Simplest video card with DVI out for PC desktop?
April 22, 2013 8:47 PM Subscribe
Visiting my parents and discovered that their new computer does not have digital video out -- and the picture quality on their monitor (which supports DVI) is terrible! Help me find a cheap video card to help clear up this problem.
My parents are typical web/email users. At most they watch youtube videos and play flash/casual games. They are not gamers and don't use their computer to watch movies. They run Windows 8.
From what I can tell they have plenty of expansion slots free. As a programmer I am not unfamiliar with hardware upgrades, but I've only had laptops for the last five years and honestly have no clue what the expansion technology is anymore. PCI something something?
So... what is the lowest end video card with DVI output out there? Is there some kind of a bridge adapter I can use for the built-in "Intel(R) HD Graphics" that I presume is on the motherboard?
Bonus points for telling me where to go in Orlando to buy it since apparently Fry's isn't a thing out here.
My parents are typical web/email users. At most they watch youtube videos and play flash/casual games. They are not gamers and don't use their computer to watch movies. They run Windows 8.
From what I can tell they have plenty of expansion slots free. As a programmer I am not unfamiliar with hardware upgrades, but I've only had laptops for the last five years and honestly have no clue what the expansion technology is anymore. PCI something something?
So... what is the lowest end video card with DVI output out there? Is there some kind of a bridge adapter I can use for the built-in "Intel(R) HD Graphics" that I presume is on the motherboard?
Bonus points for telling me where to go in Orlando to buy it since apparently Fry's isn't a thing out here.
Are you sure there's not an HDMI or DisplayPort or mini DisplayPort connector or something instead of DVI? It seems pretty incredible that anyone would be selling computers with only VGA output these days.
posted by aubilenon at 9:30 PM on April 22, 2013
posted by aubilenon at 9:30 PM on April 22, 2013
If in fact there is no digital output, could you tell us a bit more about the system? Most normal PCs will have one or more PCI-Express slots, but you can also get tiny little things like the Eee Box that don't.
If it's a regular motherboard in a box type setup, yeah, any pci-e video card will work. This is fanless, low power, and has HDMI, DVI, and VGA outputs, for $30. It won't be great for any game made in the last 5 years, but it does have Windows 8 support. Or just go to any store, and get the cheapest thing they have that says ATI or nVidia on it.
posted by aubilenon at 9:44 PM on April 22, 2013
If it's a regular motherboard in a box type setup, yeah, any pci-e video card will work. This is fanless, low power, and has HDMI, DVI, and VGA outputs, for $30. It won't be great for any game made in the last 5 years, but it does have Windows 8 support. Or just go to any store, and get the cheapest thing they have that says ATI or nVidia on it.
posted by aubilenon at 9:44 PM on April 22, 2013
Best answer: Are you sure the bad picture quality is because of the VGA connection (I assume that's what you mean by not digital)? I've used both VGA and DVI and seen them side-by-side on different monitors and never noticed much of a difference in quality between them. Maybe it's the monitor, the cable or the display settings, rather than VGA in general being the problem.
posted by floomp at 12:02 AM on April 23, 2013
posted by floomp at 12:02 AM on April 23, 2013
I suspect that there's an HDMI port that you mistook for a USB port. Cheapo HDMI-to-DVI adapters are available for a few bucks.
posted by 1adam12 at 2:09 AM on April 23, 2013
posted by 1adam12 at 2:09 AM on April 23, 2013
Yeah, VGA shouldn't be all that bad. The worst you might get is some "ringing" (ghosting on a very short scale, almost like a shadow) if you are using a cheap cable. VGA is a pretty darn robust signal.
I would bet that the other users are right, that the computer isn't set for the monitor's native resolution. That will be quite ugly. What you should do is set it to that, and then adjust the DPI and/or fonts in Windows if the users have trouble seeing what they need to see.
Intel's built in motherboard graphics are pretty darn good these days. That shouldn't be an issue.
posted by gjc at 4:29 AM on April 23, 2013
I would bet that the other users are right, that the computer isn't set for the monitor's native resolution. That will be quite ugly. What you should do is set it to that, and then adjust the DPI and/or fonts in Windows if the users have trouble seeing what they need to see.
Intel's built in motherboard graphics are pretty darn good these days. That shouldn't be an issue.
posted by gjc at 4:29 AM on April 23, 2013
You need to tell us the model of their pc. Some PC's that just have intel onboard do not have agp or pci express slots to add a card.
posted by majortom1981 at 7:19 AM on April 23, 2013
posted by majortom1981 at 7:19 AM on April 23, 2013
Response by poster: I'm sure the resolution is correct. It's the ghosting that's the problem. A better shielded vga cable might be the easiest solution. The PC was built by some local computer guy, I suspect from parts he had lying around. Definitely no digital outputs of any kind.
posted by rouftop at 8:36 PM on April 23, 2013
posted by rouftop at 8:36 PM on April 23, 2013
In the unlikely event that you haven't already done this, make sure both ends of the cable are plugged in nice and snug. But first unplug them and make sure there's not a bent pin that's keeping it from seating properly.
A better VGA cable might help, and should be easy to find for free because nobody throws out cables when they throw out old monitors. Actually, on the same line of thinking, if you're friends with any gamers, see if they still have their previous video card and would give it up for cheap/free. Because you will get better quality more reliably with a digital output.
posted by aubilenon at 1:06 AM on April 24, 2013
A better VGA cable might help, and should be easy to find for free because nobody throws out cables when they throw out old monitors. Actually, on the same line of thinking, if you're friends with any gamers, see if they still have their previous video card and would give it up for cheap/free. Because you will get better quality more reliably with a digital output.
posted by aubilenon at 1:06 AM on April 24, 2013
VGA should be fine up to 1920 x 1080. If you have ghosting, it's more likely a monitor, display driver or cabling issue than it is a VGA issue. Eliminate those issues first. If you do buy a new video card, you're likely to save money buying online. Literally the cheapest thing you can find is probably fine for your purposes.
posted by cnc at 10:53 AM on April 24, 2013
posted by cnc at 10:53 AM on April 24, 2013
Response by poster: It definitely was the cable. They had two very thin 6ft vga cables joined together. I have no idea why as one would have been plenty.
I decided to spring for a new video card for them anyway. I took a cellphone picture of the available slots in the computer and showed it to a rep at a TigerDirect store, and he hooked me up with the cheapest PCIe-16x thing in the store. I spent probably $50 for the card and cable, which I felt was reasonable given the premium of the brick-and-mortar experience.
Plopped it in and everything looked great. (After I removed a few toolbars, that is.)
posted by rouftop at 11:02 PM on May 12, 2013
I decided to spring for a new video card for them anyway. I took a cellphone picture of the available slots in the computer and showed it to a rep at a TigerDirect store, and he hooked me up with the cheapest PCIe-16x thing in the store. I spent probably $50 for the card and cable, which I felt was reasonable given the premium of the brick-and-mortar experience.
Plopped it in and everything looked great. (After I removed a few toolbars, that is.)
posted by rouftop at 11:02 PM on May 12, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Sophont at 9:20 PM on April 22, 2013 [1 favorite]