Recommend a video card.

[Bill Moore]

My old work machine is causing problems again. Is is an Acer that came with Vista, but we loaded XP into it. It has an Athlon 64x2 processor but recently wouldn't boot every time. I finally decided it was booting, I just couldn't see anything. I took a card out of something in the backroom boneyard, (Compaq, I think), and I can see things again, but the resolution is really grainy, and if I try to increase it, the monitor displays "out of range".
Any recommendations for an inexpensive card? You can spend as much as you want on one, but I just want something with enough resolution to read a wiring diagram.

[tedmich]

How old Bill? AGP slot old? PCI slot old? Post a picture of the old board and we'll figure it out!

[elipsey]

It shouldn't take much of a video card to show you a 2D desktop at a reasonable resolution (in otherword not a game, or something rendered in 3D).

Sorry if it seems obvious, but you might check to make sure a reasonable driver is installed.

Do you know what kind of card it is?

[eschertron]

+1 to verifying the card's maker and seeing if windows (or the maker's website) can find and install drivers for that card.

[big_teee]

Once you figure out what you're shopping for?
I like Newegg.
GeForce GT 420, Radeon HD 6450, GeForce 210, Radeon HD 5450, GeForce GT 720, GeForce GT 630, GeForce GT 620, GeForce GT 610, GeForce 8400 GS, ZOTAC, ... - Newegg.com

[eschertron]

Once you figure out what you're shopping for?
I like Newegg.
GeForce GT 420, Radeon HD 6450, GeForce 210, Radeon HD 5450, GeForce GT 720, GeForce GT 630, GeForce GT 620, GeForce GT 610, GeForce 8400 GS, ZOTAC, ... - Newegg.com

I like pawing through the hardware that the kids grew out of and left when they moved out. I recently upgraded to a Geforce 8-something by visiting the old components my oldest left in his closet

[tedmich]

Newegg has no AGP cards (for example) for less than $50, while a nice XP refurb complete computer is like $100.

Many here (pack rats) probably have old cards they'd send to you gratis!

[Bill Moore]

Thanks for the replys, I'll try to post a pic, but I don't have the Photoshop program on this computer to re-size it. Never mind, it worked!
My buddy brought a card over, (some gamer card), which fit the green slot, but I found the one in the junk that fits the white, (PCI?) slot.

[The Dude]

So you're up and running?

[Bill Moore]

It works, but like I said the monitor is really grainy, and if I up the resolution, the screen displays "out of range". i need to get a higher resolution card, but of course want something cheap. My buddy doesn't want to part with his card, (I can borrow it for a while).

[tedmich]

thats an Acer M1100 MB and it has PCIe 16x slot, plenty of cheap cards for that!

I believe EVGA has a couple WinXP drivers for cards like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA1N83U88397
$31

[The Dude]

Bill, you said your buddy brought over an AGP card. Did that one work? If so, I may have an AGP card I could send you.

[Bill Moore]

Dude, the card that fit the green slot worked, but it was some kind of hot rod thing. (Very large, cooling fan on it). If you have a spare, I would sure buy it from you!
tedmitch, I didn't look for any drivers for the card I put in there, should I, is that my resolution problem?

[tedmich]

Maybe, you have to have the chipset software running (ATI or Nvidia) to get some newer cards to work properly. Try loading drivers for the card, likely it can do any resolution you need.

[Bill Moore]

Thanks all, I'll look for drivers first!