which graphics card?

[digicol]

ok ill order the card, what should i say reason for returning it? also when and if i need a motherboard do i have to install windows again etc?

Just tell them the truth, it does not work in your AGP slot as it's only 4x, so you are returning it and want the cost of the card taken off your new order as you are upgrading other parts using their company.

They may wait till you place your new order and ask you to hand the old card to the driver that delivers your new stuff. (Again that is only if the card does not like your 4X slot)

 

[little_pob]

That motherboard has an AGPx4 slot. The card suggested by digicol, should work but I'm having trouble confirming that (AFAIK most 8x cards work in 4x slots).

However if Blu-Ray/HD-DVD videos play smoothly with that graphics card I'd actually recommend keeping it and getting one of these instead: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=35258 It allows upto 720p via component and works with any vga output (so is as future proof as anything can be in the PC market).

If you haven't already got some you may also need a set of male to male component leads too: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=43111

You'll likely need one of these for sound: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31700&criteria=stereo phono&doy=26m10

NB all the above may be obtained from ebay and the likes for cheaper (certainly the component and audio cable will).

[edit] that took longer to write than I thought!!!

 

[benny hill squad]

ive already ordered the card from ebuyer, ive got one of them headphone to 2 phono just now, that pc to tv converter would that sort out the sound issue u reckon? i wonder how it works?

 

[little_pob]

ive already ordered the card from ebuyer, ive got one of them headphone to 2 phono just now, that pc to tv converter would that sort out the sound issue u reckon? i wonder how it works?

It converts the VGA signal to YPbPr.

But it still doesn't carry a sound signal, hence the need for the stereo to phono lead. But you'd have needed to get one for either way, as already mentioned DVI doesn't carry sound. Try the stereo to phono cable with the DVI-HDMI cable on the new graphics card to see if you can get it to play sound (it may be a setting in the TV's OSD to use the audio in with the HDMI socket).

Also make sure you have all your codecs: VLC or K-Lite will play most things, although you might need CoreAVC for mkv files and AC3filter for AC3 decoding.

 

[sparky2002]

i'd go for gigabyte amd 690g motherboard (good overclocker) has hdmi/dvi/vga and component header, athlon x2 , and 2 gig ram.
you could do all that for about £130 quid. stop chucking money at your old system. thinking of doing this myself but I'm bloody skint!!

 

[digicol]

i'd go for gigabyte amd 690g motherboard (good overclocker) has hdmi/dvi/vga and component header, athlon x2 , and 2 gig ram.
you could do all that for about £130 quid. stop chucking money at your old system. thinking of doing this myself but I'm bloody skint!!

That motherboard looks stunning for what it offers, and would be perfect for his needs, no need for a graphics card as he does not game. And with built in HDMI with HDCP on the integrated graphics it would be plug and play for his no messing about with DVI convertors and audio connections etc.

If he is willing to spend the cash and upgrade then yes, I would seriously consider the setup you recommend. If he is just wanting to spend a little then obviously trying the AGP card mentioned in the thread is his first option.

I have never really looked at what AMD have had to offer over the last few months, and had never even heard of the 690g chipset, never mind what it offers.

Hmmm, I would like one myself. Now why is it Christmas and I need my cash??!!!!

 

[benny hill squad]

i looked at that motherboard and it looks worth the money, does anyone know where to get all of them from one website? thats
1. gigabyte amd 690g motherboard
2. 2gb memory
3. amd athlon 64 x2 pcu

if anyone knows where i can get that bundle from in one go thanks.

 

[digicol]

Ebuyer do not sell the Gigabyte version, but they do the MSI version which itself uses the 690G chipset and also has HDMI. It is not very good for overclocking but that is personal preference, any overclockers would not be looking for a board like thsi anyway. The good point about this board is it uses the better sound chipset than most of it's rivals.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134741
MSI K9AGM3-FIH socket AM2 AMD 690G PCI-E HDMI 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard
£44.47

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/91124
Kingston 2GB KIT (2X1GB) DDR2 667MHz/PC2-5300 CL5 Non Ecc 1.8V
£35

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/125197
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (2.3 GHz) Socket AM2 Energy Efficient L2 1MB (2x512KB) Cache Retail Boxed Processor
£52

Total cost: £131.47

 

[benny hill squad]

thanks im gonna with all that, is there anything else important i should know about installing motherboard apart from formatting hard drive? i have a 64 bit version of vista ultimate which i want to change from xp which i m running on now, is it a case of just booting from dvd-rom in bios at start up? does xp automatically delete itself?

 

[digicol]

Right mate, I would format your hard drive in your current system. (Once your parts have arrived).

Then make sure you have no static on you, touch a radiator before touching any component and do this often.

Another question, what PSU are you using? I am sure it will be enough but it may be an old 230w jobby or something which I would not use. Just remembered you will be using your old one. FOr what your running, low powered stuff I would buy a cheap 400w off eBuyer for about £15. (I know what people will say but it will be enough, but if you must get a 350w Antec earthwatts or something which is a bit more expensive).

Right back on track, open the side of your case and unplug all cables (obviously make sure power lead is out).

Then unscrew the motherbaord, if it will not fit past your drives then you may have to remove them also. It's easy to do.

Once everything is out make sure you read the manual that comes with your new motherboard and also read the leaflet that comes with your processor as this leaflet will tell you exactly how to fit the heatsink to the motherboard, whereas your motherboard book is more of a guide to fitting all the cables.

I would fit the processor in the motherbaord before putting it into the case, make sure it's the correct way around, your manual will explain this. Then fit the heatsink.

You will probably have some brass spacer screws off when you removed your old baord, you need these to put under your new board (they go in between your board and your case), then your normal screws go into the brass ones.

Some newer cases have raised screw holes but as yours is older I am sure it will have brass spacers.

Also remember to fit the back plate in place as you screw your motherbaord on.

Once your board is screwed down it's a;ll about reading your manual diagram of the motherbaord and placing every cable and connector in the exact correct place. Very easy to do, just follow the diagram.

Once everything is in place fire it up (obviously put your ram in), and insert your operating system and follow the on screen instructions to install your Windows.

Away you go mate. If you have trouble just ask on here, plenty of people will help you. I have just gave a rough guide, there are detailed instructions on the net, just Google it mate if you feel you need more in depth info.

Good luck mate and enjoy it, it's fun when you finish knwoing you built it yourself.

I would say it's fun building your first PC, but I had a nightmare through no fault of my own (but we won't go there as it will not be relevant to your build).

 

[digicol]

I also better mention do not touch the paste that is on the bottom of your heatsink as you will have to clean it off and buy some more then apply it. So take the plastic cover off at the last moment and seat it flush onto the processor, try not to move it around or you will spread it and not get a good conductor.

I would have added edited my above post and added this in but this forum seems to squash all your paragraphs into one huge mess everytime you try to edit and there is no way I am going through trying to space out that lot again!!!

You may be better off buying some of this and keeping it in a drawer as it will come in useful one day, or if you mess it up, it's only 99p:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/72291
Extra Value Pst700-it1 Thermal Compound Silver Grease Injection Tube

 

[benny hill squad]

ok nice one, if i get stuck ill ask cheers and ill let you know (eventually) the quality etc. of hd/blu ray content on lcd tv..

 

[digicol]

Nice one mate.

Amazing how this post was about a graphics card with DVI output and you end up probably buying a whole new spine for your bas unit.

 

[benny hill squad]

ha! i know, but to be honest my pc is nearly 4 years old and time to move on and upgrade, i have a spare pc case and hard drive and might end up just adding bits from scratch onto that then ill have this pc to ask questions if im stuck rather than annoying my mum to use her laptop! it seems really cheap to build up diy, and learn through the process.

 

[sparky2002]

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTM4MCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
review of gigabyte board.
scan.co.uk sell it - I want one!!

gets to a point when its just not worth upgrading - chucking money at old rope as they say.

plus if you flog your old cpu/ram/ graphics on ebay you'll get a bit of cash back

 

[benny hill squad]

i found something else out that might be a prob, in a review for the Gigabyte MA69GM-S2H
it says

"We tested the board using an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ CPU, 1GB of DDR2 800MHz RAM and a 500GB Western Digital Hard drive. WorldBench 6 recorded a score of 79, which is better than we expected considering the integrated graphics. For watching movies and ripping and listening to music, the configuration we used was more than ample, but it struggled to display a free-to-air high definition digital TV signal; stuttering was evident when we maximised the window on our 22in LCD screen (at a resolution of 1680 x 1050) -- standard definition channels didn't stutter. Once we installed a GeForce 7600GT-based graphics card, we were able to watch high definition shows smoothly in full-screen mode."

so maybe ill need a graphics card after all!!

one other thing is i download blu-ray and hd movies but most graphics cards have HDCP

more about it here h**p://www.digitalconnection.com/FAQ/HDTV_12.asp

so that could be another factor to think about, limiting the quality through the graphics card!! they think of everything!!

what do you think?

 

[digicol]

How much is it mate over at Scan, sorry I would normally search but I have had too much beer tonight and can#t really do much leg work.

As the guy does not overlcok or anything and the MSI board uses the more advanced 8 series onboad sound chipset and for under £45 it is a great buy. (Not sure what the Gigabyte uses as I never looked when I researched it, too drunk too resarch now). Hehe.

I fancy a setup like this for myself after Chrimbo, would rig up to a 32" via HDMI and 19" moniror via VGA at an amazing price.

I also do not game much so this would be great. (I do overclock a little so would obviously be looking at the Gigabyte board). I could add my own card for the odd bit of gaming I do iff need be.

Anyway if you could get me a price on teh scan one including delivery then if it comes in at below £50 he may be better off going for that board, after all It is a nice board. (Although the MSI one has nice solid capacitors which is a plus point).

 

[digicol]

i found something else out that might be a prob, in a review for the Gigabyte MA69GM-S2H
it says
"We tested the board using an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ CPU, 1GB of DDR2 800MHz RAM and a 500GB Western Digital Hard drive. WorldBench 6 recorded a score of 79, which is better than we expected considering the integrated graphics. For watching movies and ripping and listening to music, the configuration we used was more than ample, but it struggled to display a free-to-air high definition digital TV signal; stuttering was evident when we maximised the window on our 22in LCD screen (at a resolution of 1680 x 1050) -- standard definition channels didn't stutter. Once we installed a GeForce 7600GT-based graphics card, we were able to watch high definition shows smoothly in full-screen mode."
so maybe ill need a graphics card after all!!
one other thing is i download blu-ray and hd movies but most graphics cards have HDCP
more about it here h**p://www.digitalconnection.com/FAQ/HDTV_12.asp
so that could be another factor to think about, limiting the quality through the graphics card!! they think of everything!!
what do you think?

Jeses you guys type fast,, I am drunk and also can't find my reading glasses which is my worst nightmare lol.

If I remember correclty was the Gigabyte board not HDCP? I am sure it was, I would normally research that before posting but as i have had a drink I will let you do that.
Also do not worry, if push comes to shove then buy a card later on, you can get a 7600 series for less than £50. For now do not worry about a card, just research the Gigabyte and the MSI voard and then see which you prefer, after all we do not know how much your willing to spend.

I personally am trying to get what you want at the cheapest possible price as after all, your were just wanting a card, lol.

Also they were pushing out a much higher res than what you will do on yourLCD TV, I imagine your on a 720p set? Their output is true 1080p which your tv won't do.

Do not worry, that board will push out 720p no bother with it's chipset.

As I say if your not happy with the playback results then you can upgrade to a good card for peanuts, after all you do not game at awesome levels so less than £50 will bail you out if your really not impressed.

But remember at the moment for £130 or so you are getting a brand new dual core setup with HDMI out and 2gb of fast ram, you will be amazed at what you can do with that over your current Celeron.

Just research a little and decide over the Gigabyte or MSI, I will look into both more tomorrow when I am sober, lol. It all depends on whether the Gigabyte is cost efficient or not as I have no idea what it costs mate.

Where is Sparky when you need him?

 

[benny hill squad]

yeah i never noticed that they were 1080p, buying a card will be an option only if board cant hack it. im gonna look at the HDCP high definition contect protection a bit more, do you know alot about it?

 

[sparky2002]

the only problem they had was free to air hdtv - i'd happily bet 50 quid that we wont get that in the uk for 5 years at least. if you download 5gb x264 bluray/hddvd rips - you don't need hdcp.
if you have a hard drive bigger than my house and you download real bluray rips at 30-50gb - you still don't need hdcp cos its been ripped out in the rip.
the only time you need hdcp is if you install a hddvd or bluray drive and watch a movie without ANYDVDHD installed. install anydvdhd and again - you dont need hdcp.
feck me - babbling with the booze. the 690g chipset has hdcp anyway.
check out the age of the review
the chipset was realeased early 2007. was only about august/september when AMD released a new bios to the manufacturers that vastly improved HD video performance. IIRC for 1080p you need 2.6ghz.
as for price on scan - i cant be arsed to look either but its about 50quid.
nice thing i like about the gigabyte board - is the audio quality via analog is supposedly excellent.
dolby digital HD and all the other HD sound formats are only passable digitally thru HDMI.
cants see the point in that if your only passing it to your pisspot tv speakers.
I have an 5.1 amp/ speaker set up.
only way for me to get the hd sound to my amp is via analog.
SPDIF doesnt support the new hd sound formats.
who needs broadcast hdtv any way.
watched heroes,lost, bionic woman(crap), 24, in HD via the newsgroups way before it was broadcast in uk anyway.