First time GPU purchase

FXB

FXB

New Member
I want to buy a dedicated GPU but I don't know the first thing about them can someone point me in the right direction? My current monitor uses a VGA input.

The integrated GPU on my mobo supports HDMI, VGA and DVI.

I will by upgrading my monitor eventually so I will need support for that and It needs to support HD output.

I AM NOT A GAMER THIS GPU WILL NOT BE USED FOR GAMING.

I will be using it to view movies and tv shows on a large monitor. I also created a thread to find a new monitor which can be found here.

budget is around 200$ for the GPU(Cheaper works too)
 
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What is the main purpose of the system?

If you're not gaming or doing any video intensive tasks ie rendering, then you don't really need a dedicated GPU. What is the native resolution of your monitor?
 
Spesh said:
What is the main purpose of the system?

If you're not gaming or doing any video intensive tasks ie rendering, then you don't really need a dedicated GPU. What is the native resolution of your monitor?
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Mostly for movies and TV shows. My native resolution is 1280x1024. I will be upgrading to a 30 inch display in the future.
 
FXB said:
Mostly for movies and TV shows. My native resolution is 1280x1024. I will be upgrading to a 30 inch display in the future.
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By 30" display do you mean something similar to my monitor which runs @ 2560 x 1600, or just a 30" TV?

Watching movies and tv shows doesn't really put much stress on the gpu. I have an HTPC which uses onboard graphics to play Blu ray discs and it's fine.
 
^ true, dont need a dedicated card for movies for the most part, unless the integrated chip is super old, most current onboard chipsets nowadays handle that task fine
 
Spesh said:
By 30" display do you mean something similar to my monitor which runs @ 2560 x 1600, or just a 30" TV?

Watching movies and tv shows doesn't really put much stress on the gpu. I have an HTPC which uses onboard graphics to play Blu ray discs and it's fine.
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I haven't decided if I wanted to get a TV or a monitor. If I get a TV well that's taken care of for the future.
 
FXB said:
I haven't decided if I wanted to get a TV or a monitor. If I get a TV well that's taken care of for the future.
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Well a 30" monitor is going to cost around £1000 if you buy new, whereas a 30" tv will be more like £230. I've always considered tv's to be pretty useless for using as computer monitors due to their relatively low resolution.

However, running a monitor at 2560 x 1600 needs a very substantial amount of GPU power, particularly for gaming, though you have said that you won't be doing this.
 
Spesh said:
Well a 30" monitor is going to cost around £1000 if you buy new, whereas a 30" tv will be more like £230. I've always considered tv's to be pretty useless for using as computer monitors due to their relatively low resolution.

However, running a monitor at 2560 x 1600 needs a very substantial amount of GPU power, particularly for gaming, though you have said that you won't be doing this.
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Right, I use CDN currency you suggest getting a monitor rather then a tv because the resolution is better?
 
FXB said:
Right, I use CDN currency you suggest getting a monitor rather then a tv because the resolution is better?
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If you intend to sit within a couple of feet of the screen, then you really need a monitor. The only time a tv would be beneficial is if you had something along the lines of a 50" HDTV or more and sat some distance from it.

Even a 30" 1080p tv is still only going to have a native resolution of 1920 x 1080, whereas a 30" monitor (I use a 30" Dell 3007 WFP-HC) will have a native resolution of 2560 x 1600, which will result in a much crisper picture.

What sort of budget are you looking at?
 
Spesh said:
If you intend to sit within a couple of feet of the screen, then you really need a monitor. The only time a tv would be beneficial is if you had something along the lines of a 50" HDTV or more and sat some distance from it.

Even a 30" 1080p tv is still only going to have a native resolution of 1920 x 1080, whereas a 30" monitor (I use a 30" Dell 3007 WFP-HC) will have a native resolution of 2560 x 1600, which will result in a much crisper picture.

What sort of budget are you looking at?
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I'm not sure but from what I've seen those monitors cost around 1000$

Essential features for me would be wall mount ready and ideally a remote it would be cool If I could use the monitor as a tv further down the line.
 
FXB said:
I'm not sure but from what I've seen those monitors cost around 1000$

Essential features for me would be wall mount ready and ideally a remote it would be cool If I could use the monitor as a tv further down the line.
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Yes a 30" monitor would cost around that.

I used to have a 32" HDTV. It was terrible as a computer monitor as being a tv, it's designed for long range viewing.

I would strongly advise against getting a tv.
 
I am sitting at about 3 feet from my monitor at the moment. Is that an appropriate distance for a 30 inch display? When I watch movies in bed (about 10 feet away) on my current display (samsung syncMaster 913v 20 inch) I find everything to be too small and pixelated this is a combo of a low res display and small screen size.

So is the distance appropriate?
Also No need for a GPU?
 
For just watching movies you don't need a dedicated GPU.

The problem that you are facing is that while the 30" tv will look ok when you are 10 feet away or more, it will look pretty awful when you sit at it as you would with a normal computer screen. The pixels are larger and there are less of them than there are on an equivalent sized monitor. This leads to a pretty unsatisfying viewing experience. Everything ends up looking pretty blobby and pixelated.
 
Are there any monitors that have the option to add a tv antenna in the 27-30 inch range?

Initially my question was what type of GPU do I need to support such a large monitor? What features should I look at in a GPU?
 
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I'm guessing that the ones that you looked at have a lot better tech in them (IPS Etc...) they will be a lot more than your standard monitor.
 
This thread will Only be for the GPU I have created a thread for the monitor as well which can be found here.
 
Well you can run 1920x1080 with any card out there. So I have to ask what are you trying to gain over your integrated video. That might help me narrow it down a bit to see what you need in a card.
 
salvage-this said:
Well you can run 1920x1080 with any card out there. So I have to ask what are you trying to gain over your integrated video. That might help me narrow it down a bit to see what you need in a card.
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Frankly I'm not sure I waas told it's better to get a dedicated GPU which no doubt is true but I'm not sure what I am gaining in the end.
 
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