Cheap Computers and Parts

Notes we've taken concerning the Video Card:

• # of PCI-Express x16 Slots: 1
• PCI-Express x16 Version: 1.0a
• # of PCI Slots Remaining: 1 if you purchased a PCI card, 2 if you did not.
• # of PCI-Express x1 Slots Remaining: 0 if you purchased a PCI-Express x1 Card, 1 if you did not.

Step 1: Notes About Video Cards

Selecting a video card depends heavily on your budget. If you need a card because your old card stopped working, your motherboard didn't come with integrated video or you want to upgrade, there are many cheap cards you can purchase that will suffice.

If you just want multi-monitor support, a cheap card with multiple video outputs or a Monitor Splitter will get the job done just fine. However, if you're a gamer or graphic artist and want the best/fastest graphics, it can cost you quite a bit of money.

To achieve the best graphics, you're going to need multiple video cards working together using either SLI (Nvidia) or Crossfire (ATI) technology that allows you to hook up multiple cards to work together. Not only do you need multiple cards that support SLI/Crossfire but you also need a motherboard that supports multiple PCI-E x16 v2.0 slots along with SLI or Crossfire. You'll also need a really good processor, extra RAM, possibly a 64-Bit Operating System and a few other things so the rest of your system can keep up.

Since building a super computer isn't what we're doing in this guide, we'll go back to building our budget pc.

Step 2a: Finding a Video Card

We will continue this example build and say we want to have multi-monitor capabilities. We can achieve this one of two ways:

1. We can purchase a splitter. The video quality when using a splitter can vary.
2. Purchase a cheap video card with multiple video outputs.

For the purpose of this example, we will go with option 2. This is where the motherboard notes we took about the video card come into play:

• # of PCI-Express x16 Slots: 1
• PCI-Express x16 Version: 1.0a

Two common questions I've been asked about PCI-Express x16 video cards concerning the version numbers:

-Will a PCI-E x16 v1.x card work in a PCI-E x16 v2.0 slot?

-Will a PCI-E x16 v2.0 card work in a PCI-E x16 v1.x slot?

The answer to both of these is.. it should. PCI-E x16 v2.0 is backwards compatible but in rare cases, it doesn't work with an older version slot or card.

To avoid this confusion or possible non-compatibility, when purchasing a video card, you should focus on matching up the version numbers.

Step 2b: Finding a Video Card

Even though you can also purchase PCI and PCI-Express x1 video cards, PCI-Express x16 is the fastest at the time of this writing.

The motherboard we chose for our example budget build has one PCI-E x16 video slot and only supports version 1.0a. Let's us navigate to the Video Card section of our vendor.

Computer Hardware List --> Video Cards --> Brand (ATI or Nvidia) or Video Interface (PCI-E x16, PCI-E x16 v2.0)

-Order by “lowest price”

I should point out that if you're purchasing two or more video cards for Crossfire or SLI, not only does your motherboard need to support Crossfire or SLI but each card has to be identical. They have to have the same GPU, speeds, memory etc. If you are going this route, it's best to buy them at the same time to ensure they are identical.

Also, Crossfire and SLI are brand specific.

Crossfire - ATI

SLI - Nvidia

Here's a cheap video card we can use for a multiple display setup:

GIGABYTE GV-NX72G512E2 GeForce 7200GS 256MB PCI Express x16 Video Card - $24.99 after rebate

• PCI Express x16
• PCI-Express v1.0
• Multiple Video Outputs
• Does not come with an adapter

It appears this card does not come with a DVI to VGA adapter. Our monitor will determine what type of adapter we need, if any.

Here's a cheap DVI to VGA adapter if we need one:

ATEN DVI to VGA adapter - $2.99

Note: Sometimes PCI-Express x16 video cards require extra power from the PSU to work. Always make a note if it requires extra power, the type of connection, how many and the minimum power supply wattage required.

Notes to take before the next lesson:

If you haven't already, we need to note the following:

• Does the video card require extra power? No
• Min Power Requirement: n/a
• # of Power Connections Needed: n/a
• Comes with adapter? No
• Monitor Connector(s): VGA, DVI, Composite

Next Lesson:

We can continue to the next lesson: Lesson 14: How to Find a Cheap Network Card

or we can skip ahead to the lesson needed:

Lesson 15: How to Find a Cheap Floppy Disk Drive

Lesson 16: How to Find a Cheap Power Supply