Q: All I care about is that it have a DVI port, and hopefully a HDMI port, plus I would like 512 Mb memory on the card. Mem type in my puter is DDR2 (does it have to match that of the vid card?), I have a PSIE x16 slot. I don't run games. I am limited to DirectX 9.0c becuz of XP (can the DirectX 10 cards run 9.0c). My desktop is only 2.5 years old but not many in-store cards are compatible with it. Can you point me at a reliable card, and an online store that sells it. My PSU is 300 watts. Thanks in advance. Oh yeah, I'd prefer an ATI card.
A: There are many graphics cards that fit in a PCI-Express x16 slot, that have a DVI port on them. Some have the HDMI port. A Dedicated graphics card uses it's own GPU,( Graphics Processing Unit), and graphics ram. Therefore it does not depend on the system processor or ram resources. It operates independent of the system resources. No,the 'rams' do not have to match, is the short answer. Don't know if you have PCI-E 1.0 or 1.1 version? (Neither do I, because you didn't list what motherboard you're referring to.) PCI-Express 2.0 is backward compatible, however. A graphics card based on the PCI-E 2.0 technology, will work in a PCI-E 1.0, or 1.1 version graphics slot. (Will work on a mobo that has it's PCI-Express x16 slots based on PCI-E 1.0, or 1.1 technology.) There was a problem back in the day, however, that PCI-Express 2.0 would not 'play very well' with a mobo based on PCI-E 1.0 technology. That's why PCI-E 1.1 was brought out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express {More direct info on this page, under the PCI-Express 2.0 heading. Towards the bottom of the page.} Computer made in 2006? It's going to be PCI-E 1.1! "PCI-SIG announced the availability of the PCI Express Base 2.0 specification on 15 January 2007." Now a with a PCI-E 2.0 graphics card you won't get the full features of the card. Will you notice? I doubt it! Really! 'Google' the 'net, ask sum 'Big Time' gamers! http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247265-33-hd3850-question-express ATI man, huh? Well guess what? The AMD ATI HD 3850 and 3870 use less wattage than a 100 watt light bulb! 75 watts for the 12v rail is the requirement. 1.http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3529980&CatId=2349 2.http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3482895&CatId=2349 Psu? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3972105&CatId=1483 http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/page/power (I like Tigerdirect and Newegg for parts. Tigerdirect is much better at shipping, listing the product specifications, system requirements, handling any return issues,{2 day turn around. Never had to use it yet, but sometimes bad parts are made!}, selection, plus price.)