Swapping PC's (and Hard Drives). Need Advice

Soldier:

Using the integrated graphics on your system will probably not allow you to get 16x9 resolutions. Especially if your system is older. Your best bet is to consider getting a graphics card. Do you have a AGP slot open inside the computer? A PCI-Expressx16 slot? Or a open PCI slot?

Anyone of those slots will allow you to add a graphics card that will do 1:1 pixel mapping via DVI at 1920x1080p. It will look fantastic. And you won't even need to get an expensive card to do this. I'll help you pick out a card, but I need to know what kind of slots you have available.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

I'm away from my computer until tommorow, so you'll have to wait until then, but I *think* I have a PCI slot. I don't need a graphics card fancy enough to run PC games, because I don't play any, but I would like any that will max out the resolutions for my LCD. I mainly want to use it for saved videos and emulators (SNES, PS1, MAME, etc).

We can easily pick one out for you that is under $50 that will suit you fine. Hopefully you will have an actual graphics card slot open (AGP or PCIe16). This will keep the cost lower. Let me know what slot you got and we'll pick something out.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I linked to the different ports in my post above. You should be able to identify which ports you have. I'm sure you have a PCI slot, but if you can figure out if you have the AGP or PCI-express slot, thatd be great.

If you can't figure it out, post a specific model number, a motherboard picture, or something that I can munch on.

EDIT:
If you have an AGP slot, this should be perfect for you -> http://www.pcprogress.com/product.as...00PRO64A&m1=pg

If not, this PCI card should work ok as well -> http://www.compuvest.com/Description...SQ9?iid=275536

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by xen0phobia

Whats wrong with the 29 dollar one on that same page? http://www.compuvest.com/Description...&cid=304&sid=0

Its cheaper and it still does high resolutions.

Specifically, because it uses a much older chipset which HDTV Radeon drivers may not be compatible with. And I could never recommend a card as crappy as a 7500.

Moving on...

@SOLDIER
Metal Sphere's advice is good. Especially if HDTV into you computer is something your looking for. That ATI HDTV tuner gets some of the best HDTV reception, especially for the price. Also, getting a seperate AGP card and PCI tuner card is the way to go. The 9600XT is not a bad pick either.

Well, sounds like you got your solution. I would have hoped to give you just as good advice if I only couldve seen your mobo sooner .

BTW, I too have a Westy LCD HDTV, and they are damn fine for the money. You have good taste.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Oh, don't worry about it, I'm just glad I found an ideal solution. If I can get just one of those two items for christmas, I can purchase the other one shortly after. If all goes well, I can probably use this as my source for HD channels, and can return the receiver to Comcast (thus, I would only be paying for the channel service, $5). There's still the question on whether I'll still receive all the extra channels I got from the receiver (and there's a lot; 5 HBO's, 5 Encore's, G4, 3 HD exclusive channels, Fearnet, etc). But I'll take better quality and a cheaper monthly rate over the other option.

I lucked out with the Westy brand during Crutchfield's cyber monday sale. The TV is so good I spend more time trying to find flaws than pluses (I know, it's sad). The biggest flaws are the look of SD channels (which is why I'm trying this PC setup) as well as games under 480p (I'm still calibrating to find the ideal look for PS2 games).

But man oh man, 1080p Blu Ray movies look fantastic. I still need to do a journal entry soon.

I don't have a 1080p Westy, but I almost did.

I bought my 32" 1366x768 TV last year from Best Buy. Had a great deal going, and I picked it up with 3 years 0% financing at $899. Definitely a steal at the time. I went to Best Buy and tested the 32" and the 37" 1080p monitor. I was having alot of trouble deciding which one to pick up. Since I run a HTPC (PC as the main component of my entertainment center), I decided that quality of use was more important than resolution. At 37", 1080p would be very hard to text read unless you were like 3ft away. And PC games would require SERIOUS horse power to run at 1080p.

So by settling for 720p, I got much more readable text at 6ft away, and much easier to run graphics for my PC gaming. I've been really happy with it, and right now I'm typing across the room from my screen on the couch... Beautiful.

I really love the 1080p goodness though. I take it you have PS3 if you are watching Blu-ray discs? Let me ask you this, how much is it really worth it to get HD-DVD/Bluray over DVDs? To me, I've been super happy with DVD, and most high resolution trailers I watch that are 1080p or 720p are cool, but don't really leave me with the sense of HD being necessary to enjoy a movie. I guess I'm wondering how much difference is there to you with "drawing you in" to a movie?

I was speaking idiomatically.