Low power card capable of 1920x1200?

Steve_Y · Post by **Steve_Y** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:12 am

Until now I've been happy with my motherboard's built in x1250 graphics. But I've recently bought a 1920x1200 monitor and the onboard graphics don't seem capable of driving it. DVI output quality is really horrible, VGA is much better, but still annoyingly blurry. I'm really missing the pin sharp display I had previously.

This isn't a native resolution issue, or a problem with the cables, so I'm assuming that I'm simply pushing the integrated graphics too far with such a high resolution monitor.

What I'm looking for is the cheapest and coolest running card on the market that can provide a sharp and high quality image on my monitor. I'm not bothered about gaming performance, but the ability to play HD video would be nice.

It's been a few years since I've looked at graphics cards, so I don't really have a clue about the current options.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Asulc · Post by **Asulc** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:25 am

not sure about coolest running, but these would be able to handle the resolution and be very quiet (i would hope so at least, seeing as they are passive).

Powercolor
HIS

A question for you...what is your budget for this card? Because there are cheaper options out there...

Moogles · Post by **Moogles** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:29 am

Literally any video card produced this millennium will be adequate. 8400GS or ATI equivalent (HD3450?) seem like good choices.

I must say I'm surprised that your integrated graphics can't handle 1920*1200 well. Have you tried updating the drivers? I would try this before buying a graphics card.

Also, what kind of display did you use previously? Maybe you used a display with a lower dot pitch (more pixels per square inch) and you need to get used to your bigger screen with a higher dot pitch?

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:39 am

I too am very surprised that your x1250 cannot handle 1900x1200 via DVI correctly. I have never had any picture quality problems over DVI with any card ever and I've been using cards older than x1250.

Like Moogles says, try updating the drivers and perhaps try the display with someone elses card/system before buying a new card.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:47 am

Steve_Y wrote:Until now I've been happy with my motherboard's built in x1250 graphics. But I've recently bought a 1920x1200 monitor and the onboard graphics don't seem capable of driving it. DVI output quality is really horrible, VGA is much better, but still annoyingly blurry. I'm really missing the pin sharp display I had previously.

Are you running Windows?

If so, have you run or rerun the Clear Type tuning? (just type "Clear Type" into google for MS website version.)

This resolution is fine for single-link DVI so any video card with DVI should display it just fine. I suspect the resolution is set wrong, the Clear Type settings are wrong, or there is a underscan/overscan setting wrong (this last one has been happening to me with my nVidia card.)

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:58 am

Moogles wrote:Literally any video card produced this millennium will be adequate.

I have a pcie card from 2003 that wont run higher than 1600Ã—1200 to DVI....

So not "literally".

lm · Post by lm » Sat Dec 13, 2008 2:49 pm

My old matrox g550 could not output anything better than 1280x1024 to DVI, even though it could output more on VGA! And that's also after the year 2000. The official specs confirm this:

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/graphics_cards/g_series/g550/ wrote: * Digital: 1280 x 1024
* Analog, main display: 2048 x 1536
* Analog, secondary display: 1600 x 1200

To OP: What does the mobo manual say for max resolution from mobo DVI?

Can you be absolutely sure about the native resolution issue possibility?

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 3:02 pm

+1 on the driver update.

X1250 should have no problems outputting 1920x1200. We have a machine in the lab doing 1920x1200 that's using the original nForce IGP which is about 8 years old.

Steve_Y · Post by **Steve_Y** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 5:50 pm

Thanks for your all advice and help so far.

It looks like you're all right about the onboard graphics. I think the reason why DVI output gave me such a messed up display was due to bigger problems with my hardware. I tried hooking up a 22" LCD TV to the system, first to VGA, where it displayed a nice sharp image at its native resolution, then to DVI where it displayed the same problems as the larger screen.

After a few seconds of displaying the desktop over DVI, the system crashed completely. When restarted it could no longer detect any drives, displaying the 'Disk Boot failure' error message. I've tried different cables and working CD/hard drives, but none are found by the system.

I'm guessing that the chipset overheated and has been damaged. Maybe driving a higher resolution monitor, or using DVI, pushed it over the edge in my low airflow system? When I first built the system it crashed due to the chipset not getting enough airflow, I thought I'd improved it enough, but it was still getting pretty hot. The system had been in constant use for over a year, so I guess it's not surprising that things are starting to fail...

Looks like I'll be buying a new motherboard and sticking with integrated graphics, but unfortunately that isn't going to solve the problem with the monitor's blurred display.

I borrowed a PC with a Radeon X800 AGP graphics card from my neighbour and tried the display with that. Strangely, over VGA, the highest resolution available was 1440x900. I thought maybe it was a driver issue in Windows, so I booted from a Xubuntu Live CD, but that had the same limit. Forcing the monitor's native 1920x1200 resolution gave a panning virtual display, rather than the actual resolution. I'd have thought that a non-ancient card like that would be capable of more over VGA. Even my old Matrox Millennium could run at 1600x1200...

Over DVI it allowed the full native resolution, without the weird visual defects that were present using my now deceased PC's onboard graphics. But, despite that, the image still isn't sharp, it still looks like it's running at a non-native resolution. It definitely isn't displaying the sharp 1:1 Pixel Ratio that it should, yet the desktop isn't off centre, and it's definitely running at its native resolution. It says 1920x1200 on the box; it's hard to see how I can be getting that wrong.

Clutching at straws, I wondered if the problem could be with ATI graphics, so I dug out an old Nvidia card, quickly put together a PC from old parts, and loaded up a Live CD. Unsurprisingly it's just the same.

Right now I'm typing this in Puppy Linux on a 1Ghz Duron, with 192Mb RAM and an old GeForce card with a noisy fan that's giving me a headache. The text still looks smudged, it's more readable at 1680x1050 than at the display's native resolution.

It definitely looks like an issue with the monitor. Is there any way to correct this? All the previous TFTs I've used have been trouble free, including the 22" LCD TV I tried. I've never had to look into troubleshooting this kind of problem and google searches aren't turning up much that helps. How would I check for issues like overscan/underscan, and how would I go about correcting them?

I'd really rather not have to pack up this monitor and send it back. Since it works, I doubt that they'd take it back as faulty, and I'd have to pay for postage on both this monitor and a replacement. But I wouldn't really want to have to live with a monitor where the image is blurred either. I've thrown away old CRTs with better image quality...

I know this is getting off-topic for a silent computing forum, but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ksanderash · Post by **Ksanderash** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 10:46 am

Steve_Y wrote:I know this is getting off-topic for a silent computing forum, but any help would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know about your X1250 int. graphics but my GMA3100(G31/G33) can do only 16 bit colour under 1920 x 1440.

Have you checked the signal cable? Maybe it is defective?

sjoukew · Post by **sjoukew** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:48 pm

In order for DVI to get the requested resolution you need a dual DVI cable, and a dual DVI capable vga card. Old vga cards with a DVI port are only single link. The resolution problems you are encountering are suggesting that you hit the single link DVI barrier. Those cards can output the correct resolution, but only at an analog port and not at a DVI port. If you look at the detailed specification of those graphic cards you will find this information.
All geforce 1,2,3,4,fx cards have this problem, also the old ATI cards do have this problem, but I don't know those specs and figures right now

.
For the specs of single and dual link DVI see wikipedia.
I would suggest that you do check your dvi cable and specs of the graphics card that you use, or buy, in order to get it right.

lm · Post by lm » Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:05 pm

sjoukew: No you don't need Dual Link DVI for 1920x1200.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface wrote: (Single) WUXGA 1920 Ã— 1200 @ 60 Hz
(Dual) WQXGA (2560 Ã— 1600) @ 60 Hz

1920x1200 is very common resolution among my friends, many of who use 24" monitors, and they don't have any issues with them. I do need Dual Link DVI with my 30" monitor running 2560x1600.

to OP: Maker & model of your monitor?

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:24 pm

I've seen my fair share of dodgy DVI cables. That could definitely be the problem.

Steve_Y · Post by **Steve_Y** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 6:59 pm

With a bit more research I've found out why the display quality is so poor.

I should have mentioned that it's actually a HDTV/monitor, a 28" Hannspree HT09. I'd assumed, from what I'd read, and from my experiences with a couple of 22" LCD TVs, that there was essentially little difference between a LCD TV and a monitor with the same resolution. In fact, I'd seen it written that this Hannspree TV was just a HG281D 28" monitor with a TV tuner and better speakers added, and I'd seen some people comment on happily using them as monitors.

I thought it could fill the role of both TV and monitor, saving me some space and money, and that the extra connections would be useful if I wanted to hook up multiple devices. I didn't imagine that there'd be any problem plugging a computer into it, not when the manual gives instructions for doing just that.

Obviously I was mistaken and made a very poor purchasing decision. Looking into it more closely it seems like a certain HDTVs have very poor display quality when hooked up to a computer. Unlike a real computer monitor, some just aren't capable of giving a nice crisp display, no matter what resolution they run at. It doesn't look like there's much that can be done about it. I'm just surprised that it isn't seen as a bigger issue, and that more people who've used this TV as a computer monitor haven't noticed the lower quality.

If I drop the resolution to 1680x1050 it's not that bad. Not ideal on a 28" monitor, but at least I can read small text at that resolution. I'll probably live with it like that for a while, then shop around for a bargain 22"/24" monitor after Christmas, and use this display purely as a TV.

At least this is a mistake I'm not going to make again.

Now I just have to focus on fixing/replacing my main PC...

sjoukew · Post by **sjoukew** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:37 am

lm wrote:sjoukew: No you don't need Dual Link DVI for 1920x1200.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface wrote: (Single) WUXGA 1920 Ã— 1200 @ 60 Hz
(Dual) WQXGA (2560 Ã— 1600) @ 60 Hz

At the moment I wonder how I did read wikipedia last time

lm is right. I hope I didn't confuse to many people.

Chang · Post by **Chang** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:45 am

sjoukew wrote:In order for DVI to get the requested resolution you need a dual DVI cable, and a dual DVI capable vga card.

Not quite true. You can also use reduced blanking and get that resolution over DVI.

I've also used an ATI IGP three years older than OP's to get 1920x1200 over DVI. Perfect image for desktop work. Totally useless for any sort of gaming. Marginal for TV viewing.

Low power card capable of 1920x1200?

Low power card capable of 1920x1200?

Re: Low power card capable of 1920x1200?