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[H]Graphics Card
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CaucasianAsian
Korea (South)11568 Posts
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blabber
United States4448 Posts
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CaucasianAsian
Korea (South)11568 Posts
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blabber
United States4448 Posts
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2569.html make sure your power supply unit is good enough to run a powerful video card | ||
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CaucasianAsian
Korea (South)11568 Posts
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FragKrag
United States11538 Posts
If you want to be able to run 3 monitors, you should consider ATi Eyefinity! $100 is overkill for a HTPC card, but will be enough for an Eyefinity supporting card. The Sapphire 5570 at $90 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102875 is the cheapest Eyefinity card, and I think it will suit your needs perfectly fine. It performs a bit above the 4670 in terms of gaming, so you can also run SC2 if you want (medium-high graphics). There are also some cheap ATi 5670s out there that will also run Eyefinity. I would suggest one of these if you want to run SC2 at high smoothly, but they are not needed for video playback. It is a higher performer than the 5570. ASUS @ $95 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121368 HIS @ $84 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161319 At the low end performing (IE won't run SC2 very well at medium) is the ATi HD 5450. I'm not quite sure if it actually supports 3 monitors (since the 3rd monitor requires a Display Port), but it should do two monitors just fine. Numerous models around $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=5450&x=0&y=0 | ||
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LuckyFool
United States9015 Posts
I have a friend who built a pc last summer (2.5k budget) and bought three of those. He's set for the next decade and a half. edit: oh shit sorry under 100. hmm that makes it no fun.  well I can answer the power supply question. open your computer and see how much watt output it provides and then when your browsing video cards it will tell you how much minimum power supply you need. | ||
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CaucasianAsian
Korea (South)11568 Posts
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FragKrag
United States11538 Posts
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CaucasianAsian
Korea (South)11568 Posts
On April 07 2010 13:03 LuckyFool wrote: well I can answer the power supply question. open your computer and see how much watt output it provides and then when your browsing video cards it will tell you how much minimum power supply you need. maybe i'm mentally retarded, but when i open my computer it's just a bunch of wires and stuff that i have no idea what does what. I just know that if I'm installing a new hard-drive then i remove the one that looks similar and replace it.  Or do you mean that it tells you in the 'My Computer' program thing? On April 07 2010 13:08 FragKrag wrote: None of the cards I recommended needs more than 75W so you should be fine either way. ahh ok ty! | ||
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FragKrag
United States11538 Posts
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Mickey
United States2606 Posts
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udgnim
United States8024 Posts
a good video card can help a bad CPU play videos better, but a good CPU doesn't need a good video card to play videos smoothly | ||
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LuckyFool
United States9015 Posts
On April 07 2010 13:09 CaucasianAsian wrote: maybe i'm mentally retarded, but when i open my computer it's just a bunch of wires and stuff that i have no idea what does what. I just know that if I'm installing a new hard-drive then i remove the one that looks similar and replace it. Or do you mean that it tells you in the 'My Computer' program thing? ahh ok ty! I meant physically opening the computer and checking the sticker on the power supply. it usually tells you there how much W output it provides. most are like in the 250-400W range I believe. you might also be able to check from the bios setup screen when you first turn on your computer on as well. I don't know of any windows tools that let you check your power supply info. | ||
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CaucasianAsian
Korea (South)11568 Posts
On April 07 2010 13:12 udgnim wrote: what's your CPU? a good video card can help a bad CPU play videos better, but a good CPU doesn't need a good video card to play videos smoothly I have no idea, it's a quadcore processor if that's what you're asking. | ||
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StorrZerg
United States13910 Posts
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CaucasianAsian
Korea (South)11568 Posts
On April 07 2010 13:14 LuckyFool wrote: I meant physically opening the computer and checking the sticker on the power supply. it usually tells you there how much W output it provides. most are like in the 250-400W range I believe. you might also be able to check from the bios setup screen when you first turn on your computer on as well. I don't know of any windows tools that let you check your power supply info. gotchya. next time i'm home i'll check it out. | ||
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FragKrag
United States11538 Posts
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StorrZerg
United States13910 Posts
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CaucasianAsian
Korea (South)11568 Posts
It plays fine, just it gets really pixelated at times (when a bunch of semi-large boxes throughout the video blur together) | ||
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