type of Video card

[bcboy1]

Suggestions to what type of video card do I need
My needs are:
I do some digital photo retouching and photo printing
I MUST have two monitors
System info
Asus P4 512mg ram
ONE AGP slot and I cannot figure out the what viedo card in there now. Help please, it dosen't show up in the system when I look under system information or I am looking in the wrong spot.

When installed a second video card in the PCI slot I cannot get the system to reconize the second monitor. So I was told some cards are not compatible.

Gaming not really important
I guess what I am asking is what is a good all round card that is inexpensive, supports dual montiors,games and good for digtial photograph if the card has any effect on it.

 

[dakota81]

If you are not going to be playing any in-depth games, I would highly suggest a Matrox G450; it's a bit older of a card, but this card is well known for the best 2D precision & quality display on the monitor. They come standard with dual-head; and really all you need is 16meg ram if you're not looking at gaming with this card. There is a 32meg version, if you can find it for cheap, great, but don't worry over it. 8 megabytes per monitor is more than you would ever need for a 2D display, as that can easily handle even 1600x1024 with 32bit color.

 

[evanlent]

One way of determining what display type you have, is to look at your Video control panel, in the 'Settings' tab. Right under the image of the monitor, it should list your display. (On my machine, running XP Professional, it lists Display:
ViewSonic PF790 on Radeon 9700 Pro)

Another method would be to run msinfo32, (System information utility, included with Windows XP).
In the Components -> Display category, it will list all the details of the currently installed video adapter.

As for the type of video card, I would suggest the ATI Radeon's. I have a 9500 Pro, (I know it says 9700 Pro above; that's because I flashed the bios and overclocked mine), with one DVI and one Analog VGA port. The DVI port will drive a standard VGA display with an adapter (included with the card), and can also drive a DVI Flat panel for more precision graphics.

I'm not 100% sure on pricing, but I think you can get a lower-end Radeon for US$100 or less.

I have never used a Matrox card, so I can't agree or disagree with dakota's recommendation, but if those are cheaper, then by all means.

 

[bcboy1]

HI evanlent

Thank I did what you said and ran msinfo32 went to display and it is blank. Nothing there ANY other suggestions or methods to find out what video card is in here??
Yes I am running XP pro
Thanks

 

[SYAR2003]

You can query your whole system with aida32.

http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php

 

[chaosinc]

start>run>dxdiag
hit enter

this should give you a pretty good run down of what is on your system

knoweldge is power, spread the power

 

[bcboy1]

Ok I ran dxdiag still it come up empty. Nothing, so I looked inside and found out it is Geforce MX 440Se 64DDR AGP.

It seems like this is aquate card BUT I want to run two monitor Any Ideas on how I can, I have tried to install a pci video card with not results. Again I think it is because windows is not reconizing the card. Yes I re installed the drivers again and stil nothing

 

[dakota81]

Some combinations of video cards just don't work; and it seems that your GeForceMX card is simply not cooperating at all with anything else.

Look into a Matrox G450; probably the best bet is to get one off eBay, as these cards are older. However older, neither the Radeon nor the GeForce lines come close to the quality and speed of a 2D display that the G450 can provide. But the down side is, the G450 will not play new 3D games very well. So if your primary focus is image work and not games, I highly recommend this card.

 

[TheGoatMan]

Or just pickup a FX5200 with a DVI\VGA adapter for $55.

 

[oddessy]

I have a NVIDIA GeForce4 8x AGP with 128 DDR SDRAM Ti200.
This card supports two monitors.
Works great for me.
Here is some info.
Hope this is some help to you. If you decide to purchase this make sure the card supports two monitors. My video card came with my computer

http://www.nvidia.com/page/video-audio.html