bearsowner Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I want to get a new monitor, but do not know if my display adapter can only handle a conventional screen or can I get a widescreen monitor.Here are the resolutions it can handle:High to lowest1280x10241280x9601280x7681280x7201152x8641024x768800x600640x480Video Card is:NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 ProSince this computer is 2001 vintage, I am thinking it can only handle a conventional size LCD monitor unless I change the display adapter.Thanks for any responses.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeFiend Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 That card is dating from 1999, and it doesn't support the common widescreen resolutions we see lately, like 1280x800, 1440x900, 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1200. Besides, it's far too old to have a DVI output.But then again, seeing it's a 2001 vintage, it's likely a late P3, or early P4 (socket 423) that's also pretty low on RAM (256MB?), and probably is limited to AGP 2x... A new vid card for that would cost more than the entire PC is worth in the fist place. A new vid card + monitor several times that.I've seen Athlon64 3500+ barebones (everything except the drives) for ~$100 many times, or you could get a mATX motherboard with everything you need onboard for $60 (perhaps something built around the 945GC chipset), plus $40 or so for a basic CPU like an Athlon64 4000+ or a Celeron 430, and around $30 for 2GB of fast DDR2 RAM for it. Not a whole lot of $, but a GIGANTIC step up from what you're using (in terms of CPU speed, LOTS more RAM, SATA, USB2, far better audio, etc), and it would work with a new monitor just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 But then again, seeing it's a 2001 vintage, it's likely a late P3, or early P4 (socket 423) that's also pretty low on RAM (256MB?), and probably is limited to AGP 2x... A new vid card for that would cost more than the entire PC is worth in the fist place. A new vid card + monitor several times that.There are nVidia 6200 AGP board for less than 30USD that would perfectly handle any screen up to 1920*1280 and come even with DVI.Check out these:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814241057http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814125048I wonder what PC that is, sure it´s not this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeFiend Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 There are nVidia 6200 AGP board for less than 30USD that would perfectly handle any screen up to 1920*1280 and come even with DVD.That would work fine, but they still cost as much as the computer is worth I wonder what PC that is, sure it´s not this!That's what I was getting at really. That computer is so old that it isn't really worth investing anything in it (actually, the computer in that pic is worth more to a collector than his...) No point in getting a new vid card for it, when you can upgrade to something 10x faster for under $100.This is real cheap (a kid could afford this with money made from babysitting/mowing lawns or delivering newspapers) and is still so much better than his current computer (doesn't even compare):ECS GF7050VT-M motherboard - $33Celeron 430 - $401GB of whatever DDR2 RAM - $19So $92 total. Out of the extra $72, he gets: a CPU about 10x faster, 3 to 4x more of faster RAM, four SATA ports, USB2 ports, a PCI-e x16 slot, 6 channel audio, etc. And he still gets a new vid card out of it.You can get something significantly better than this for not much more $ either (2GB RAM for ~$10 more, dual core for ~$30 more, etc). Or save even more buy going with a cpu/motherboard combo, or open box items, or 2nd hand stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearsowner Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 So what you guys are saying is bring the computer to the junk yard and get a new system, that sounds good too, but there are drawbacks to that also, I am used to what I am using..Here are the specs on what I have now:http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...mp;lang=en#N522You know at the time, it was a great machine, still is for me, does what I want it to do anyway..Think I will just keep what I got till it dies...Thanks for the input... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 So what you guys are saying is bring the computer to the junk yard and get a new system, that sounds good too, but there are drawbacks to that also, I am used to what I am using..Well, crahak is, I´m not.The problem is this:- A 16:10 or 16:9 screen will not work on the TNT2 nor on much other AGP 2x cards.- The quality of the video card is unlikely adequite to give a "noise less" screen, with other words it could give an distorted image.But, a 4:3 screen would work, e.g. using the 1280*1024pix at 16bit mode with 60Hz.Most brands have them in there colection. For the price an Acer AL1716 Fbd screen would be a great, it even has future proof features like DVI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sysdll Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 (edited) I wonder what PC that is, sure it´s not this!I’m jealous. The first computer I used didn’t have video.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_large_systemsQUOTE (bearsowner @ Jul 21 2008, 05:57 PM) So what you guys are saying is bring the computer to the junk yard and get a new system, that sounds good too, but there are drawbacks to that also, I am used to what I am using..I‘m typing this on my IBM Model M clicky keyboard so I understand keeping something because you’re used to it.I’ve serviced 2 computers like yours recently and moving up from the TNT2 makes a big difference. The specs say you can use up to a 4x agp and these cards are everywhere. The only thing to be concerned about is the rather small power supply on these machines. I used this site to choose a card for the two HP’s.http://carpc.kyferez.com/Tools/PSUWattageCalculator.php Edited July 22, 2008 by Sysdll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zxian Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Hang on a sec... there is a solution for this without having to buy new hardware. RivaTuner can add custom resolutions to the display drivers so that old graphics card can drive just about any resolution. I had a Riva card push out 1680x1050 for a 20" LCD monitor. Of course, you wouldn't want to be gaming at this resolution, but for desktop applications, it was perfectly usable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravisO Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 You know at the time, it was a great machine, still is for me, does what I want it to do anyway..Up until recently I was still using the same machine I built in 2001 too (well I replaced the video card in 2004 and added 256mb of ram in 2007 and bought a 20" LCD in 2008). The biggest reason I built a new box was because the capacitors on my mobo were blown and the computer would randomly reboot 3-7 times a day. But I'm very happy I did build a new one, it's blazzingly fast and I picked up some recent games (UT3 and Crysis).I agree with others, just buy a cheap video card for like $30-$50, preferably Nvidia based, and use your new screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 RivaTuner can add custom resolutions to the display drivers so that old graphics card can drive just about any resolutionWell, it can´t hurt to try that indeed . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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