I want to get a new monitor, but do not know if my display adapter can only handle a conventional screen or can I get a widescreen monitor.
Here are the resolutions it can handle:

High to lowest
1280x1024
1280x960
1280x768
1280x720
1152x864
1024x768
800x600
640x480

Video Card is:

NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro

Since this computer is 2001 vintage, I am thinking it can only handle a conventional size LCD monitor unless I change the display adapter.

Thanks for any responses..

That card is dating from 1999, and it doesn't support the common widescreen resolutions we see lately, like 1280x800, 1440x900, 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1200. Besides, it's far too old to have a DVI output.

But then again, seeing it's a 2001 vintage, it's likely a late P3, or early P4 (socket 423) that's also pretty low on RAM (256MB?), and probably is limited to AGP 2x... A new vid card for that would cost more than the entire PC is worth in the fist place. A new vid card + monitor several times that.

I've seen Athlon64 3500+ barebones (everything except the drives) for ~$100 many times, or you could get a mATX motherboard with everything you need onboard for $60 (perhaps something built around the 945GC chipset), plus $40 or so for a basic CPU like an Athlon64 4000+ or a Celeron 430, and around $30 for 2GB of fast DDR2 RAM for it. Not a whole lot of $, but a GIGANTIC step up from what you're using (in terms of CPU speed, LOTS more RAM, SATA, USB2, far better audio, etc), and it would work with a new monitor just fine.

There are nVidia 6200 AGP board for less than 30USD that would perfectly handle any screen up to 1920*1280 and come even with DVI.

Check out these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814241057
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814125048

I wonder what PC that is, sure it´s not this!

That would work fine, but they still cost as much as the computer is worth


That's what I was getting at really. That computer is so old that it isn't really worth investing anything in it (actually, the computer in that pic is worth more to a collector than his...) No point in getting a new vid card for it, when you can upgrade to something 10x faster for under $100.

This is real cheap (a kid could afford this with money made from babysitting/mowing lawns or delivering newspapers) and is still so much better than his current computer (doesn't even compare):
ECS GF7050VT-M motherboard - $33
Celeron 430 - $40
1GB of whatever DDR2 RAM - $19
So $92 total. Out of the extra $72, he gets: a CPU about 10x faster, 3 to 4x more of faster RAM, four SATA ports, USB2 ports, a PCI-e x16 slot, 6 channel audio, etc. And he still gets a new vid card out of it.

You can get something significantly better than this for not much more $ either (2GB RAM for ~$10 more, dual core for ~$30 more, etc). Or save even more buy going with a cpu/motherboard combo, or open box items, or 2nd hand stuff.

So what you guys are saying is bring the computer to the junk yard and get a new system, that sounds good too, but there are drawbacks to that also, I am used to what I am using..

Here are the specs on what I have now:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...mp;lang=en#N522

You know at the time, it was a great machine, still is for me, does what I want it to do anyway..

Think I will just keep what I got till it dies...

Thanks for the input...

Well, crahak is, I´m not.

The problem is this:
- A 16:10 or 16:9 screen will not work on the TNT2 nor on much other AGP 2x cards.
- The quality of the video card is unlikely adequite to give a "noise less" screen, with other words it could give an distorted image.

But, a 4:3 screen would work, e.g. using the 1280*1024pix at 16bit mode with 60Hz.

Most brands have them in there colection. For the price an Acer AL1716 Fbd screen would be a great, it even has future proof features like DVI.

I’m jealous. The first computer I used didn’t have video.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_large_systems

QUOTE (bearsowner @ Jul 21 2008, 05:57 PM)
So what you guys are saying is bring the computer to the junk yard and get a new system, that sounds good too, but there are drawbacks to that also, I am used to what I am using..

I‘m typing this on my IBM Model M clicky keyboard so I understand keeping something because you’re used to it.

I’ve serviced 2 computers like yours recently and moving up from the TNT2 makes a big difference. The specs say you can use up to a 4x agp and these cards are everywhere.
The only thing to be concerned about is the rather small power supply on these machines.

I used this site to choose a card for the two HP’s.

http://carpc.kyferez.com/Tools/PSUWattageCalculator.php

Hang on a sec... there is a solution for this without having to buy new hardware. RivaTuner can add custom resolutions to the display drivers so that old graphics card can drive just about any resolution. I had a Riva card push out 1680x1050 for a 20" LCD monitor. Of course, you wouldn't want to be gaming at this resolution, but for desktop applications, it was perfectly usable.

Up until recently I was still using the same machine I built in 2001 too (well I replaced the video card in 2004 and added 256mb of ram in 2007 and bought a 20" LCD in 2008). The biggest reason I built a new box was because the capacitors on my mobo were blown and the computer would randomly reboot 3-7 times a day. But I'm very happy I did build a new one, it's blazzingly fast and I picked up some recent games (UT3 and Crysis).

I agree with others, just buy a cheap video card for like $30-$50, preferably Nvidia based, and use your new screen.

Well, it can´t hurt to try that indeed .