One of the fun things I've done this week on staycation is tear apart all my old computers and build one up. Well kinda. I have a Dell that I slapped a bigger HD in and installed Windows 10 while I wait for my eBay cpu to get here for the actual build.
Anyway I'm wanting to use a 4k TV as my monitor. Currently I'm using a 1680x1050 15 year old monitor that has dead pixels. Size wise it's ok but if I'm replacing it then I want to go to 4k. I like how I Lil Stampie's 4k monitor looks. So here's the problem. My motorboard is here if you want to look it up but it's basically an old POS with 1st Gen PCI Express 16 slot. Is there a cheap video card I can slap in it to get me 4k resolution?
If it helps I'll max that motherboard out at 4gb of ram and my cpu that should be here tomorrow is a AMD Phenom II X4 925. I don't game. Just stream and surf. No Angry I won't live stream for you after last time. I will upgrade as I go.
What says GRM?
Prices on new video cards are pretty insane right now so the answer might actually be no. Your best bet would be looking on eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, etc. for something used under $50 that is modern enough to run a 4K desktop.
*edit*. It might be worth looking for a Business or workstation oriented card like an nVidia Quadro. There's a K2200 on eBay for like $10 right now.
*edit2* There's a LOT of really old garbage out there with similar sounding names so it'll take some vigilance when searching to make sure you get something new enough to run a 4K.
In reply to red_stapler :
I just went down a big display port rabbit hole. I don't think I'll be able to do what I want as cheap as I want. Time to convince Lil Stampie that he needs a new video card and give me his old one.
In reply to red_stapler :
Thanks for the display port rabbit hole. I just made an agreement on a 19 inch and 23 inch monitor for $60. Looks like I can get a dual monitor display port card for $20. Yeah not a 4k 40 inch but at ~$100 total all in it'll do what I want. Here's what I want. I'll just put the streaming tv on the smaller monitor and flip the larger one vertical so that I can scroll less.
Yeah, GPU prices aren't expected to come back to reality until late this year. Which is annoying since I'm trying to build a sim rig.
I have an old quadro k2000 on my desk right now, I do not think they are capable of DP1.4 (so no high resolution) and the reason why its on my desk and not in my machine, is that the nvidia cards dont play well with linux. Just an FYI. I have had good luck finding AMD WX 2100 cards for ~$75, which while more money, will do 4k.
I ended up grabbing a few things. Late last night I hit eBay and got 2gb x 2 of DDR2 memory. Today I hit the local computer recycling place and got a 2gb k2000 for $50. Then I picked up the two monitors. While at Best Buy I noticed a 650 watt PS for $40. The Phenom II X4 925 had come in the mail by then so I threw everything together. Could not get my mobo to recognize the k2000. I ended up installing Windows 10 on the Phenom II and the on board graphics with 2gb of RAM that was originally on the mobo using the 23 inch 1080p new monitor. It was all cool until I loaded down with the stream and my web surfing. Ended up at 100% swap file usage but low CPU usage. Pulled the plug and slapped another 1gb stick of DDR2 I had sitting here. That was enough to get me by. Decided that I needed a mobo without onboard video and an upgrade from what I had so I got an ASUS M4A79XTD for $30 off ebay. I can use the 4gb of DDR3 from my temp Dell to at least get me decent. Hopefully that'll let me get the k2000 going and I can get both monitors working. Here's where I currently sit.
