what direction for my current system

[jsimmonsd]

I have an acer aspire xc600 intel 3 windows 7 and hd 2500 graphics card. been doing cad work in one screen, mostly 2d, very occasionally 3d, but now am using two screens. works mostly ok with my samsung s27d360 and a smaller older (windows XP) screen I held onto.

friend just gave me a 32" Westinghouse lcd screen that is at least 5- to 8 years old. hooked it up expecting a beautiful 32" display but the clarity is so bad its giving me headaches. tried a usb to vga adapter ...did not help. don't want to spend a small fortune or throw away equipment if I do not need to, but want to have a larger (clear) work area. should I
a. get a new and better graphics card installed on the current rig
b. lose the Westinghouse monitor and buy a newer large screen at a good price point
c. upgrade my entire rig

???
I run autocad lte 2014, sketchup and occasionally turbocad pro.

 

[TechCIDLC]

This problem is monitor/TV related. That screen should have buttons for changing things like brightness or contrast, try tinkering with those until you are comfortable.

 

[geofelt]

If the TV has only a vga input, that is likely part of the problem.
VGA is an analog input and will not be as clear as a digital input.
You might try a high quality vga cable and see if that helps.
http://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10201&cs_id=1020102&p_id=85&seq=1&format=2
The shorter the better to reduce losses.

Can you connect the TV to the integrated vga adapter on the back of the motherboard?

In the past, I used a cheap amd card for a second monitor. The image was terrible.
You could consider replacing the HD-2500 card.
Something like a $50 GT710 would be good.

If a good cable does not do the job, then a more modern graphics card is likely to do the job.

 

[jsimmonsd]

This problem is monitor/TV related. That screen should have buttons for changing things like brightness or contrast, try tinkering with those until you are comfortable.

 

[jsimmonsd]

I tinkered with the buttons to no avail. I think geofelt is right. my system has an hdmi and a vga output on the back. there is also an open usb. I tried a usb to vga adapter but to no avail. the monitor at issue has a vga and a dvi input. lots of cad users say for better cad processing, it comes down more to the cpu and while processing could be a little faster,,,,i am more concerned with the clarity as I would like to use the screen and then upgrade the whole system at a later date.
so geofelt,,,,you suggest a graphics card but will that get me the clarity of my other monitor which has an hdmi connection,,,would running to the dvi input help? one of my friends says my computer is not even putting out hdmi,,,that the cord is converting it...at any rate, my Samsung S27D360 has good clairity using my current rig....
if I go with a new card....I want to make sure its the card at fault and not the monitor.

 

[jsimmonsd]

thanks in advance.