Hi
I could do with some advice, please. I recently bought a Lenovo M57e 9487 Dual Core pc to use with my TV. Its a small form factor and black so it sits below the black TV and black TIVO, dvd, etc. Its sort of fulfills the function of a WiFi bridge and a NAS drive. I download TV programmes and at the moment I put them on a stick and plug them into the USB on the TV. I want to use the Lenovo to watch them without that hassle.
So I'm thinking of adding an HDMI port. It seemed really straightforward when I started out. But the more I've read the more confused I've become! There are some graphics cards on eBay in the region of £25.00 but I read that a XP Pro pc with a Pentium Dual Core might struggle and be jerky, and that my power supply might not be up to the job.
So, the questions:
The Lenovo has an integrated graphics card and free PCI and a PCIe slots. Could I upgrade to a graphics card with an HDMI port?
Would it make a different? Or would it be just as easy to use the VGA port and an audio lead? My normal pc has a great sharp image on a 20" monitor and it has a Pentium D processor (as you can see I'm far to tight to buy new computers).
What would I need to spend? The eBay cards are for eg ATI Radeon HD 4650 or Sapphire 11166-01-20R HD 5450. I'm guessing they are coming out of older computers.
Is my power supply up to it? And how do I find out what the power requirements of a card are?
And is there anything else I should be thinking about?
The Spec:
Pentium Dual E2140 @ 1.60 GHz
2Gb RAM (upgradeable to 4Gb)
160GB SATA drive
Intergrated graphics.
XP pro SP3
Lenovo are a bit unclear, Everest can't read it and I can't see it!
Power supply Delta Electronics DBS 280G Max Output 280W
Lots of questions. But basically, can I do it and would it be worth it?
I could do with some advice, please. I recently bought a Lenovo M57e 9487 Dual Core pc to use with my TV. Its a small form factor and black so it sits below the black TV and black TIVO, dvd, etc. Its sort of fulfills the function of a WiFi bridge and a NAS drive. I download TV programmes and at the moment I put them on a stick and plug them into the USB on the TV. I want to use the Lenovo to watch them without that hassle.
So I'm thinking of adding an HDMI port. It seemed really straightforward when I started out. But the more I've read the more confused I've become! There are some graphics cards on eBay in the region of £25.00 but I read that a XP Pro pc with a Pentium Dual Core might struggle and be jerky, and that my power supply might not be up to the job.
So, the questions:
The Lenovo has an integrated graphics card and free PCI and a PCIe slots. Could I upgrade to a graphics card with an HDMI port?
Would it make a different? Or would it be just as easy to use the VGA port and an audio lead? My normal pc has a great sharp image on a 20" monitor and it has a Pentium D processor (as you can see I'm far to tight to buy new computers).
What would I need to spend? The eBay cards are for eg ATI Radeon HD 4650 or Sapphire 11166-01-20R HD 5450. I'm guessing they are coming out of older computers.
Is my power supply up to it? And how do I find out what the power requirements of a card are?
And is there anything else I should be thinking about?
The Spec:
Pentium Dual E2140 @ 1.60 GHz
2Gb RAM (upgradeable to 4Gb)
160GB SATA drive
Intergrated graphics.
XP pro SP3
Lenovo are a bit unclear, Everest can't read it and I can't see it!
Power supply Delta Electronics DBS 280G Max Output 280W
Lots of questions. But basically, can I do it and would it be worth it?