Recommend me a graphics card

[Parkerjohn]

Simple Q here ....

I need a graphics card. The machine is Intel based and I want it to run a second screen. I'm running Linux Mint.

What am I going to do with it? Well, very basic stuff. Look at web pages. Maybe write a document or two. Watch a YouTube video? Once in a blue moon. Edit 4K video? No. Play multi-online-raster-intensive games? Not on your nelly. Just a nice simple graphics card to show some nice simple web pages. And it needs to play nicely with Mint.

My budget? Well, there's an Cost Of Living Crisis (TM) going on so as cheap as you can manage. A few tens of £. No more. And no, I won't consider one of those spangly multi-thousand-pound things which I can see advertised online.

It's going into a fairly small desktop PC (not tower). So needs to be smallish. And I think it's a PCI-e slot which it will live in.

Anything else you need to know?

What should I be looking to buy?

Oh, outputs .... the (second) screen which I have resting on my desk as an SVGA connector on it. Nothing else. (Other than power). Yup - that me - proper old-skool. The existing screen runs off the on-board graphics via another SVGA connection. Nice and simple.

So ... recommend away. Thanks!

[Mr Pointy]

There are loads of cards on ebay for little money but a little more information is needed. Is the slot full height or half height - full height the metal bracket is about 4" tall, half height it's about 2.5" tall. Also needed is the PCie slot type - check which one it is but it's probably a PCIe 16.

[biggiles]

Parkerjohn said:

Simple Q here ....

I need a graphics card. The machine is Intel based and I want it to run a second screen. I'm running Linux Mint.

Two VGA screens?

An alternative to a graphics card would be a USB device. Search "USB VGA" on Amazon, plenty of devices for about £10. I don't know how well they work with Mint, but some of them specifically say Linux/Android.

If you really want a graphics card then SVGA should be covered by any fitting card from the last 25 years?

[xeny]

Any chance you could share what the PC is so we can look at the spec and confirm it is a PCIe slot and any hight/length limit?

[Parkerjohn]

Thanks for the answers. They are appreciated.

The motherboard is an Intel DH55TC. More accurately, dmidecode --type baseboard gives me this:

terminal said:

1. dmidecode 3.1

Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0023, DMI type 10, 6 bytes
On Board Device Information
Type: Sound
Status: Enabled
Description: Intel(R) High Definition Audio Device

Handle 0x0024, DMI type 10, 6 bytes
On Board Device Information
Type: Ethernet
Status: Enabled
Description: Intel(R) 82578DC Ethernet Device

Handle 0x0049, DMI type 41, 11 bytes
Onboard Device
Reference Designation: Intel(R) High Definition Audio Device
Type: Sound
Status: Enabled
Type Instance: 1
Bus Address: 0000:00:1b.0

Handle 0x004A, DMI type 41, 11 bytes
Onboard Device
Reference Designation: Intel(R) 82578DC Ethernet Device
Type: Ethernet
Status: Enabled
Type Instance: 1
Bus Address: 0000:00:19.0

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Product Name: DH55TC
Version: AAE70932-206
Serial Number: BTTC010001RT
Asset Tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
Features:
Board is a hosting board
Board is replaceable
Location In Chassis: To be filled by O.E.M.
Chassis Handle: 0x0003
Type: Motherboard
Contained Object Handles: 0

Handle 0x004B, DMI type 10, 6 bytes
On Board Device Information
Type: Video
Status: Enabled
Description: Intel(R) GMA HD Device

Handle 0x004C, DMI type 41, 11 bytes
Onboard Device
Reference Designation: Intel(R) GMA HD Device
Type: Video
Status: Enabled
Type Instance: 1
Bus Address: 0000:00:02.0

If anyone could recommend me a suitable graphics card to run a second screen (which has an SVGA input - yup, old-skool) I'd be most grateful.

Thanks!

[Parkerjohn]

Forgot to mention size .... the case is pretty slim so it will probably have to be a small card. It's a desktop case (as opposed to a tower case) and I suspect it will need a 2.5inch card.

[deckster]

That motherboard already has HDMI, DVI, and VGA outputs. You can just plug another monitor in (possibly with an appropriate adapter, if needed).

[TonyRPH]

deckster said:

That motherboard already has HDMI, DVI, and VGA outputs. You can just plug another monitor in (possibly with an appropriate adapter, if needed).

As per the above - all you need is a DVI -> VGA adapter and you're good to go. No additional graphics card needed.

Plug the adaptor into the socket highlighted in red.

[deckster]

TonyRPH said:

As per the above - all you need is a DVI -> VGA adapter and you're good to go. No additional graphics card needed.

Plug the adaptor into the socket highlighted in red.

This should do the job nicely https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adapter-Multibao-Converte...

[Mr Pointy]

That motherboard seems to be able to support 2 monitors so you could try an HDMI or DVI to VGA converter:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/produc...

https://www.lindy.co.uk/audio-video-c2/converters-...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/LINDY-38291-0-1-HDMI-Conv...

https://www.lindy.co.uk/audio-video-c2/converters-...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/LINDY-DVI-D-to-VGA-Adapte...

If you want a graphics card then the mother board has a PCIe 16 Gen 2.0 slot so there are lots to choose from.

[xeny]

deckster said:

That motherboard already has HDMI, DVI, and VGA outputs. You can just plug another monitor in (possibly with an appropriate adapter, if needed).

. That's why I asked what the machine was, as I felt asking "are you sure there isn't another monitor port on the back?" might not go down as well.

[Mr Pointy]

Actually I was wrong, dual VGA graphics cards went out with the ark. Here's one possibility:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373625075876

A converter on your existing HDMI or DVI ports is probably the best bet.

[2Btoo]

Hmmm. On board graphics with two outputs never have much welly in my experience. I've tried it before with Linux Mint (although a different motherboard) and it ran like a dog, causing all sorts of apparently unrelated problems. £20 on a new graphics card made everything much much happier in a dozen different ways.