Thanks again @buttersoft Is there a thread or list somewhere which details specific video cards which work well with crt_emudriver? I don't want to end up getting a card, only to be foiled by noise or some other issue. I've been unable to find one so far. I'd of thought there must be a place where users are posting their setups and experience?
I'll chime in with my $0.02 here if buttersoft doesn't mind...
In my opinion, you should use Windows 7 64-bit and should get at *least* a Radeon HD 5000 series card or newer. Ideally, one of the "GCN" cards would be ideal as they'll likely have driver support for any possible future versions of CRT Emudriver as AMD has ended support for non-GCN cards. This is the list of supported cards for the GCN driver on the CRT Emudriver 2.0 download page...
Desktop: AMD Radeon HD 7700-7900, HD 8500-8900 Series
AMD Radeon R7 200, R7 300, R9 200, R9 300, R9 Nano, R9 Fury Series
As an aside, I got pretty lucky when I found my card. It's a Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 which is a first-generation GCN card. It's a full-height card with an actual VGA port that is *not* connected with a ribbon cable. This particular card is also a low-power model that doesn't require (or even have a plug for) an external power cable. I chose this card specifically because I'm using it in an arcade cabinet so cooling is less than optimal. Lower power = less heat. Unfortunately, this wasn't a particularly popular card so there's not that many floating around on the used market. In fact, the one I got was a "refurbished" unit.
I think this is the model that I have...
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?Pid=7D04A2EB-CEDB-4C8F-A3F9-CAE7D00E5FA1