How to get DVI and HDMI ouput from CPU

[Tech123]

Hi guys

My CPu only has a VGA output, but soon I will be going for a Full HD Led monitor. So in order to get best quality picture I need DVI or HDMI out put from PC .

what do I need to do for this? Do I need to buy a PCI card with HDMI and DVI out ??

Please do let me know in detailed manner what I need to buy so that I can make the changes before I buy a new monitor.



Lots of thank for your guidance.

 

[hardtester]

Check the motherboard model. If this has a PCI express graphics slot than you can try HDMI/DVI with a graphics card in PCIE X16 slot.
Check with the motherboard manufacturer for the detailed specs.
last but not the least, check your SMPS ratings as some cards need good current ratings...

 

[aloodum]

Yes you will need a discrete graphics card which offers these output standards.

Your choice of gfx card will depend on your purpose- iI assume you plan to watch movies and do general work, with gaming as an afterthought, get a low end card HTPC(google ) from the likes HD 5450, GT 210/Gt 520..something around the 2-2.5k bracket. Avoid the 2Gb ones as they are nothing more than marketing gimmick.

Regarding DVI/HDMI, they offer the same video quality. Only HDMi can carry sound signal alongwith the digital video signals. So incase you choose a moniter which has DVI input, and your card has only DVI output as the highest offering, there will be no drop wrt quality.

And finally i assume you have a PCI-Express(PCIe- and not PCI) to begin with. If you have an AGP slot, you will be limited in offerings , but they still offer atleast a DVI output.
In worst case, if have niether, then your only choice would be a PCI based solution- based on chipsets like 5450, to older 8400GS to ancient 6200LE, Radeon 7000,GF5200 . They too have atleast a DVI port putting 1920X1080 at 32bit. But avaibility is going to be a problem.

PS: Some 22 LED's moniters still accept VGA input and the quality is livable.

 

[d6bmg]

Get a cheapo graphics card like GT210 @1.8K
There is no other way to get digital output from the existing analog output of the motherboard..

 

[Tech123]

Guys if I have understood you correctly, if I insert this device:

Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GT210 1 GB DDR3 Graphics Card | Graphics Card | Flipkart.com

in my mother board's PCI slot,and connect one end of HDMI cable to Hdmi of this card and other end of HDMI cable to input of monitor .Then I will be able to see my computers Desk top via HDMI?

I thought PCI cards were only for input, I have an internal Tv tuner in one of my PCI slots so I connect my STB to this Intex card and watch TV in my monitor.

But now you are saying if I connect a graphics card like GT210, to the other vacant PCI slot , I can actually get CPU out put to monitor? Digital quality? I do not need to do anything else ?

 

[rockfella]

@ tech 123 buy an entry level latest gen graphics card with HDMI but make sure you get a fanless gpu or else the life of it will be very unpredictable. I've vowed to buy a fanless htpc gpu as so many of mine have died with running fans..

Something like this:

Asus NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 2 GB DDR3 Graphics Card | Graphics Card | Flipkart.com

Guys if I have understood you correctly, if I insert this device:

Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GT210 1 GB DDR3 Graphics Card | Graphics Card | Flipkart.com

in my mother board's PCI slot,and connect one end of HDMI cable to Hdmi of this card and other end of HDMI cable to input of monitor .Then I will be able to see my computers Desk top via HDMI?

I thought PCI cards were only for input, I have an internal Tv tuner in one of my PCI slots so I connect my STB to this Intex card and watch TV in my monitor.

But now you are saying if I connect a graphics card like GT210, to the other vacant PCI slot , I can actually get CPU out put to monitor? Digital quality? I do not need to do anything else ?

yes your TV can become a secondary or the only display. This card will fit in PCI Express 2.0 x16 not PCI. It's good for your usage.

 

[Tech123]

Hi thanks for the tip

Ok will go for a fan less one, also did not think worth mentioning that I am still using Windows XP, in the specs in your link above it shows supported OS windows 7 !! Does that mean it will not work with windows XP!!

also just realized that PCI and PCIe are different,I think I have PCI and not PCIe, are there any good PCI based gfx cards with HDMi out or DVI out.

If not Guess I have to go for a new Mother board and build everything up from scratch.!

 

[whitestar_999]

PCI is different from PCI-e.also check on the manufacturer's website that the card you are buying has xp driver or not.if not then no point in buying to use with xp.before all that post your processor & motherboard model no.you can also use this if you don't know how to:
Download Speccy 1.18.379 - FileHippo.com

 

[Tech123]

Hi white star

thank you managed to use speccy : My mother board i845G and processor : intel pentium4 2.80GHz

so now please help me with my main query , how do i get HDMI out from CPU.

Yes you will need a discrete graphics card which offers these output standards.

Your choice of gfx card will depend on your purpose- iI assume you plan to watch movies and do general work, with gaming as an afterthought, get a low end card HTPC(google ) from the likes HD 5450, GT 210/Gt 520..something around the 2-2.5k bracket. Avoid the 2Gb ones as they are nothing more than marketing gimmick.

Regarding DVI/HDMI, they offer the same video quality. Only HDMi can carry sound signal alongwith the digital video signals. So incase you choose a moniter which has DVI input, and your card has only DVI output as the highest offering, there will be no drop wrt quality.

And finally i assume you have a PCI-Express(PCIe- and not PCI) to begin with. If you have an AGP slot, you will be limited in offerings , but they still offer atleast a DVI output.
In worst case, if have niether, then your only choice would be a PCI based solution- based on chipsets like 5450, to older 8400GS to ancient 6200LE, Radeon 7000,GF5200 . They too have atleast a DVI port putting 1920X1080 at 32bit. But avaibility is going to be a problem.

PS: Some 22 LED's moniters still accept VGA input and the quality is livable.

Hi I do have 2 PCI and 1AGP slot, please suggest some cards. Also I do not want to compromise on quality, so please suggest all options, like changing Motherboard etc etc .My Motherboard i845G .

 

[topgear]

you won't find an AGP gfx card easily now - if you need HD resolution you need to get new mobo+cpu+ddr3 ram.

 

[aloodum]

Ancient AGPs are still available like this FX 5500 below:
Forsa NVIDIA GeForce FX5500 256 MB DDR Graphics Card | Graphics Card | Flipkart.com\

But there seems to be a catch on the maximum display resolution on the dvi port....while the analog VGA can support till the 2048 X 1536, the DVi output is rather limited to 1600 X 1200 . To make matters worse these ancient cards do not comunicate properly with new flat panel monitor's EDID interface(This is a 2004 era gpu we are talking about , that time 4:3 resolution format was the norm).So you would be strectching the 4:3 display, which would not look sharp on the new 22 inchers whose native resolution would be 1920X1080(16:9)

Unfortunately in India, you wont have any good choice when it comes to the nolder PCI bus...though there are capable models being sold elsewhere, 99% of the time most shops would stock up a joke of a PCI gfx card..mostly based on a 8Mb/16Mb (yes 8Mb) PCI card from when akbar used to game(Radeon 9200SE etc)
Getting a more recent one , specially based upon the Radeon 3/4 series(which have support for decoding offloading) is real tough .
So ur HD dreamsP) are basically hampered by a combo of an outdated mobo that wont support newer cards+unavailability of any decent Agp card

Easiest step for you would be to get a setup that supports the PCI-e slot, pair it up with a htpc card that natively supports newer formats(ur cpu isnt a stellar choice for HD playback , but will suffice incase your gpu is decent one) - either get a new system or source a used system -depending on your budget as topgear has suggested above

Cheers

 

[Tech123]

@aloo thanks

Ok now I am thinking for a new setup, but there are some processors out there with inbuilt Graphics what does that mean?

Please clear this inbuilt graphics in processor Vs non inbuilt Graphics , advantages or disadvantages if any.

 

[whitestar_999]

if your usages only include basic things like browsing & watching HD videos you can get a decent intel pentium G620 based system for 15000(excluding monitor & speakers & including new sata hdd as no ide hdd compatible port on current motherboards).intel core i series has integrated graphics which is sufficient for day-to-day usages & watching HD videos using normal ways(no post-processing,heavy renders etc).if you want to play games or play videos with not-normal ways then you need a graphics card ranging from 3000 & above depending on your usage.

 

[aloodum]

@aloo thanks

Ok now I am thinking for a new setup, but there are some processors out there with inbuilt Graphics what does that mean?

Please clear this inbuilt graphics in processor Vs non inbuilt Graphics , advantages or disadvantages if any.

Cool. Well recently both Intel and AMD are offering graphics core inside the cpu package only, on the same die - For intel it starts with the new pentium dual cores and core i3 which have the intel HD2000 series, while the i5 has the HD3000 series.. AMD call its cpus with gpu on same die as APU . As whitestar has said below, these newage cpu onboard gfx solutions are pretty decent. Amd ones are far more capable than their intel counterparts and actually come pretty close to their line up of low end discrete solutions.
Advantages are the obvious ones-lowered power footprint of system ,keeping cost down., reducing form factor size. If you are building a tiny htpc witha a tiny cabinet, these solutions are a boon!

 

[Tech123]

Hi guys first of all Hearty Thank you to all .

especially @aloo, @whitestar, @topgear @hardtester, @d6bmg and rockfella and every one else .

Hi guys let me be very clear I am not a Gamer, as of now.

I am slowly understanding the technicalities of this.So all I want is HD video for now that's it.
So should I get a processor with integrated graphics or not? OF course the motherboard will have pcie expansion slots , wont it . so later if I want more advanced graphics I can always install a good card. have I understood it correctly?

What about HDMI/ports are they inbuilt on the mother board of a processor that has integrated graphics, or do I need to install additional cards for these ports , if I need to install additional card for the ports then why go for a Graphics integrated processor ??


I am sure I am missing some basics, please forgive me.

I was thinking get a New mother Board , with PCIe expansion slots , fit my old p4 processor in it , buy a good Graphics card which will have DVI and HDMi out also I may need DDR3 RAM . bang that's it .

Now what I am not sure is this , will my old p4 fit in the new mother board?

Has the processor got to do anything with HD display? So even if it fits I may need a new one ?

 

[topgear]

you won't be able to use your OLD socket 478 based p4 cpu with any new mobos with pci-e slot.

The latest gfx cores built into cpus is capable;e enough for playing HD contents - yu just need to get a compatible cpu and mobo with DVI/HDMi output - that's it - if you need more performance in future ( read gaming ) - yu can upgrade to a better pci-e gfx card anytime.

 

[aloodum]

@@ Tech123: As topgear has pointed out above, your current cpu is of a different socket type than the ones found today from intel, so you need to dispose off your current set of CPU +Mobo +Ram, and instead purchase a newer setup.
As suggested also, first see if the onboard is a good enuff for your needs.

Note: Incase you have + plan to re-use your IDE old drives(hard disk, check whether the new motherboard has support for IDE devices as these days many budget boards are cutting out support for IDE devices).
Cheers!!!

 

[Tech123]

hearty Thanks to Topgear and Aloo

Things are starting to fall in perspective now

Aloodum please tell me what will happen if I have a mother board with HDMI/ DVI ports but my CPU does not have inbuilt graphics and I do not have a dedicated Graphics card , wont I be able to get any display when I take out put from HDMI and into monitor ?

 

[aloodum]

^^ in that case, you wil have an Integrated graphics processor (IGP), that is fused to your motherboard. Depending on model, it may or may not have dedicated memory for itself and share some , if not all of its needed memory from your main memory.
The same thing exists in your current setup , IIRC ironically named as Intel Extreme graphics
When people refer to graphics as being "onboard", almost 99% they refer it to these IGPs.

Again , modern day IGPs are pretty capable for the task your looking forward too.

Cheers!!

 

[Tech123]

So presence of Graphics is compulsory for Display right?

I mean suppose there is no IGP fused to the mother board , no IGP in processor , no dedicated Graphics card either then what will happen,I know its a stupid question , most probably I already know the answer , but I need you to reassure . is it possible to have this scenario and have any display.

MY answer :

No it is not possible for such a scenario to exist, even in my current system I have Intel Extreme Graphics , which unfortunately will not decode HD, but is fine as long as I need to work on Word Documents and watch DVD movies occasionally . so Graphics has to exist just to view the Plain desk top, right?

Now what kind of Graphics I need, depends on what I need to do , for HD content I need better Graphics .

Hope My answer was right ? Without any graphics --Blank Screen --No desk top view either...