Powerful AGP HD Video Cards

I have an old computer that I'd like to connect directly to my HDTV through a HDMI cable, thus, using the HDTV as its monitor. The motherboard does not have PCI express slot, so I'll use the AGP slot. The thing has a 2.66 GHZ Pentium IV, and 2GB memory which is the max allowable for the mainboard. Has 750 GB HDD. I intend to run a stripped down installation of Windows 7 to keep overhead to a minimum.

I will use this for occasional web browsing, as I have a very powerful desktop for that, which I just built.

Rather than throw the old machine away, I'd like to upgrade it so I can stream HD video web content as well as Netflix video streams to my tv directly. Of course, I'll equip it with a wireless mouse and keyboard so I can play from the comfort of my easy chair.

Please recommend, but all bets are off if I have to upgrade the old power supply!

 

AGP is a dying breed. This is everything that newegg.com has available for AGP & PCI cards. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...07709 600007850 600007853&IsNodeId=1&name=PCI

 

You may have yourself a snafu here. What's the wattage of the current power supply?

 

Please tell us the details of your PSU. I think you will need to be careful that your PSU is up to it. One of the factors determining which graphic card you can have is your PSU. If you need all your PCI slots be careful to get a card which does physically fit... You may need to check the length as well.

For video cards have a look at this
http://www.playtool.com/pages/vidtable/table.html
it's not comprehensive, and out of date for PCI-E cards. Check what version of DirectX you have, and if an individual card has an HDMI capability. If you don't need HD capability, there are adapters to HDMI The AGP cards start about half way down, below the bright yellow divider in the table. When it says x8 this often means it will work with x4 or x8

Would you need a highest performance card if you are only streaming HD ?

Dumb_Question
23.March.2014
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A under XP/SP3
Processor - Celeron 2.7 GHz
Motherboard - MSI MS-6577 v2.1
RAM - 1GB + 512MB (1GB +1GB max) DDR PC2700
PSU - Octigen 300W model 10270PSOTG ('upgraded' from original Bestec 250W PSU [in 2011?])
Nvidia GeForce 6200 graphics card in AGP slot.

 

You may (probably will ?) need to go second hand for such a graphics card

Dumb_Question
23.March.2014

 

The PSU is 320 watts. How much graphics power do I need? I never play video games. Strictly to stream web content (youtube, netflix etc) to my HDTV via hdmi cable. Also to play video shot with my HERO3 white camera.
I see AGP cards with as much as 1GB DDR memory. Do I need THAT much or is 512 enough?

system requirements for HERO 3 White edition:
The HERO3 camera is compatible with Microsoft® XP (Service Pack 2 or later)
and Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later.

Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or later)
or Vista
Mac OS® X 10.4.11 or later
3.2GHz Pentium 4 or faster 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo or faster
DirectX 9.0c or later
Minimum 1GB of system RAM Minimum 1GB of system RAM I HAVE 2 GB
Video card with minimum 256MB
of RAM

My processor is 2.66 ghz pentium 4......is that a problem that can't be compensated for with a more powerful graphics card?

 

Instead of spending the money on a 1GB card, you could simply get a barebones kit running an AMD APU.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8684209&CatId=332


I'd just do that, and donate the PC to someone who needs it. Would you be running XP, or have you upgraded your OS?

 

That Power Supply is not enough to drive anything decent. It has nothing to do with what games you can play, or whether you can use a hdmi cable.

What is the manufacturer & model of this computer that you have?

 

Joe, search on the internet for how much power graphics cards use (.power consumption graphics cards' should give you a few lists), there are some numbers in the table I posted. Newer cards will tend to need more power.

Could you give some refs for 1GB or 512MB AGP graphics cards ? I've seen a few with 512MB but mostly the ones I've seen are 256GB

I don't know about your camera or processor. Do you need a really powerful graphics card for streaming HD video ?

Dumb_Question
24.March.2014
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A under XP/SP3
Processor - Celeron 2.7 GHz
Motherboard - MSI MS-6577 v2.1
RAM - 1GB + 512MB (1GB +1GB max) DDR PC2700
PSU - Octigen 300W model 10270PSOTG ('upgraded' from original Bestec 250W PSU [in 2011?])
Nvidia GeForce 6200 graphics card in AGP slot.

 

Joe Ciaravino

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ption=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UXQU0O...hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_l11tagggc_e

As far as your second question....it's the same one I asked. I don't know how much power I need.

 

Using your specs, 10% PSU capacitor aging, 90% CPU load and assuming one 7200RPM HDD and a DVD burner drive along with the HD 4350 card, you will need approximately 235 watt PSU, for the HD 4650 and approx. 260 watts according to this online PSU calculator.
http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

 

Now there is a quantitative analysis that is worth noting.

 

Thanks for your response, Joe.
I don't know what sort of graphics power you need for HDMI streaming either. This review implies that HD4350 based cards are fine for this purpose. This article includes a section titled 'How powerful must a PC be to play HD video?' and one on PSUs (which probably isn't as useful as the two lines JustPlayin wrote), but it does contain a lot of other seemingly useful stuff - I don't know how old it is though.
Reviews I have looked at seem to agree that you require the sort of power quoted by JustPlayin (-> JustPlayin....you have given two powers, I don't follow what they both are)

Dumb_Question
25.March.2014

 

They are for my system, but with each of the 2 graphics cards I linked for you, the 4350 and the 4650.

 

Excellent.....looks like I have an adequate PSU.

Now, is the 4350 enough for my needs. Hope so. Remember, I'm not a gamer. I only want HD video to play smoothly.
Finally, is my Pentium 4 too slow at 2.66 GHZ? My hero camera specifies at least 3.2 GHZ.
There is also a setting called "AGP aperture" in the CMOS that I can adjust.
Does it make any difference that the computer display is going to be a 56" HDTV?