suggestions for a hdmi graphics card

Wottle

Hi all, I've attached my sytem to a jpeg pic. It's an old machine but still works well for my needs. I've ordered 2x2G of Ram and want to also get a graphics card with a HDMI port and if I'm getting a graphics card I'd like it to be half decent and affordable.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Digital Solitude

Just for regular usage is it?

Is the PC slimline or wider?

TerrorFirmer

Just get a 2nd hand HD5450 or similar for €15-20 - there are a few on Adverts. The PC is so old I don't think 'half decent' really applies, just a basic card with HDMI connectivity is fine. Just make sure you got the right ram (also, Win 32-bit will not be able to use 4GB fully) and that the machine has a PCI-E lane free for a card.

Wottle

Digital Solitude wrote: »

Just for regular usage is it?

Is the PC slimline or wider?

9cm wide
30cm bottom to top
34cm sideways

Used to love playing Unreal tournament about 16 years ago and like the idea of being able to play similar games on it. wouldn't have to be the best HD in the world just no lagging.

I'm reading a book atm on how to build your own PC, so over the next few months the current PC will be relegated to the kids playroom.

Thanks

Digital Solitude

It doesn't take a bookful of knowledge in fairness, if you ask here with a budget we can advise on what you should buy.

You need a slimline card for the pc

Wottle

I'll definitely be using you guys I'd like to see what system I can come up with first and to make sure all my selections are compatible.

New jpeg added showing what slots I have left. Am I right in thinking that's only a PCI slot and not a PCI-E?
Not sure what the other slot is?

I also see I'll have a few parts to move to get the new ram in. What is the max ram my PC can use then, if not 4?

Thanks

TerrorFirmer

If you install a 1GB HD5450 or similar then I think about 3GB overall.

The black one is a PCI-E lane so you are fine. Again, I wouldn't spend more than about €15. The whole PC is barely worth that much!

If by Unreal Touranment you mean UT99, Unreal 2k4, and those sorts of games, then yes the card will run them perfectly.

Generally speaking the majority of mainstream FPS titles from 2006-2007ish onwards would struggle on that machine even with a newer card. The last time I used a Pentium D was for COD4 in 2007, and even then it was just OK with a medicore framerate.

Wottle

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

If you install a 1GB HD5450 or similar then I think about 3GB overall.

The black one is a PCI-E lane so you are fine. Again, I wouldn't spend more than about €15. The whole PC is barely worth that much!

If by Unreal Touranment you mean UT99, Unreal 2k4, and those sorts of games, then yes the card will run them perfectly.

Generally speaking the majority of mainstream FPS titles from 2006-2007ish onwards would struggle on that machine even with a newer card. The last time I used a Pentium D was for COD4 in 2007, and even then it was just OK with a medicore framerate.

Thanks for the feedback.

Is this what we're talking about.
http://www.adverts.ie/other-peripherals/graphics-cards/9035113

Yeah the PC is pretty old but served me well, looking forward to building sth deadly

Eoinmc97

Your 32bit Windows can actually use more than 4GB RAM, it's just that 32bit can only compute upto 4GB. 6GB is when people see losses, as 32bits swell the bus at that point completely, 8GB and up just don't offer any more multitasking.
In terms of pooling memory, you don't take the VRAM from DDR RAM. They are not the same, and do not communicate the same way.
So theoreticaly, you could buy 4-6GB of RAM (you might not need 6GB) and a cheapish €20-€30 GPU to drive your system. Or if your motherboard has DVI-D, then there are adaptors for DVI-D to HDMI. That might be cheaper.

Wottle

Eoinmc97 wrote: »

Or if your motherboard has DVI-D, then there are adaptors for DVI-D to HDMI. That might be cheaper.

I got excited there for a second, swore it had DVI but it doesn't, confused it with a 512mb Sapphire card with DVI that I have lying around but too big for this pc.

TerrorFirmer

I wans't really paying attention, I just assumed it was WinXP with the age of the hardware, the ram allocation issue (with the card) as you have correctly pointed out isn't an issue in later versions of Windows but WinXP used to mirror the vram in the usable ram and the OP is using a 10 year old computer - so if you had 4GB of ram and a 1GB say, at the time, 7900GT, you were left with almost half your usable ram occupied the second you booted up the machine. Not a huge deal because at the time games didn't need that much ram but it was a pain in the ass.

There was also turbocache and whatever the AMD equivalent - it just came to me now, hypermemory! - which was a total joke - total low end cards that were "1GB" that only had 128mb native vram and the rest was taken from your system ram which was obviously not only slower, but the typical cards that used this feature had ridiculously slow cores to being with that could not run at settings that would demand that quantity of vram without the game running at 5fps.

Not sure what you mean though about 6GB being usable? In most 32-bit systems due to hardware, depending, the average amount usable will be 3-3.75GB. The rest goes unaddressed, so not sure how you figure that programs or the OS can address the 6GB.