Will my system handle the 2405?

[Gern Blanston]

I have a Dimension 4550 with:

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.53GHz
Clock Speed 2.6GHz
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 64Mb

One Dell representative told me that my system would not support the 2405 at all: I wouldn't be able to see any image. Another Dell rep said that my system would support the 2405, but not at its optimum.

What will I see when I connect my monitor with my current configuration? Will I see a 4x3 image with black bars on the side? Will everything be stretched and distorted until I get a better video card? Will text and graphics be fuzzy without a better video card.

The 2nd Dell rep recommended a ATI Radeon X800 SE 128MB DDR-SDRAM to obtain the full benefit of this monitor. What would be a good midrange video card that would provide these needs and wants:

1. Sharp, clear text
2. Internet browsing
3. Amateur photo editing
4. Utilize the monitor at 1920 x 1200

In the future, I'd like to be able to:
1. Watch HDTV
2. Play games (although this is not a high priority)
3. Watch DVD at high quality occasionally

Any help is greatly appreciated. My monitor is on the way, and I hope that I've made a wise purchase considering my equipment.

 

[Cobalt]

Is that AGP? You could always get a 6600 or GT. Depends how much you are willing to spend.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Since that video card probably only has VGA output (and its quality probably isn't the best), I imagine text would be a bit fuzzy at 1920x1200. I agree that a 6600/GT would be a good choice if you want to do some light gaming, and you'd have DVI output. :thumbsup:

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
Since that video card probably only has VGA output (and its quality probably isn't the best), I imagine text would be a bit fuzzy at 1920x1200. I agree that a 6600/GT would be a good choice if you want to do some light gaming, and you'd have DVI output. :thumbsup:

if you want to do any more than casual gaming there have been some awesome deals on the 6800 recently...

EDIT:It should work fine with your current card, tho' as Synth says the quality of the image might not be great. If you do get it i would be very interested as to how it looks being driven by the gf4 mx420...

 

[Peter]

Once again the warning: NVidia chips are notorious for signal quality issues on DVI at high resolutions. Choose a card that either doesn't have an NVidia main chip, or implements the DVI port through a discrete transmitter chip not the main chip's internal one.

 

[Gern Blanston]

Thanks so much for all of the info. The first Dell rep had me thinking that I'd need a new computer to use the 2405.

Peter, regarding your post,

"Once again the warning: NVidia chips are notorious for signal quality issues on DVI at high resolutions. Choose a card that either doesn't have an NVidia main chip, or implements the DVI port through a discrete transmitter chip not the main chip's internal one."

I'm trying to educate myself on video cards quickly. but I'm not sure how to determine which cards work the way that you suggest. What cards would you recommend? Would the 6800 not be on your list?

Also, it appears that NVidia and ATI cards are produced by a bunch of different manufacturers. Are some manufacturers better than others?

Lastly, how do I find the great deals that you've mentioned? The only sites that I know of are shopping.com and pricegrabber, and their deals don't seem too good, although I may not know what I'm doing when I'm searching for a card on their websites. I'm confused about the differences with the 6800, 6800 GT, 6800 Ultra, etc.

Thanks for the help! I'm trying to read as much as possible: there's a lot of great info in these forums.

 

[Peter]

There is no "the" 6800. Card designers have design choices - one of them being how to implement the DVI port.

If you go with an ATI chip, you will have no such problem at all, and your choice of card is unlimited.

 

[Gern Blanston]

What would be a recommended card with the ATI chip?

 

[canadianpsycho]

Depending on budget, I'd say pick up a 9800 Pro or X800XL if you want to go ATI.

 

[Gern Blanston]

I'm not sure if I have the right connections for the X800XL. I don't know how to determine if I have a PCI Express connection or AGP.

 

[Steve]

What does it say on the box?

 

[Gern Blanston]

The computer box?

 

[nitromullet]

I'm almost 100% sure your Dell doesn't have a PCI-E slot. The P4 CPU 2.53GHz is a 533MHz FSB cpu, and as far as I know, neither i915 or i925 supported those chips, at least not in socket 478.

You can get an X800XL in AGP, however the AGP variant is more expensive then the PCI-E. Generally, in this pricerange, the recommendation is AGP -> 6800 GT, PCI-E -> X800XL.

 

[nitromullet]

I had almost forgotten this, but with a Dell, you can go here, and put in your service tag and model number to obtain the specs of your PC. I can't do it for you because I don't know the service tag number.

 

[Gern Blanston]

Thanks so much! I think that you're right that I don't have a PCI-E slot. I've used the service tag option on Dell's website, but I can't see from the system info anything about AGP or PCI: maybe I'm not reading it properly.

I need to find a good, thorough beginner's guide to video cards on the web that describes all of the issues, terms and options. If anyone can point me to a good link, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks again, everyone!