Video Card Advice Needed

[Alvaro Lopez]

Hi folks,

I've really been eyeing the 20" Samsung 204B LCD monitor. I'd really like to get it in the near future. However I find that my current ATI video card only rez's to 1280 x 1024. I'd like to be able to use all the real estate of the 1600 x 1200 pixel 204B LCD.

So I figure I need a new video card too. Any suggestions?

I have a Dell Poweredge 400SC server which I believe has PCI & AGP slots. I found this spec online regarding video cards: The AGP connector supports 8x, 4x AGP 3.0 add-in cards operating at 0.8v, or AGP 2.0 add-in cards operating at 1.5V. There is no support for AGP 2x operation or legacy 3.3V AGP cards. The Intel 875P (Canterwood) chipset specifically touts 8x AGP as a feature. There have also been numerous other reports that it works.

If the new video card had both analog & digital outputs that'd be really nice so I could continue to use my KVM. Other than that, I'd pretty much like a decent card that isn't too expensive but provide good colors, dynamic range etc. I don't play games or watch movies, just use it to view & edit photos.

I really don't know where to start looking since video cards are a rather specialized topic of their own.

Thanks in advance.

[Asher Kelman]

Alvaro,

I'd start off by logging on to Dell customer support. They actually so answer emails especially if you are not trying to get something that they have back ordered and don't want to deliver.

Just ask them what card they could sell you for that monitor, which BTW, they might sell too.

asher

[Paul Caldwell]

Things to consider,

Most of the higher end cards are quickly moving away from AGP to PCI-E (PCI Enhanced 16x) The 16x refers to the slot lenth. The claims are that PCI-E is much faster than even the AGP-8. If you have a PCI-E slot (don't confuse it with a longer PCI-X) slot, I would consider that instead.

If you only have the AGP slot, then here are some things I have found.

If you are only needing the card for CS type work, you don't need a big card with fans and alot of ram. You should be able to get by with 256 MB. The main thing you will need the card's ram for is screen res support and million's of colors, not as much refresh rates like with a game and 3D mapping. The more expensive cards will require better cooling and most come with a fan attached to the card. Even a lower end card will almost always have a heat sink on the grapics chip now.

Most cards now come with dual output, analog and digital, however you can also get adatpers that will take a Digital output to standard VGA, (most of the Digital output only cards will come with that adatper).

I would look at cards by ATI, Radeon series or Nvidea. For a long time Nvidea didn't actually market cards, but instead many companies used their chips, I believe now you can actually buy cards from Nvidea.

ATI has a very good website for support and drivers and I have OK luck with their tech support.

I would go AGP over PCI if you don't have a PCI-E slot as this will save you taking up a PCI slot.

Paul Caldwell

[Asher Kelman]

Paul,

I knew we needed you! Your detailed advice is exemplary.

Who would do this for a Mac? After all one can spend a lot of money by upgrading the Apple Viseo cards, but what is needed for intensive and or small or massive batch image processing. I've started a new thread.

http://www.openphotographyforums.com...=8300#post8300

Asher

[Sean DeMerchant]

Originally Posted by Paul Caldwell

If you are only needing the card for CS type work, you don't need a big card with fans and alot of ram. You should be able to get by with 256 MB. The main thing you will need the card's ram for is screen res support and million's of colors, not as much refresh rates like with a game and 3D mapping. The more expensive cards will require better cooling and most come with a fan attached to the card. Even a lower end card will almost always have a heat sink on the grapics chip now.

Most cards now come with dual output, analog and digital, however you can also get adatpers that will take a Digital output to standard VGA, (most of the Digital output only cards will come with that adatper).

Two things.

1) Adobe recommends at least 128 MB of RAM per screen you have and Adobe does use some of your graphics horsepower to run PS. This is nothing major, but my limited understanding is that Adobe is using the DirectX display routines for their graphics and you hence end up using some graphics card power. Most low end $50 USD cards have enough horsepower and RAM for a single display when running PS at 1600x1200.

2) There are currently 3 standard monitor connector types on the market now:

1. DSUB - The standard video connector from days of old.
2. DVI - Which is the newer connector type. This is uses an analog signal IIRC.
3. DVD-D - The digital variant on DVI. If your display/s require DVI-D, then you will likely have to buy a more expensive card. With dual displays you will have to buy a higher end 256 MB card to get dual DVI-D out.

And as already noted, ensure that the card supports the proper AGP interface type.

some thoughts,

Sean

[August Iaia]

Hi. I upgraded a video card on a Dell Dimension 8300 a few years ago and here are some things that may help:

(1) It only had an AGP slot. I got an ATI card. I wasn't completely happy with it. It was a bit buggy (I wasn't a Photoshop user back then so no PS issues). When I read various ATI user reviews/forums I got the impression their drivers were a bit temperamental. I switched to an nVidia GeForce 7600 GS and am happy with it. It was relatively inexpensive, and I think it is one of the last generation of cards made for the AGP form factor, so I'm guessing its probably in the "as good as you can do category" for an AGP replacement card. My vote would be for nVidia based card of some type if you have to go the AGP form factor route. Also, not sure if the plug configuration on my card works for your needs.....just saying my experience is the nVidia drivers has been problem free for me.

(2) There's a chance you will have to upgrade your power supply, particularly if you added any components like additional hard drives after you bought the original box. I had to, and I found out that Dell does not use the standard form factor for their power supplies....the fastener holes etc. are in a slightly non-standard configuration. The biggest power supply I could get at the time from Dell was 305 watts, which wasn't big enough (the PC would crash without warning).

PC Power and Cooling, which has an excellent reputation for quality, sells power supplies that conform to the Dell form factor and provide much more power. In my limited experience they had absoutely wonderful customer service prior to the sale. So if you do determine that you need an upgraded power supply, I would recommend them. (Not sure if you are in the US or not, so of course that is contingent on if they can supply something that will work with your local power.)

Swapping out the power supply was really easy. The cables have connectors that were for the most part idiot proof (which was good for me) so it made the job easy. However I remember there was a non-standard wiring issue on some older Dell models (they switched the positive and negative on one cable bundle or something like that) so for some models you need a converter cable between the power supply and the motherboard. This was easily researched online, and I believe PC Power also gave me some advice on the issue.

Hope this helps and good luck.