Video card (Cheap) + LCD

[Da_Banig]

Hi guys, I am looking for a decent video card, not higher end or not even close to. Maybe around $50-80 bucks, which card is good for the price? Very short on budget. Also need a 19" inch LCD recommendation. Prefer good brand but the price needs to be a little low though. Thanks guys

 

[cleeve]

AGP: Best bet is Geforce 6600

PCIe: Best bet is X800 GTO

Both are around $90 though, but both are worth it...


if you really need CHEEP, get a used AGP 9700 PRO/9800 PRO on ebay for about $50.

For PCIe, get a used 6600 GT or X700 PRO, should be about $50 too.

 

[rwpritchett]

Hi guys, I am looking for a decent video card, not higher end or not even close to. Maybe around $50-80 bucks, which card is good for the price? Very short on budget. Also need a 19" inch LCD recommendation. Prefer good brand but the price needs to be a little low though. Thanks guys

Since you're getting both video card and LCD, make sure you get DVI for both. I couldn't believe the difference when I switched from D-Sub to DVI on my LCD.

For a recommendation, consider the BenQ FP91G+ which is only $229 after rebate on newegg. It's a budget brand, low response time, and decent quality (thats what I'm using).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824014090

For a little more, you can get the ViewSonic VA1912WB on newegg for $290 and with it get the good brand name with low response time and DVI.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116373

If you don't play games, just get any old video card that has DVI and you'll be fine for common apps. If you do play games, well that changes things. What are you going to use the computer for? By the way, you didn't specify if you need AGP, PCI-e, or (god forbid) PCI.

RP

 

[Da_Banig]

I need a PCI-E video card, before I posted this message I actually look at the Benq 19" inch, to me its a decent price with rebate. About Video card the X700 pro costs quite a lot unless you getting it from ebay or something. Any more suggestion will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[rwpritchett]

If you want to keep the price as low as possible, would you consider a refurbished video card? You'll get a working card, but no software or cables. Drivers and software can be downloaded though and the monitor will come with cables.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Description=256+PCI+Express+DVI&MinPrice=50&MaxPrice=80&OEMMark=R&Manufactory=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&Submit=Property&SubCategory=48

That will get you into the nVidia 6600 or ATI X700 PRO territory within your $50-$80 budget.

 

[Da_Banig]

Thanks for all your help guys. Look like I will settle with the Benq 19" inch LCD and a refurbished X700Pro video card.

 

[rwpritchett]

Thanks for all your help guys. Look like I will settle with the Benq 19" inch LCD and a refurbished X700Pro video card.

Sounds like a great combo. Keep in mind that with a refurbished item, you only have 7 days return it so don't wait to install the card and be sure to run some graphics tests to make sure all is in order. Also, with the BenQ monitor, they are notoriously bright from the factory so you might need to play around with the settings.

Other than that, make sure to set the video card's ouput resolution at the monitor's native res, use the DVI cable not the D-Sub, and enable clear-type fonts for the best picture.

Post again when you get everything up and running at let us know how it all turned out.

RP

 

[Da_Banig]

Thanks for that reply, what's a good program to test my video card? to see if everything runs ok.

 

[rwpritchett]

Try out any games you have, watch a DVD, view some screen savers maxed-out, observe some text in a document, etc. Keep in mind that some games might act screwy if some video options are enabled in which the game wasn't meant for such as anti-aliasing, or triple buffering.

Alternatively, you can download one of the many benchmark utilities such as 3dmark and run through a few benchmarks. These benchmarks will run the gamut of video settings and test OpenGL, DirectX, rendering, blah, blah... But, keep in mind that these benchmark programs are meant to bring even the top-dog graphic cards to their knees so don't fret if you see lagging on 1600 x 1200 res, 8x anti-aliasing, super quality settings. Of course you shouldn't see any lagging in everyday apps or medium settings.

What you should pay more attention to are visual artifacts that appear, lines or streaking, unwanted pixelation, missed color representation, etc.

RP