What vid card for my old HP for dual monitor multimedia use?

Rich215 · Dec 24, 2013

I would like to change out my video card as it is way too loud and the rest of the fans and ps are pretty quiet. My main use for this PC is a multi monitor home/office type scenario. I read tons of text and also stream video and some video editing.

My reason for changing out the vid card is that I do not like the NVIDIA control panel (driver 260.99). It doesn't have enough settings (mainly a sharpness adj.) My old PC had a GF 6600gt used the old control panel that had better adjustments to tweak for my 2 diff monitors. Also after cleaning and trying to lube the fan in the XFX card....it is still way loud and I do not want that level of noise for working all day long.

OK so my sys specs are:

HP Media PC
- Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit

-Asus board states in BIOS that it is a P5BW-LA3-00 Broadwater -bios V6.00pg, But paperwork states its
a Asus P5BW-LA Brasswood3G.
-3.gb ram
-CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
- Power Supply OCZ 600SXS 20w/155w/580w
- XFX 8600 GT TOO DAMM LOUD !

Monitor #1 BenQ 241W 24in. (DVI or HDMI)
Monitor #2 Old Olivia 38 LCD 720p TV (DVI or HDMI)

I have a bottleneck in the ram and cpu I can understand, but I do not game much at all and mainly want a vid card that is best for text clarity and video watching/editing. If I do play a game....it wont be graphic intensive at all. So I just do not want to over buy on technology for this old system.

I was looking at a EVGA GT 630 1 or 2 mb card for about $60 or less on the bay. I would like a card with HDMI and DVI outputs only. I would also try any AMD/ATI card as well but do not know much about them as far as software for controlling the multiple monitors goes compared to NVIDIA.

Any suggestions for a cheap card that is quiet and performs as good or better than the XFX 8600GT are welcome. Thanks.

ihog · Dec 24, 2013

If you want to try some fan controlling software (MSI Afterburner is good for controlling GPU fans) to try and lower the noise, that could be an option.

This card would suit your needs, though: http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Radeon-Silence-Profile-PCI-Express/dp/B004X8EO6Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387918701&sr=8-1&keywords=HD+6570

As for dual monitors, just plug them in and go.

Rich215 · Dec 24, 2013

Thanks for your opinion.

But as I have found......on my old WinXP P4 2.6 1.5 ram and a Nvidia 6600gt card.....the text and contol of the monitor software via the Nvidia control panel where much better than the results I am getting now. So for me....it is not just plug them in and go. What I see on the screens is not as good as my older rig. Odd.....same digital connections used.....but with newer better system.

Going with a fan-less card scares me as it seems like it would be going to a lesser quality vid card than the XFX 8600gt?

The MSI afterburner I loaded....but did not see a way to control the XFX 8600gt's fan at all. Did i miss something there.....as I understand the manufacture states its a 1 speed fan only?

ihog · Dec 24, 2013

Rich215 :

What do you mean by "What I see on the screens is not as good as my older rig"? Also, when I said "plug them in and go" I meant that the screens would display the picture, sorry.

Going with a fan-less card scares me as it seems like it would be going to a lesser quality vid card than the XFX 8600gt?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

The 6570 is far better than the 8600 GT, and Asus is known for their quality.

The MSI afterburner I loaded....but did not see a way to control the XFX 8600gt's fan at all. Did i miss something there.....as I understand the manufacture states its a 1 speed fan only?

Didn't even think to consider the graphics card might not allow for fan control.

If there isn't an option to control the fan like shown at the bottom here, then I guess you can't:

Rich215 · Dec 24, 2013

What i see...basicially over all on both my tv and monitor.....colors are displayed fuzzy and I cant dial in the sharpness very well while changing the color saturation and gamma/contrast controls. Its like I cant make clear defined sharp bordered color fields. This was no problem on my past rig with much lower specs all the way around.

My 720p TV is the biggest problem with this color setting issue. It is set at 1360 x 768 native (recommended), with a DVI out to HDMI on the tv end.

I tried a couple drivers from NVIDIA website....all I could get there were drivers from 2013.....I couldn't seem to find any old drivers from say....2008 to 2010 to test any differences with a diff control panel software or driver version.

As far as the fan noise.....this card is noted for being pretty loud. Changing to a diff vid card could easily solve this...but i also hope the display quality of image and color will be much better on a diff card.

Basically I am looking at not spending much on this because I will replace this PC next year anyway. I missed a nice deal on the bay for a Galaxy GT 630 1gb for like $34. Some of the EVGA GT 630's caught my eye in the 40-50 price range and are noted to be quiet from searching info.

I was looking at something like this. refurb. EVGA from Newegg

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What vid card for my old HP for dual monitor multimedia use?

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