Nvidia Vanta card ? Riva TNT2-64 and LCD monitor - OK ?

[JJFlash]

A friend wishes to purchase a 17? LCD flat panel monitor (suggestions as to make and model of 17? LCD welcomed). I opened their Gateway box, and she has an Nvidia Vanta card ? Riva TNT2-64. Thus the 64 megs, 128 bit, should be workable to run a modern 17? LCD flat panel monitor. Correct ? If there is a reasonlably priced card out there that dramatically enhances such a monitor ? and the monitor is only used for office work plus an occasional viewing of a business DVD ? I could also get her a new card, but I don?t see how it would be necessary.

Does this no need to get a new video card make sense ?

 

[NelsonMuntz]

Originally posted by: JJFlash
A friend wishes to purchase a 17? LCD flat panel monitor (suggestions as to make and model of 17? LCD welcomed). I opened their Gateway box, and she has an Nvidia Vanta card ? Riva TNT2-64. Thus the 64 megs, 128 bit, should be workable to run a modern 17? LCD flat panel monitor. Correct ? If there is a reasonlably priced card out there that dramatically enhances such a monitor ? and the monitor is only used for office work plus an occasional viewing of a business DVD ? I could also get her a new card, but I don?t see how it would be necessary.

Does this no need to get a new video card make sense ?

Shouldn't be any reason that she would need a new video card for the LCD especially considering how she is using it currently. The only thing that might be nice is a card with DVI, but that only helps if the LCD has DVI. You can pick up a card with DVI pretty cheap (there are some Radeon 7000 on Newegg for <$40 but they are just 32 MB).

 

[JJFlash]

Thanks, NelsonMuntz,
"only helps if the LCD has DVI" is a significant statement.

I put myself through a bit of a tutorial on DVI, just from your reference.

While I have a guru on the phone... I have been in to a store to eyeball LCD monitors (I have two 21? Nokia CRTs and have not much inspected the world of LCD) and did not have enough data at my disposal to do much discerning.

I identify LCD monitors in two general ranges:

1 is the lower, moderate end, such as the Princeton, Mag, Proview realm
Princeton

the 2nd is the higher end, such as the Samsung
Samsung

the Samsung is about 70% more expensive in price. Much of the reason is the demand in response to the various reviews. She would likely be willing to spend the money if it was worth the difference.

Do you have a viewpoint on the relative merits of the higher end Samsung versus the lower, moderate end, such as the Princeton, Mag, Proview models ?

Would the difference be noticeable and is the warranty difference of that much greater value ?

Thanks mucho,
Jjflash

Some urls:
Samsung 171P

Samsung list


PS (She does not want a black monitor)

 

[kawboy68]

Check out this article first before making a final decision on buying an LCD. It has to do with dead pixels and warranty replacements.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/display/20030319/index.html

 

[Peter]

Vanta is not TNT2-M64. And M64 is 64-bits, and 16 or at most 32 MBytes of RAM.

For a 17" TFT with analog VGA connection you'll just need 1280x1024 resolution at 60 Hz, no more no less, preferrably at 32K color depth or more. Any old 2-MByte graphics card should be able to do that for you.

 

[JJFlash]

Wow, I blew the spces reading of that card !
I have a different thread that has also provided considerable help and it seems sensible and workable to go ahead with a stronger card, which will also provide DVI.
Thanks again, kawboy68 and Peter, this is of help.
JJflash