Video card help pretty pls for new HP ZR24w

[oshun]

[FONT=&quot]Okay so let me preface my question by saying I’m TOTALLY intimidated by coming on this board and stepping my somewhat clueless self-amongst the folks who have technology expertise. As evidenced by this being my first post, I’m clearly a newbie here. I attempted to do a search in hopes of finding an answer, but alas I'm stuck.

Essentially, I just purchased a 24" HP ZR24w monitor and hooked it up last night to my pc. My former monitor was a Dell Ultrasharp 1800FP (hooked up via DV & worked perfectly) so this was a fairly big and exciting upgrade for me. I don’t have the most amazing system with all the bells and whistles…and I'm not tech savvy when it comes to hardware so I was anxious to see if the monitor would work with my current video card. My fears panned out in that when I set everything up (again via the DVI connection) and attempted to play a few videos, I got substantial interruption in the playing and alot of weird white crackling effect throughout the majority of the picture. There’s less crackle when I reduce the picture to half size. My monitor also blacks out every few seconds which is gawd awful annoying. Hate to be so clueless but I want to rule out the monitor as being the problem and see if its the card. Any help in choosing the correct video card would be greatly appreciated!!! I'm doing the best I can, but I'm learning.....

I did a quick Everest report so whoever chimes in can see my mobo and current card info. Apologies if I included too much or too little info:

Computer
Computer Type - ACPI x86-based PC
Operating System - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
OS Service Pack - Service Pack 1
DirectX - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]DirectX 11.0[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Motherboard:[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
CPU Type - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]DualCore Intel Pentium D 950, 3400 MHz (17 x 200)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Motherboard Name - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Gigabyte GA-8I865GME-775-RH (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Motherboard Chipset - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Intel Springdale-G i865G[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
System Memory - 1536 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
DIMM1: Kingston K - 1 GB PC2700 DDR SDRAM (2.5-3-3-7 @ 166 MHz) (2.0-3-3-6 @ 133 MHz)
DIMM3: Nanya M2U51264DS8HB3G-6K --512 MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM (2.5-3-3-7 @ 166 MHz) (2.0-3-3-6 @ 133 MHz)
BIOS Type [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Award Modular (11/28/06)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Communication Port -- Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port -- Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter -- [/FONT][FONT=&quot]NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (128 MB)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Video Adapter -- [/FONT][FONT=&quot]NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (128 MB)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
3D Accelerator -- [/FONT][FONT=&quot]nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Monitor -- [/FONT][FONT=&quot]HP ZR24w Wide LCD Monitor [NoDB] (CNT12671RQ)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

Video Adapter Properties:
Device Description - NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Adapter String - GeForce FX 5200
BIOS String - Version 4.34.20.22.be
Chip Type - GeForce FX 5200
DAC Type - Integrated RAMDAC
Driver Date - 10/8/2006
Driver Version - 9.6.8.5
Driver Provider - NVIDIA
Memory Size - 128 MB

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Installed Drivers:[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
nvd3dum - 7.15.10.9685 - nVIDIA ForceWare 96.85

PCI / AGP Video
Device Description Device Type[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Video Adapter[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 3D Accelerator[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]GPU [/FONT][FONT=&quot]-- [ AGP 8x: nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 ]
Graphics Processor Properties:
Video Adapter -- nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
BIOS Version -- 4.34.20.22
GPU Code Name -- NV34
PCI Device -- 10DE-0322 / 107B-301B (Rev A2)
Transistors -- 47 million
Process Technology -- 0.15 um
Bus Type -- AGP 8x @ 8x
Memory Size -- 128 MB
GPU Clock -- 250 MHz (original: 250 MHz)
RAMDAC Clock -- 350 MHz
Pixel Pipelines - 4
TMU Per Pipeline - 1
Vertex Shaders - 2 (v2.0)
Pixel Shaders - 4 (v2.0)
DirectX Hardware Support - DirectX v9.0
Pixel Fillrate - 1000 MPixel/s
Texel Fillrate - 1000 MTexel/s

Memory Bus Properties:
Bus Type - DDR
Bus Width - 64-bit
Real Clock - 202 MHz (DDR) (original: 200 MHz)
Effective Clock - 405 MHz
Bandwidth - 3240 MB/s

nVIDIA ForceWare Clocks:
Standard 2D - GPU: 250 MHz, Memory: 400 MHz
Low-Power 3D - GPU: 250 MHz, Memory: 400 MHz
Performance 3D - GPU: 250 MHz, Memory: 400 MHz

Graphics Processor Manufacturer:
Company Name - NVIDIA Corporation
Product Information - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]http://www.nvidia.com/page/products.html[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Driver Download - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Driver Update - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]http://driveragent.com?ref=59[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Monitor -- [ HP ZR24w Wide LCD Monitor [NoDB] ] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Monitor Properties:
Monitor Name - HP ZR24w Wide LCD Monitor [NoDB]
Model - HP ZR24w
Manufacture Date - Week 26 / 2011
Max. Visible Display Size - 52 cm x 32 cm (24.0")
Picture Aspect Ratio - 16:10
Horizontal Frequency - 0 - 59 kHz
Vertical Frequency - 0 - 253 Hz
Maximum Pixel Clock - 610 MHz
Gamma - 2.20
DPMS Mode Support - Active-Off

**I asked a relative who works in the IT field and he suggested I get [/FONT][FONT=&quot]this card[/FONT][FONT=&quot] at Microcenter since I live a few minutes away from the store...but wanted to see if anyone had any insight, verification or thoughts as to what is the best and most compatible video card for my mobo. Also my predominant usage of the pc is for browsing, watching alot of video, and playing casual games (eg hidden object/adventure stuff only). Also included two snapshots of what the screen looks like when it’s not blacking out:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]

Thanks in advance for any help!

[/FONT]

 

[Arkaign]

Hoo boy. Okay. First off, don't go buy an AGP card for $110, that's insane. Second, that system needs desperately to be retired. Not to fear though, I'll post a dirt cheap build for you in the next few minutes that will make much more sense.

 

[oshun]

Thanks Arkaign! I was just about to head off to Microcenter too...LOL yes, my system was built with castoffs and components from my brothers old pcs. Didn't complain b/c it was essentially free, but the motherboard was just purchased a few months ago. I went with whatever he suggested like now...but I suspect it needs a substantial upgrade as you proved!

 

[Arkaign]

Micro Center prices :

Athlon X2 255 3.1Ghz (this is easily twice as fast or more than the old PD, and a lot less thirsty/hot) $58

Grab your choice of AM3 mobo with onboard HDMI out, all of them will do 1080p video perfectly. ~$50ish.

Start with 2GB of DDR3 if you want, single stick, $20

You don't say what hdd/dvd you have, but try to re-use them. If not, they have DVDRW for $20, and 500GB SATA usually for $35-$40 in store.

If your PSU is okay, re-use that. I'll assume you can re-use your Win7 Ultimate as well.

Anyways, a new mobo/cpu/ram will make all the world in difference, and the onboard ATI 4250/4290 GPUs are actually quite decent for anything but serious gaming. But in that case, at least you'll have an open PCI Express X16 v2 slot that will open the door to drop in something meaty if you want later on.

Ebay or FS/FT all of your old parts after the upgrade, and I wouldn't be surprised if the out of pocket expense didn't turn out to be pretty close to what that AGP card + tax would have been.

 

[Arkaign]

Also before you buy anything, update your video driver and see if that helps any. The FX5200 is fairly old though, I think that came out 2003ish?

edit : oops looks like you've got the latest available fx5200 driver already

edit 2 : lol true blood fun stuff

 

[oshun]

Arkaign, engulfing you in a virtual hug from NYC. Hate to be that chick who is ignorant to hardware parts and what not but you've been a hugely helpful.

BTW, here's the breakdowns of my hdds. Would I still be able to use these if I purchased the mobo you're suggesting?:

Storage:


IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 24D1


IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 24DB


Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive


Disk Drive Maxtor 6L300R0 ATA Device (300 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)


Disk Drive ST3500630A ATA Device (500 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)


Disk Drive WD Ext HDD 1021 USB Device (1863 GB, USB)


Disk Drive WDC WD5000AAKB-00H8A0 ATA Device (465 GB, IDE)


Optical Drive PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-115D ATA Device (DVD+R9:10x, DVD-R9:10x, DVD+RW:20x/8x, DVD-RW:20x/6x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:40x/32x/40x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)


SMART Hard Disks Status OK

I did try to update the video card drivers, but it's so old that they don't have drivers that support Windows 7. Recommendations online were to use the ones for Vista. Not sure when that thing was purchased. Again it was castoff from my brother. Building this back up is going to be a little daunting but I'll see if he can help me sort this through.

**And yes...love the show, it's fangtastic (LOL cheesy I know)! Looking forward to the finale tonight!

Again you rock in the biggest way!

 

[Arkaign]

Wow. Okay here's the deal, all of your internal drives apparently use the 40-pin IDE type connection. Older boards such as your 865 typically have 2 of those, each of which supports two drives on the cable (master and slave, or cable select).

The new board will have 1 IDE connector, and probably 4 SATA connectors, which is about typical for a mATX AM3 board. Make sure it has the IDE connector before you buy it though. As you will only be able to connect two of your current 4 IDE devices, I'd suggest connecting two of your hard drives to it. Replace your current DVDRW with a cheap new SATA one, as that's less troublesome than replacing a hard drive. That leaves one IDE hard drive left out in the cold, but no worries, you can always pick up a cheap external USB enclosure for it and use it that way you if want.

Alternatively, you could buy 1 new 1TB (1000GB) SATA hard drive, which would be a bit faster than any of your current drives, and you could transfer the contents of your current drives to it after getting windows loaded (you'd use your old DVDRW drive this way, but after loading windows, disconnect the drive, then one at a time connect the various old IDE drives to copy the contents off). This would be slightly more expensive, but produce a better end result.

 

[oshun]

Thanks for all the information...would be a little daunting for me to rebuild but I think I'm going to have to upgrade. Have a number of options to consider but you've given me a really great jumping off point. Going to need a new motherboard, processor, SATA drives & burner or go for hard drive enclosures, and a bunch of memory. Woof...this is going to be a fun ride! Checking out some stuff now.

thanks again and best regards!

 

[Arkaign]

You're welcome. It's not really as intimidating as it once was, just go slow, and you can always take pics and ask questions here if you run into anything odd. Before you know it you'll be on the way with a new setup

Good luck!