Novice ? - Can You Go From AGP Motherboard to PCI Express

[ncsc]

I have been having problems with the VGA resolution on my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro AGP - want to be running a HIGH RESOLUTION dual monitor system on a Dell 2005 FPW + 1901 FP (I am not a gamer - this is for simple 2D graphics for business applications). The resolution on the respective monitors is WXSGA+ 1680 X 1050 and 1280 X 1024 HZ. I had considered changing to a XFX Nvidia 6600 GT AGP, but have been told by other forum members that:

If you want usable high-resolution DVI, you need either an ATi chip, or an NVidia chip card that uses TWO discrete transmitter chips. The reason is that NVidia's integrated one DVI transmitter isn't putting out a clean enough signal (and hasn't ever been, throughout the entire GeForce series).

This is correct, you need to find a model with 2 actual DVI transmitters, which is Quadro territory.

In laymen's terms, I gather that the issue is, on a single DVI transmitter video card, the primary DVI port consumes a lot of the maximum resolution - leaving less "cleaner" resolution for the secondary port. There seems to be higher resolution/less expensive Dual DVI cards in the PCI Express version. I have a Dell Dimension 4600 computer (that is only 9 months old and I just upgraded the memory module). The specs on my computer are as follows:

Pentium 4 CPU 2.80 GHz
768 MB of RAM
533 Hz BUS
Chipset Info - Intel (R) 82865G
Existing Motherboard? - AGP Configuration
Power Supply - 250 W/Peak 345 W, 853 BTU, 100 to 120 V at 60 Hz; 200 to 240 V at 50 Hz

So here are my questions?😕

1) Do I need a dual link DVI video card to be able to achieve the resolution I want from the 2 Dell monitors I own? Any suggestions? (I know - this maybe a questiuon for the video forum)?
2) Can I remove the existing AGP motherboard and replace it with a PCI Express motherboard? And what happens to the old AGP plug in slot - and can you install a new PCI Express plug in slot somewhere within the existing Dell Dimension 4600 box?
3) If #2 is possible, do you have any recommendations for a modest (I am not a high performance user) yet effective replacement PCI Express motherboard?
4) If I can do the PCI Express motherboard upgrade, do I also need to upgrade my existing power supply - and if so, what manufacturer and model # would you recommend?
5) Even though all of this may be possible - it may not be very cost effective in comparison to a new machine. How much will this cost and would it be better to start over with a new machine?

MANY THANKS!

 

[rgreen83]

1) Do I need a dual link DVI video card to be able to achieve the resolution I want from the 2 Dell monitors I own? Any suggestions? (I know - this maybe a questiuon for the video forum)?

You arent gaming and only need 2d so why not just get an add-in pci (not the same thing as pci-express) card for the second monitor? Make sure it is another ATI and use their software to use both cards in tandem.

2) Can I remove the existing AGP motherboard and replace it with a PCI Express motherboard? And what happens to the old AGP plug in slot - and can you install a new PCI Express plug in slot somewhere within the existing Dell Dimension 4600 box?

I doubt dell makes a drop-in compatible motherboad for a system originally sold as agp and an aftermarket board would probably require modifications to the case to fit. If you were to change to a pci-express motherboard, your agp slot would simply go out with your agp motherboard. PCI-Express is not something that can be added to yours or any motherboard, it has to be built into the motherboard. Also keep in mind your ATI 9800 agp will not be compatible with a new pci-express motherboard.

3) If #2 is possible, do you have any recommendations for a modest (I am not a high performance user) yet effective replacement PCI Express motherboard?

I dont really think you need a pci-express motherboard.

4) If I can do the PCI Express motherboard upgrade, do I also need to upgrade my existing power supply - and if so, what manufacturer and model # would you recommend?

If you were to do this, the motherboard would not necessarily need a better power supply, but since you would have to get a new video card, use it's power requirements to determine if you need a new power supply.

5) Even though all of this may be possible - it may not be very cost effective in comparison to a new machine. How much will this cost and would it be better to start over with a new machine?

I really think you should just consider adding a second pci (again, not the same as pci-express) card to your existing system, you could add one for cheap ( i would suggest something like this http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102522 ) and have plenty of resolution for each monitor.


The dual-link dvi card only makes sense if you are powering one super-high resolution monitor higher than a single-link dvi signal can carry (theoretically, 2048x1536, this is the thin edge though) such as a 30" apple cinema display with 2560x1600 resolution. But since you are using two seperate displays, you dont need one super-high resolution, you need two moderately-high resolutions, hence why you may use two cards in your senario and not in the case of an apple cinema.


It may take a little while to get the hang of the software required to use the two cards in tandem, but we will be here to help, and it is easier than keeping track of all these different standards of interconnects, guaranteed!