Thought I'd start a new thread as there may be others with the same dilemma with the new widescreen LCD's..
Brand new to this forum but I've been scaling over it to help me decide which video card to buy for my Dimension 3000.
My Dimension 3000 AS IS (before upgrades; see below)
P4 880 mhz, 1 MB L2 cache
1 GB RAM
160 ATA HD
Onboard Intel Extreme 2 Graphics
SoundBlaster 24 Live Audio
Stock 250W PSU
1 DVD drive
1 DVD/RW drive
1 3.5" floppy drive
Thing is, I AM NOT A GAMER, but am a digital photographer that would like to: increase image handling performance (ability to handle DSLR @ 10MP with multiple images in Photoshop CS/ Elements 5.0 on my new 22" LCD...currently even without the LCD, the system can't handle these in Elements 5.0 without crawling), watch streaming video and DVDs, and do intense surfing and multitasking (++ speed up applications).
So far I've bought the following upgrades but have yet to install them:
1. HP W2207 22" LCD - 1680 X 1050 max resolution...THIS is the part I'm most worried about, that some of the gaming video cards may not support b/c of the new 16:10 aspect ratio, and also allow the image to auto-rotate vertically with LCD, without having to manually do it
2. Two 1GB DDR RAM sticks to max out with 2 GB RAM
3. Seagate FreeAgent Pro 720 GB eSATA external HD (onboard is full)
4. esata PCI controller with 7 ports (1 esata, 1 internal sata, the rest USB)
Now, I'm looking for the perfect video card for ME to run the LCD @ 1680 X 1050 as stated above and also give me greater graphics capacity overall AND give me the ability to have a dual monitor system eventually...
Note: I'd like to get a video card that doesn't need an extra fan/cooling system (that's a little past my techie-level) or a greater power supply. Between these two upgrades tho, I would replace the PSU if necessary to achieve my main goals for upgrading this little guy... Any suggestions at all would be AHHHH.. A breath of fresh air!
THANKS in ADVANCE!!!!!!!!
Brand new to this forum but I've been scaling over it to help me decide which video card to buy for my Dimension 3000.
My Dimension 3000 AS IS (before upgrades; see below)
P4 880 mhz, 1 MB L2 cache
1 GB RAM
160 ATA HD
Onboard Intel Extreme 2 Graphics
SoundBlaster 24 Live Audio
Stock 250W PSU
1 DVD drive
1 DVD/RW drive
1 3.5" floppy drive
Thing is, I AM NOT A GAMER, but am a digital photographer that would like to: increase image handling performance (ability to handle DSLR @ 10MP with multiple images in Photoshop CS/ Elements 5.0 on my new 22" LCD...currently even without the LCD, the system can't handle these in Elements 5.0 without crawling), watch streaming video and DVDs, and do intense surfing and multitasking (++ speed up applications).
So far I've bought the following upgrades but have yet to install them:
1. HP W2207 22" LCD - 1680 X 1050 max resolution...THIS is the part I'm most worried about, that some of the gaming video cards may not support b/c of the new 16:10 aspect ratio, and also allow the image to auto-rotate vertically with LCD, without having to manually do it
2. Two 1GB DDR RAM sticks to max out with 2 GB RAM
3. Seagate FreeAgent Pro 720 GB eSATA external HD (onboard is full)
4. esata PCI controller with 7 ports (1 esata, 1 internal sata, the rest USB)
Now, I'm looking for the perfect video card for ME to run the LCD @ 1680 X 1050 as stated above and also give me greater graphics capacity overall AND give me the ability to have a dual monitor system eventually...
Note: I'd like to get a video card that doesn't need an extra fan/cooling system (that's a little past my techie-level) or a greater power supply. Between these two upgrades tho, I would replace the PSU if necessary to achieve my main goals for upgrading this little guy... Any suggestions at all would be AHHHH.. A breath of fresh air!
THANKS in ADVANCE!!!!!!!!