[RESOLVED] PCI video card vs PCIe
Several years ago i bought a PCIe video card to get dual monitor capabilities. Got it, love it still.
I recently got an HDTV and wanted to connect my computer to it, while still having my dual monitors. So i got a new video card. My mobo only has one PCIe slot so i had to find a PCI video card. I only found one at Frys.
Not only was it a pain to install and configure, but in the end, it lags. Not sure if thats the correct way to describe it... When i bring itunes into focus, it goes from light gray to dark gray, from top to bottom, takes abut 2 seconds to change color...
Its this just normal with PCI, or do i have a bad card? Its a PNY nVidia GeForce 8400gs. Hopefully i can change a setting, because Frys is a ***** to return things to. You have to go through like 27 supervisors.
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
You wanted tri-monitors? Should of got a PCI-E Radeon HD 5xxx series with Eyefinity.
You bought a horribly outdated graphics card. Seriously, PCI? Not even AGP? Even AGP would be bad since you have PCI-e. Wow.
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
I only have one PCIe Slot which currently has a video card in it. And no AGP.
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
it sounds to me like the driver isn't installed correctly. that's a sure symptom of software rendering.
when you go to "properties" and call up your monitors, does the 3rd monitor list a name?
"default monitor on Radeon"
"default monitor on nvidia"
or does it just say "default monitor on"
Edit: assuming you are on vista/7, you may be able to visit windows update and it will fix it for you.
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Lord Orwell
it sounds to me like the driver isn't installed correctly. that's a sure symptom of software rendering.
when you go to "properties" and call up your monitors, does the 3rd monitor list a name?
"default monitor on Radeon"
"default monitor on nvidia"
or does it just say "default monitor on"
Edit: assuming you are on vista/7, you may be able to visit windows update and it will fix it for you.
it says "default monitor on NVIDIA GForce..." I'm on xp.
Maybe i should try to reinstall the drivers in device manager?
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
did you get updated drivers from their web site? I suppose it's technically possible you are maxing out the capabilities of the pci bus if your res is set too high. Crank it down to 1024x768 and see if the problem goes away.
Also run dxdiag.exe and see if the geforce card has directdraw acceleration enabled. If not you may need to reinstall. A problem with pci cards is you can be on a slot that is sharing resources with another one. If you have more than one slot free, put it in the slot closest to the main video card.
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
Nvidia cards, in my experience, have poor multi-display support.
I have a 7600GT, and it can't even handle playing a video on one monitor(primary) while doing something else on the other. The video can't use the overlay mixer, and looks poor(pixelated), runs choppy, and makes the system drastically less responsive(unusable). It only works the other way.
I've used far older ATI cards(like the R250), and it could do this either way without any of those issues.
Full hardware acceleration is likely not going to work while using multiple displays(on all except one of the display's these will likely get disabled).
You may also need chipset(for your motherboard) drivers, if you haven't installed those.
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
I reinstalled the updated drivers from Microsoft update. Still the same thing. I think i will just return it and get my money back. My computer is 5+ years old. Time for an upgrade. *cough*macbookforcollege*cough*
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
Is it only a problem on one monitor, or all of them?
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dclamp
I reinstalled the updated drivers from Microsoft update. Still the same thing. I think i will just return it and get my money back. My computer is 5+ years old. Time for an upgrade. *cough*macbookforcollege*cough*
you should keep in mind that macbooks will only have one monitor connection for a dual-head, and using more than that will require either a firewire display (at reduced resolution!) or usb monitor. If you are set on a macbook, keep in mind that rumors are floating around about them upgrading the firewire to give 1600/3200 support. These same rumors also give the impression that usb 3.0 will NOT be in the next upgrade.
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Lord Orwell
you should keep in mind that macbooks will only have one monitor connection for a dual-head, and using more than that will require either a firewire display (at reduced resolution!) or usb monitor. If you are set on a macbook, keep in mind that rumors are floating around about them upgrading the firewire to give 1600/3200 support. These same rumors also give the impression that usb 3.0 will NOT be in the next upgrade.
Well i will still keep my current computer with dual monitors. I am not fully converting to mac here, even though my dad thinks i should get a iMac to replace my windows desktop. I want a macbook for college, majoring in technical theatre and they use VectorWorks, mac only application that costs about $5,000. I am going to get real friendly with my professors in hopes to get a copy of it.
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
here's an interesting note: I just upgraded my video card. because my onboard video was the same brand, it left the onboard graphics enabled and turned all five (!) video ports on. A sad side effect was it disabled 3d / 2d acceleration! Plus everything was showing in device manager as installed correctly, but catalyst control center was giving an error "card not found" even though there were two of them, and it wasn't listed under display properties either. I had to disable the onboard video. As a side note i will be enabling it again later to see if i can get hybrid crossfire to work.
my new card is a ati hd5770. This thing is F-A-S-T! unfortunately borderlands doesn't like it and it crashes the driver. Other than that i'm running everything at 1080p full specs.
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
ah update. Thread resolved: I returned the video card. I only had to go through 4 different people to get my money back. Return lady -> Supervisor -> cashier to get giftcard -> supervisor to approve giftcard
Re: PCI video card vs PCIe
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Lord Orwell
here's an interesting note: I just upgraded my video card. because my onboard video was the same brand, it left the onboard graphics enabled and turned all five (!) video ports on. A sad side effect was it disabled 3d / 2d acceleration! Plus everything was showing in device manager as installed correctly, but catalyst control center was giving an error "card not found" even though there were two of them, and it wasn't listed under display properties either. I had to disable the onboard video. As a side note i will be enabling it again later to see if i can get hybrid crossfire to work.
my new card is a ati hd5770. This thing is F-A-S-T! unfortunately borderlands doesn't like it and it crashes the driver. Other than that i'm running everything at 1080p full specs.
As I recall, hybrid crossfire only supports the discrete 24xx/34xx series. The 5770 does not support hybrid crossfire, but it supports regular CF.
Re: [RESOLVED] PCI video card vs PCIe
it supports crossfirex, which evidently is a new tech that doesn't require a bridge on new motherboards. :shrug:. Actually i'm reasonably happy with this choice. It turns out some of the higher-end nvidia cards can draw upwards of a thousand watts at full use, and idle at over 200!
and considering how honking-big the fan is, it's pretty quiet.
