy a new graphics card for the 19" monitor? If so what would be the cheapest one. I don't use the PC for games, just office work and the internet, so it can be a bottom-of-the-range model. The monitor is for the Xbox360 and I might as well use it for the PC as well.

Thanks.

[broona]

Your current card should be fine, you're only limited in resolution as the OS takes its information from your monitor, hence only displays resolutions that your current monitor is capable of displaying. Plug a new one in, and the add new hardware wizard should appear, thus giving you new resolutions to choose from. :thumbsup:

[Andy98765]

Broona is correct in what he states but some old graphics cards do not support widescreen modes. You will see a vast improvement by upgrading your present graphics but you must first assess what type of card to fit. The motherboard, if it is any good will have a PCI-E or AGP slot waiting for you. At your PC's age I would suspect that the slot, if it exists will be AGP, if that is the case and power is no problem then a card like this would be a wise investment http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/104734. Also by doing this you can release back in bios the memory that is used by your onboard graphics to the operating system. Also note that this card supports DVI out and if the new monitor has DVI in then go down this route.

[siw]

Thanks for the replies. I've never replaced/added a graphics card so don't even known what the integrated one looks like. Good to see that card for £25, I was dreading that it would be +£100.

I've went to Control Panel/System/Device Manager/Display adapters/Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller after clicking on that it said Location: PCI bus 0, device 2, function 0. So I'm guessing it's the PCI option. I have 3 spare PCI slots, but I've used one with a network card.

Is there a PCI (what does the E mean in your post as it's just called PCI in my Dell manual?) that you'd recommed, again the cheaper the better? And both DVI and VGA would be ideal.

Thanks again.

[Tigerblade]

Is there a PCI (what does the E mean in your post as it's just called PCI in my Dell manual?) that you'd recommed, again the cheaper the better? And both DVI and VGA would be ideal.

Thanks again.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ATI_PCI_Series.html

I use the exact same card (top one) to run my periferal monitors for 2d apps and it works a treat.

The E in PCI-E stands for Express. Just the newest slot for gfx cards.

I'll check if it can run ws res and get back to you.

EDIT - after having a quick search on google it says '2D Display Modes Monitor Resolution Hz 640 x 480 @ 200, 800 x 600 @ 200, 1024 x 768 @ 200, 1152 x 864 @ 160, 1280 x 1024 @ 120, 1600 x 1200 @ 100, 1920 x 1080 @ 90, 1920 x 1200 @ 90, 1920 x 1440 @ 75, 2048 x 1536 @ 60 Max.'

Not sure what 19" widescreen monitors native res is, but that is the resolution's that card can handle.

EDIT 2 - just realised you want DVI, so you'd need an different version. Will cost significantly less with it being second hand for example :

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ATI-HIS-Radeon-7000-64MB-with-TV-PCI-DVI_W0QQitemZ200039290655QQihZ010QQcategoryZ67863Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[siw]

The native res is 1440x900 for the 19" ws.

Thanks.

[james.miller]

cards can handle just about any resolution you tell them too. if they don't do it as standard your monitor drivers should provide a suitable profile instructing the card on what resolution/refresh rate to use. if that doesn't work you can use something like powerstrip to write the support directly into the support list, it's all very easy:)

[siw]

Anymore recommendations for a (very) cheap PCI (not PCI-E) graphics card with both VGA and DVI-I (unless I can use DVI-D or DVI-A for a TFT monitor) to use in my 3yr old Dell 2400 dimension and a 19" ws monitor (still not bought one yet). Thanks.