do I need a video card for my computer?

[AAP]

first of all, I don't even know if it has one, but if it does... it is probably bargain basement. (this is for the PC in the guest bedroom.)

I use that computer for :

Internet surfing (duh)

Downloading straight porn (cause I ain't gay)

Photoshop (and shit)

Occassionally playing a DVD in there.

I don't really play any heavy graphic games or shit. But notice in some cases some streaming videos are not the best quality.

So... do I need one? If so, which are good based on my criteria.

 

[Frisky]

i believe he's cheating on you

 

[Delinquent]

Streaming video is not going to affected that much by video card. If it's a low end computer, it's probably an onboard video card which means it's not a card and is on the motherboard.

A video card really only affects video games. In regards to Dvd playback and photoshop, more memory and higher CPU is the best route to go. I could be wrong but I don't think a video card has that much to do with Dvd quality as it's more cpu and memory intensive.

 

[CrazyRussian]

AAP all computeres have a video card, I think you're trying to decide whether you need a top end one or not (not trying to be a dick, just playing it safe and assuming you don't know much about comps). In the case of what you need, you'd be fine with a decent medium-end one as long as you have a good amount of memory and your comp is reasonably fast.


Memory and CPU speed also helps Photoshop and big programs likethat load faster so...yeah

 

[AAP]

I have 2 gigs of mem in it...

just someone sent me a live video cam2cam and it was all choppy and broken up . The tits had random orange and green squares all over them.

 

[jh1]

Streaming Video Quality = teh suck due to internet bandwith issues.

Nothing to do with your video card.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

You need a pair of 8800 GTX's. Is your motherboard Quad-Sli ready? They get a little hot, have you considered liquid cooling? I dig Koolance liquid cooling systems, and highly recomend them.

 

[jh1]

You need a pair of 8800 GTX's. Is your motherboard Quad-Sli ready? They get a little hot, have you considered liquid cooling? I dig Koolance liquid cooling systems, and highly recomend them.

I just got my first 8800....

Fugging thing won't SLI with a 7950GX2 though... so I am waiting on another 8800...

I might order Aqua-Computer's coolers for them. We'll see.

Koolance makes some good stuff but, IMO AquaComputer is the shiznat.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

Right you can't Sli the 7950GX2 with the 8800. You need matching cards. Oh BFG makes some nice cooling blocks for the 8800, and you can get them already factory installed.

I may build a new rig this year with a single 8800. I can't really see a need for two of them for my needs.

 

[AAP]

I dont have the first clue to what ya'll bitches talking about

 

[PICK3]

Downloading straight porn (cause I ain't gay)

Me either

 

[Deleted member 33117]

I dont have the first clue to what ya'll bitches talking about

Go to ebay type in "8800 gtx" buy one, turnyour computer off and plug it in. You do need to connect a molex from your power supply to it, but other than that is much easier than changing the oil in your car. Wait...how many watts is your power supply? The 8800 GTX is a power hog so you need a solid power supply.

Get more ram also. 4gigs pc2-6800 minimum.

 

[dsh89]

LOL these guys are trying to sell you top end stuff. If you have a comp you use just to fuck around on, a medium range video card will help, but you don't ned to spend over $100 on it. Get a Nvidea G-Force 4 or the like. You probably have AGPx8 slot on your motherboard. You need to open your computer case and see what kind of slots you have open to put a card into. Longer white ones are PCI, short brown one is AGP. Get a compatable card, at least 128 gig memory on it, and you should be fine.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

LoL dsh, yeah the 8800 GTX is currently the best video card in the world. You are right, he really needs to find out if he is AGP or Pci-e before he buys a card and tries to plug it in.

 

[blut wump]

You'd improve the quality of streaming Internet video by going into the preferences section of your media player and, maybe in a section lebelled 'Network Settings', deselect 'Multicast' and 'UDP'. You should/might be left with 'TCP' and 'HTTP' protocols for streaming video. This should improve the quality of the streaming by improving the reliability of the connexion.

Your graphics card should be plenty adequate for Internet streaming unless the machine is really ancient. Since you have 2Gigs of ram in it, I'd suggest that it's almost certainly not ancient by my reckoning.

 

[blut wump]

lol @ 128 Gig video card. Want one!

 

[anthrax]

No, you do not need another graphic card

Unless you are a hardcore gamer and want to do some video editing, yours should be good enough

 

[immortalis]

No, you do not need another graphic card

Unless you are a hardcore gamer and want to do some video editing, yours should be good enough

Ditto what Thrax said.

the easiest way to tell if your graphics card is an on-board card, or a stand-alone (for newbs) is to look at the back of your pc and see where the monitor cable plugs into the pc. If its up near the mouse/keyboard area etc then its on-board. However if its down below and has its own individual slot then its a stand-alone (this isnt always the case, just typically)

But honestly, for your needs and the fact that you're already on the pc doing most of the functions you want, i wouldnt spend the money on a card. Youre fine as is.

And you know you download gay porn