I just acquired a new Dell IN2030M monitor with a native resolution of 1600x900 for the display. My computer is a “vintage” custom-built unit from 2006, containing an ECS P4M800-M motherboard with VIA P4M600 Northbridge and VT8237 Southbridge chipsets. The CPU is an Intel P4 at 2.8 GHz. The board has a VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP integrated graphics and video controller. The board has one AGP 8x slot and 3 PCI slots, all empty.
After I connected my new monitor (VGA connection) to the computer, I went to adjust the monitor resolution but could not match the monitor’s native res of 1600x900. I eventually found the latest UniChrome display adapter drivers, but they date from 2005 and are too old to accommodate my monitor’s resolution. Searching the internet, I found suggestions that the best thing to do is add an AGP video card with DVI capability, and use a DVI cable to connect the monitor to the card (after the appropriate drivers have been found and installed). It was implied in these suggestions that the card will probably accommodate the 1600x900 resolution I need. But upon searching further, I found quite a few cards that don’t list 1600x900 as one of their resolution modes, and none that DO list 1600x900.
So here’s my question: what CHEAP video card should I try to get this system to work? I DO NOT play games on this computer. All I need is to connect to the internet and use the plain-vanilla MSOffice software that is already on my computer. I don’t want to spend big bucks on this, since the computer needs to be retired soon anyway (please don’t suggest that I retire it now!). So I’m looking for an Ebay-type purchase, the cheaper the better. Any help you can offer will be appreciated.
After I connected my new monitor (VGA connection) to the computer, I went to adjust the monitor resolution but could not match the monitor’s native res of 1600x900. I eventually found the latest UniChrome display adapter drivers, but they date from 2005 and are too old to accommodate my monitor’s resolution. Searching the internet, I found suggestions that the best thing to do is add an AGP video card with DVI capability, and use a DVI cable to connect the monitor to the card (after the appropriate drivers have been found and installed). It was implied in these suggestions that the card will probably accommodate the 1600x900 resolution I need. But upon searching further, I found quite a few cards that don’t list 1600x900 as one of their resolution modes, and none that DO list 1600x900.
So here’s my question: what CHEAP video card should I try to get this system to work? I DO NOT play games on this computer. All I need is to connect to the internet and use the plain-vanilla MSOffice software that is already on my computer. I don’t want to spend big bucks on this, since the computer needs to be retired soon anyway (please don’t suggest that I retire it now!). So I’m looking for an Ebay-type purchase, the cheaper the better. Any help you can offer will be appreciated.