Two questions. Which DVI to choose? What Thermal Compound?

[Executable Beep]

I've noticed that there are several types of DVI Cables, like DVI-I and DVI-D and that sort of thing, which one is the best for gaming? IS HDMI better?

And I've also seen several types of thermal compound, and last month i bought a cheap 2 dollar tube which didnt work so well-- what type of thermal compound should i buy? any special brands?

 

[VistaKing]

Looking at your Graphic Card NVIDIA 9800gt by PNY 1gb it has a DVI-I . It also comes with an Adapter from DVI to HDMI

DVI-I is both Digital and Analog
DVI-D is just Digital

Thermal Compound . I personally use Gelid . But there is Arctic Silver

 

[Executable Beep]

No, im not planning to use them on my nvidia 9800, im planning to use them on a gtx 670 and on an i5-3570k with an h60 as the cooler for the CPU, i was just wondering: how can you tell if the Thermal compound is good, or if you could tell me some GOOD brands of TC.

 

[kbrady1979]

DVI-D/HDMI/Display Port.......whatever your monitor can accept. I use and recommend Arctic MX-4 thermal compound. This stuff: Arctic MX-4 Thermal Paste

If you want to get really geeky, you can get this to clean and prep your surfaces: Arctic Silver Arcticlean Clean with this using a coffee filter, and use Arctic MX-4 thermal paste and you are 100% good to go!

Also, if you are buying a new monitor, it may come with a cable. You'd want any of the connections I mentioned above....stay away from VGA. DVI-D, HDMI, and DisplayPort are the most commonly used types of connections now, and all will do what you need them to.

 

[alphanumeric]

DVI-D male to male is what you want. The video card may have a DVI-I connector, but I think you'll find that the Monitor only has a DVI-D connector. A DVI-I male connector will not plug into the DVI-D connector on the monitor. The DVI-I has extra pins on it that won't plug in because the DVI-D has those holes blocked off. The video card has a DVI-I on it so you can use a DVI to VGA adaptor.

 

[kbrady1979]

He is going to be using a new GTX 670, not the card in his system specs. He just needs a regular DVI/HDMI/Display Port cable.

 

[alphanumeric]

That's fine, I'm just saying, not any DVI cable will work. Odds are if you go to a retail store and buy one you'll get a DVI-D. If you buy online from Newegg or TigerDirect and you buy a DVI-I it won't work. You won't be able to plug it into the monitor. You don't run into that problem with HDMI or Display port. It was just a heads up so the OP doesn't buy the wrong cable.