New Video Card for Old Computer

[rjhidaho]

I currently have an older computer as follows:

3.60 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
Board: Intel Corporation D955XBK AAC96732-406
3324 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT/GTO

The motherboard specs is PCI Express X 16.

Usage: Limited gaming, more emphasis on Photoshop, Flash, Video apps.

Also, I use a two monitor configuration and need dual dvi support.

The video card appears to be getting flaky (intermittently does not refresh/repaint the screen & occasionally "blanks" out then returns.


Now the questions:

Will PCI Express 2.0 X16 video cards run properly on this system? Will higher performance cards such as GTX 250 or 260 be performance limited because of the the CPU?

Any suggestions as to a replacement video card considering the older CPU configuration?

[flanzig1]

PCI E 2.o are backwards compatable.
The video card could be held back some due to the CPU, this is mainly in games. Viideo/photo type work is mostly by the CPU.
If you were to upgrade to a 250 or 260, more than likely you will need to get a bigger PSU in the 550w range.

[glc]

I would recommend an ATI replacement for this use. What power supply do you currently have?

[rjhidaho]

Sorry for the delay in responding. I'd appreciate your input.

I currently have a 550W power supply.

More Info:

Antec Neo HE550

rjh

[Khalil]

For your applications here is a low priced card that will work wonders for you.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121326
Your power supply can handle even higher but if you are not big into gaming this card is all you need and it will game really well too.

[rjhidaho]

Originally Posted by Khalil For your applications here is a low priced card that will work wonders for you. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121326 Your power supply can handle even higher but if you are not big into gaming this card is all you need and it will game really well too.

I actually need support for dual monitors. I think this card only one dvi port. Is there something close that provides dual dvi ports?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by rjhidaho I actually need support for dual monitors. I think this card only one dvi port. Is there something close that provides dual dvi ports?

Take a look at the hd4850, it has dual dvi, costs the same as the hd4770 but has better performance and the power consumption isn't much higher (your power supply will easily handle it). Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161259

[Khalil]

I didn't recommend the 4850 because of it's physical size, it does not fit in most regular cases.
rjhidaho, what case do you use?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Khalil I didn't recommend the 4850 because of it's physical size, it does not fit in most regular cases. rjhidaho, what case do you use?

The length of the HD4850 is almost the same as that of the 7900GT, so there shouldn't be any clearance issues if there are none with the 7900GT.

[Khalil]

The 4850 is bigger however if it fits I agree the 4850 is a better card, I actually told you that Masaki a few months ago when the 4770 came out

[rjhidaho]

Originally Posted by Khalil I didn't recommend the 4850 because of it's physical size, it does not fit in most regular cases. rjhidaho, what case do you use?

The case is an Antec P180 so size should not be a problem.

rjh

[rjhidaho]

Okay, how about the DIAMOND 4870PE51GDS Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP?

http://http://www.newegg.com/Product...82E16814103082

With rebate this is going for $139.

rjh