How do I match a graphics card to an HD LCD TV?

[highplainsdakota]

Hi all,

I recently bought a 1080p Sony 52" LCD TV, and decided it would be fun to hook up my ancient Dell dimension 4500 tower (250W powersource, 4x agp graphics card) for internet surfing and word processing (TV has a VGA imput). It worked awesome for 2 weeks, but now the screen goes black just after windows boots. I gather that I probably fried my graphics card or something. NOW, I would like to build a PC as cheap as possible that would allow me to use the net (Hard wire OK) and basic word processing / power point, using my LCD TV as a monitor. I would like to download/upload items from the net with speed, as a primary concern.

Man at Best buy suggested I need a "powerful enough" graphics card to "power" my TV, and the wattage of my powersupply is laughable.

So here's my question: How "powerful/good" of graphics card, CPU, and power supply do I need for these minimal requirements? Also, this will be my first build, and I could use every suggestion of actual products to buy, especially dealing with motherboards and chip sets.

ps: I am fully willing to canabalize any piece of my Dell if need be (ie: Hard drive, dvd drive, etc)

Thanks, and let the suggestions roll

 

[lasttarget]

Okay first off that best buy guy doesnt know a clue what a computer is. If your computer went bad your TV has nothing to do with it. Most likely the resolution that your computer is trying to display is out of range for what the tv can handle. Hook your computer up to a computer monitor and change it. As for the video card you would want one with an HDMI port with at least 256 mb of ram. The video card is mostly used to decompress and compress when playing and recording.

 

[sciggy]

You could get a card that has DVI (HDMI still isn't widely available I would say) and just use a converting cable from DVI to HDMI and hook to the tv. Generally VGA is limited to 800x600 resolution I believe so that is probably where your problem is.

 

[highplainsdakota]

OK, I may not know the terminology of my connections. The "PC imput" in the back of my TV is a "15 pin" animal with the two screws to anchor it. Is this VGA, RGB, or DVI? thanks

Also, will a new video card (such as described: HDMI with 256 mb ram, or DVI connection) work in my old dell tower? The current video card is "4x/2x 1.5v". 250 W power supply, 1G of ram, and I can't remember the processor speed (maybe 1.8 Ghz). Running XP home.

If it will not support that good of a video card, can I install new hardware so it will (ie: Power supply, etc) or is it cheaper to build or buy a new tower?

Thanks again for all the help

 

[highplainsdakota]

Nevermind the first question in previous post. I have a VGA input for sure on my TV and from my Dell tower.

 

[sciggy]

Go out and buy a pre built for around $300-$400 and you should be fine. It will be dual core and have DVI output which im sure your LCD has (or HDMI) unless you want to build a new computer.

This is what dvi looks like

This is VGA

So based on your description you have a VGA connection.

 

[lasttarget]

Okay, i dont know if your implying that you are willing to build a new computer or not but here are the parts for my HTPC. The most important part here is the motherboard with the 780G chipset. This chipset allows adequate blue ray experience with a 3.2 GHZ CPU. Also, you dont need a video card if you get that motherboard because the chipset is actually a HD 3200 graphics card with HDMI, DVI, and VGA via adapter. Find these parts on newegg. You might want to look around for another motherboard with the same chipset that doesnt have a heat problem like the one i suggested unless you can get the v2.0 of that motherboard.

http://malabs.com/product.asp?product_sku=77132&item_no=MB-MA78GM2&show=b&pass=&shopid=

http://malabs.com/product.asp?product_sku=718&item_no=T800UX2GC5&show=b&pass=&shopid=

http://malabs.com/product.asp?product_sku=42213&item_no=HD-ST75B3S&show=b&pass=&shopid=

http://malabs.com/product.asp?product_sku=31655&item_no=ADO5000WOF&show=b&pass=&shopid=

http://malabs.com/product.asp?product_sku=63091&item_no=PS-W0070&show=b&pass=&shopid=

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163055