graphic card for my wide-screen, need help.

[baby123]

Hello,
[i searched for an answer long time, and no one answered me]

I have wide monitor: MAG AI937W.
i figured that the best resolution for this product is: 1680x1050

i need to find the best graphic-card which will support this resolution. (otherwise the text is spreaded!)
My budget is 70-80$.
my PC info:
HP compaq dx6120 MT (Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz)
under Microsoft Win Server 2003, standart edition, SP2

also i figured (not sure) that i need PCI-E graphic card.

which GRAPHIC-CARD will be good for me?

thanks in advace.

 

[CNeufeld]

If all you need is basic text/spreadsheet, it probably doesn't matter much. Even a $40 8400GS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127296) or 2400Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102100) would work fine for you. If you shop around, and noise is an issue for you, you can find a fanless model.

It's when you start getting into specialized needs, like games, output to HDTV, etc that you need to look for more features.

From the looks of the HP specs, your machine supports a PCI Express slot, so you should be ok. But I'd probably yank the cover off first, and check it out.

Clint

 

[IndigoMoss]

Well I'd say if you were looking to output to HDTV, the 2400Pro with HDMI would do the trick, the 8400GS not so much.

 

[baby123]

CNeufeld, thanks for your reply.

i know the above products,
and after a short searched, i found that they do NOT have a driver forwin server 2003.

 

[evongugg]

Check this out:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/04/best_cards_february_2008/

 

[evongugg]

Also check the charts with a resolution you want to use:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=859&model2=722&chart=283

 

[CNeufeld]

You're going to need to dig a little deeper then, because with both ATI and NVidia, they release one driver set for each operating system (that supports all their cards). So if you can't find drivers for the 2400 Pro, then all the ATI cards are going to be a problem for you (as an example).

Your problem is you're running a server OS, and almost all the cards are "consumer" cards. I found that the NVidia site actually has drivers for Server 2003 64 bit version, which are the same as the XP 64 bit version. But they don't list them for Server 2003. You might find that the XP drivers work for both NVidia and ATI.

Here's a link from EVGA's support FAQ, though:
http://www.evga.com/support/faq/afmviewfaq.aspx?faqid=57764

So all I'd say is buy from a place with a good return policy! You may also find the cards are supported out of the box (i.e. built into the OS).

Clint