1

My motherboard is a 945GCT-M2/1333 (V1.0A). It only has one PCI-E slot and integrated Intel® Graphics (GMA950) (it's bad, but in no way I want worse). The CPU is Intel® Celeron E1200 and the PC has 2GB RAM.

I've got two VGA monitors, one is currently hooked up to the PC, but I also wish to use the second one. But I could get a used DVI monitor, but that would probably cost me a bit too much in addition to the graphics card so I'd seriously rather not.

Basically any video card that can handle two monitors at 1280x1024 and won't bottleneck the system overall would do. But it has to work under Ubuntu 15.10 64bit properly.

I'll repeat for clarity that there are two VGA displays, the motherboard only supports PCI Express x16 v1.1, it can not be a downgrade and it has to be supported well under Ubuntu 15.10. That means only a small range of cards is left.

Improve this question
0

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

Since your main concerns are "not a downgrade from a GMA950" and "dual VGA support", I recommend a VisionTek Radeon 7000, $36 from Newegg. It's an absolutely ancient card (released 15 years ago), but the Tom's Hardware hierarchy puts it on the same performance tier as the nearly-as-ancient GMA950. It's got one VGA output and one DVI output with a DVI-to-VGA adapter, it uses one of your board's PCI slots rather than a PCIe slot, and it's well-supported by the open-source ATI drivers (R100 column). I haven't found a solid source for maximum resolution, but it appears to be at least 1600x1200.

Alternatively, if you can find one, I recommend a GeForce 5200, again with a PCI interface. One VGA and one DVI-I is common, it's somewhat more powerful than either the Radeon 7000 or the GMA950, and it's got decent support by the open-source drivers. If you really want to use your PCIe slot, a few 5200 boards used an AGP-to-PCIe adapter chip to give them a PCIe interface.

Improve this answer
2
  • Wait, you can convert DVI to VGA with a cable? Wasn't DVI digital and VGA analog?
    – Avamander
    Commented Feb 8, 2016 at 20:08
  • 1
    @Avamander, DVI can carry analog, digital, or both. Until recently, the most common form of DVI was DVI-I (distinguishing feature: a group of four pins around the long, flat analog ground pin), which carries both signal types. Current-generation cards tend to have one DVI-I at most; more common is DVI-D (digital-only) or an HDMI port with an HDMI-to-DVI-D adapter.
    – Mark
    Commented Feb 8, 2016 at 20:41

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.