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dual-monitor card recommendation for basic 2D office PC - Win7
Hi everyone,
Looking for recommendations for a cheap graphics card for a new Windows 7 32-bit business PC (Dell Optiplex 780 Mini Tower). The integrated video it ships with (GMA 4500 on an Intel Q45 chipset) is reportedly pretty lousy and $30-80 is worth it to me for multiple monitor support and freeing up all the system RAM. The actual graphics requirements are minimal. All the PC will be used for is Excel, Outlook and basic web browsing on two 19” monitors. Decent Aero performance would be a plus.
I thought that any card would be better than the integrated but after researching a little it appears that decent 2D performance in Win7 is not a given… 2D, Acceleration, And Windows: Aren't All Graphics Cards Equal? : Part 1: Laying A Theoretical Background
Ideally the card would be without a 6-pin power connector and as low power consumption as possible. The PC uses Dell’s “88 Percent Efficient PSU” that I’m guessing is codeword for low-wattage. The thread linked below indicates problems with fitting even some single-slot gaming cards into the 780’s case due to size of heatsinks and fan shroud. But I’m not looking for gaming/3d performance so there’s got to be something that will work for decent office 2d acceleration. is GTS 450 compatible with Dell Optiplex 780
Thanks!
BK