Which Graphics do i need to run 720p movie

[Ekant]

It's been over a while that i have been thinking of purchasing graphic card for my PC.
But i don't know of any graphics card and also whether my PC will support it.
I am using a Pentium 4 computer with a normal graphics card. I cannot afford to purchase a new PC that can deal with the requirements of an upgraded graphic card. I want to know if there is any graphic card that can run videos of higher resolution without creating any memory issue.

 

[Corazon]

Hello Ekant,

we can't really answer that question without knowing more details about your system and particularly its motherboard. Could you run Speccy from Piriform Software or a similar tool and use its output to complete your 'System Specs' on this forum?

What I can tell you is that generally, most new PCs now support PCI-E videocards (not to be confused with the older PCI standard). Until some years ago, AGP was widely used but is now obsolete. If your machine is one of those minitower or super-slim machines only meant for office use you probably won't be able to add a videocard, or only use one based on the PCI interface (too slow, really).

These considerations aside, just about anything on the market nowadays is good enough to play 720p movies, after all even a laptop with onboard video can do this. That really requires more CPU than GPU power for the decoding, and with a Pentium 4 you're all set in that department.

 

[Ekant]

Operating System

MS Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit
CPU
Intel Pentium 4
Willamette 0.18um Technology
RAM
1.00 GB DDR @ 133MHz (2.5-3-3-6)
Motherboard
i845G-W83627 (Socket 478) 22 °C
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1024x768@1Hz)
Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Hard Drives
78GB Seagate ST380215A ATA Device (PATA) 46 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NP20 ATA Device
Audio
Intel(r) 82801DB/DBM AC '97 Audio Controller

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Motherboard
Model i845G-W83627 (Socket 478)
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model i845GL
Chipset Revision B1
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model 82801DB (ICH4)
Southbridge Revision 02
System Temperature 22 °C
BIOS
Brand Phoenix Technologies, LTD
Version 6.00 PG
Date 10/13/2004

Graphics
Monitor
Name Generic PnP Monitor on Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Current Resolution 1024x768 pixels
Work Resolution 1024x728 pixels
State enabled, primary, output devices support, VgaCompatible
Monitor Width 1024
Monitor Height 768
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 1 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Memory type 2
Driver version 6.1.7600.16385
these are the specs.
Thanks

 

[seavixen32]

As your computer is getting on in years (circa 2002 I believe) you may have a problem upgrading the graphics hardware.

Intel Desktop Board D845GBV - motherboard - ATX - Socket 478 - i845G - Motherboards - CNET Archive

I don't wish to sound disparaging, but have you given consideration to buying a new computer?

 

[Ekant]

well not in near future. I was thinking of an alternative as if to purchase a DVD player but in that too about the feasibility as it's 8year old computer and i like too watch movies in high resolution.

 

[Corazon]

seavixen32 is correct - your motherboard has an AGP x4 slot (the fastest speed AGP topped out at was x8 before it was displaced by PCI-E). So your options are pretty limited.

If you're in the USA, here's a list of AGP cards sold by NewEgg: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics / Video Cards, AGP 4X/8X

The best price/performance ratio deal IMHO seems to be this GeForce 6200-based card: Newegg.com - ECS N6200A-512DZ-H GeForce 6200 512MB 64-bit DDR2 AGP 8X Low Profile Ready Video Card

Please avoid any FX5200-based cards. You have been warned

 

[Ekant]

Thanks for the suggestion.
so a GeForce 6200-based card with the existing hardware specs i have on my present system.
thanks

 

[Corazon]

Mind you, it's not exactly a high-end card. You could get a higher-powered card based on the Radeon HD4850 GPU which looks pretty good on paper but also costs more than twice as much - and I realize you're trying to save a few bucks too.
Good luck and let us know if you need any further help

 

[Ekant]

The best price/performance ratio deal IMHO seems to be this GeForce 6200-based card:

yeah i got that at first.
thanks.

 

[stormy13]

It may not help, but seeing as it is using the default Windows video driver have you tried the last XP driver for it,

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...825&lang=eng&OSVersion= &DownloadType=Drivers