Need Graphics Card Suggestions

[reiterjt]

I have multiple Dell Optiplex 170L towers that need a graphics card upgrade in order to support standard widescreen formats (1600x900). Since this is for work I need to find a cheap card that can do this. The towers are prebuilt, with a power supply max of 170W, Pentium 4 processor 2.8 GHz, and RAM 512 MB.

Requirements:
- PCI
- VGA or DVI output
- Supports 1600x900 resolution
- Multiple cards (at least three as of right now)
- As cheap as possible

Thanks in advance to any that offer suggestions.

[reiterjt]

Here's what I've found thus far.

1)
PNY Verto GeForce FX 5200 PCI Graphics adapter - 256 MB - DDR SDRAM

2)

HIS Radeon 7000 Video Card - 64MB DDR, PCI, DVI, VGA, TV Out, Video Card at TigerDirect.com


Anyone have any comments on either of these two cards?
Can anyone tell me how to determine if these cards support my required resolution?

[cksboy15]

170w on the power supply would make it hard to run 3 graphics cards even if they are PCI. You might want to look into getting a more powerful power supply.

[Aaron_8015]

170w on the power supply would make it hard to run 3 graphics cards even if they are PCI. You might want to look into getting a more powerful power supply.

He has multiple machines not monitors

tbh the 5200 would be better than the 7000 (mainly for the extra memory, thinks its newer also).

[JLK03F150]

I agree with Aaron on the FX5200 vs the 7000. More vRAM helps with higher resolutions. I wonder though, 16x9 is a widescreen TV resolution - not a standard monitor res. I'm not real sure it'll support that.

I can test a FX5200 256MB AGP at 16x10 if you need me to do it.

[Aaron_8015]

I agree with Aaron on the FX5200 vs the 7000. More vRAM helps with higher resolutions. I wonder though, 16x9 is a widescreen TV resolution - not a standard monitor res. I'm not real sure it'll support that.

I can test a FX5200 256MB AGP at 16x10 if you need me to do it.

The same thing crossed my mind.... I dont see why not with the latest drivers......

I did have a 7000 years ago..... highest res i used it on was 1024x768.

[JLK03F150]

The FX5200 can't use the latest drivers. I don't remember what's the latest driver version it can run though. I'm thinking maybe into the 80s or 90s versions.

[Aaron_8015]

The FX5200 can't use the latest drivers. I don't remember what's the latest driver version it can run though. I'm thinking maybe into the 80s or 90s versions.

I mean't the latest drivers the card can use....

[reiterjt]

Thanks for the responses. I did a little more reading on the two, I agree on that the 5200 is the better of the two. I need the widescreen resolution because we are setting up workstations with new widescreen monitors that have a max of 1600x900.

Acer - 20" Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD Monitor - Black - X203H

If anyone can test the 5200 to check for the widescreen formatting I would really appreciate it.

[cksboy15]

I don't have a moniter that can support 1600x900.

He has multiple machines not monitors

I forgot about what he said in the first line.

I have multiple Dell Optiplex

[reiterjt]

Does anyone have any other methods for determining if this card will handle 1600x900? I have already gotten burned once and do not want it to happen again.

[Aaron_8015]

XHD GPUs

Answer