Need help choosing new Video Card

[phroman]

I'd like to get a better video card than the ATI Radeon 7500 I have now. I've never had an Nvidia card before so I don't know anything about their model numbers or naming schemes. I have an older Asus A7V8X-X motherboard 8x AGP.

Basically looking for the best AGP card I can get and Nvidia seems to be a little better regarded in the BTV world. Thankfully money is not a concern for this (it's christmas after all) so any help is much appreceiated, thanks!

[merrypig]

to be honest, I'd just get a fx5200. fanless. dx9 .. works fine with btv. Cheap too.

I had the 7500 before that too.

If you want games as well though, then ... perhaps something else. Way too easy to go over board with that stuff.

[phroman]

Thanks for your quick reply,
I was looking at these cards so far:

MSI FX5500-TD256 Geforce FX5500 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video $75

MSI NX6600-VTD256 Geforce 6600 256MB 128-bit DDR VIVO AGP 4X/8X $135

MSI NX6600GT-VTD128 Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 VIVO AGP 4X/8X $175
This card says it has HD support but I cannot figure out in what capacity. My tv is HD, but I don't have an HD receiver yet, or an HD capture card so how big of a deal is it for me yet?? Not too big, yet.....

I bet just the FX5500 card would be fine, especially compared to the 7500. Thank you very much for the advice, cya

[Cross673]

Nvidia is good. I am still using a DirectX 8.0 Nvidia video card with no problems.

If you want a good card get the Nvidia GeForce 6600GT (good for gaming).

If you want an even better card get the Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra (real good for gaming - high power supply requirements though).

I haven't read much about the Nvidia GeForce 7800 Series yet. I'm sure they are the top of the line.

Just my 2 cents worth....

[phroman]

This will be dedicated to PVR use only, gaming will have to wait till I go full SLI so I can kill everything that moves in BF2....mmwwuuhhhaaa

Seriously though, thanks for the advice, I got to tell ya, the people on these forums are a great help, I hope I can give OUT some advice soon....Thx

[phroman]

I just tried out a Chaintec G-Force FX550 128 meg Video card instead of my ATI Radeon 9700. My TV has a 1280x720 Res, when I set my video card to use that resolution the desktop is too big. Half the start button and some top to bottom are missing. Any ideas why this is or how to fix it? I can adjust the screen size of course in the BTV and BM apps, but it still messes up other stuff.

The other thing is that when I watch live tv In BTV it basically looks like crap. I'm using a DVI cable out of my vid card, then a small adapter because my TV has HDMI input. I'm loving the features of the software so far if I could just get a decent picture I'd be in heaven... Thanks for all the help, cya

[hadlyme]

Originally Posted by merrypig

to be honest, I'd just get a fx5200. fanless. dx9 .. works fine with btv. Cheap too.

I had the 7500 before that too.

If you want games as well though, then ... perhaps something else. Way too easy to go over board with that stuff.

i agree
the 5200FX is not expensive
i have two
both have fans

some don't

[bpsmicro]

I recently upgraded my ATI 9600XT with the 6600GT (the BFG edition). It took a bit of messing around, mostly involving actually reading the documentation and a couple of tips from here, but I got it working.

I ran the component output from the 6600GT to my HDTV. Like you, I don't have an HD source, so my input is a sat receiver to a PVR250 via S/Video.

But, I have my output set at 720p, so everything gets upconverted to HD. Yeah, upconverted SD is never going to be the same as real HD, but there's still an appreciable quality improvement. The BTV menus and normal Windows stuff looks outstanding, and the playback & LiveTV look a bit better (enough that I can notice, but I don't think anybody else in the family can).

I'm joining the ranks of people recommending this for "typical" BTV use.

[fanbanlo]

ATI , at least X1300 grade to get the good AVIVO mpeg2 decoder (H264 hardware decode needed to be purchased seperately, but you don't really need it)

nVidia, at least 6600 (GT if u want better gaming and smooth 3D Accelerated layer in BTV). Its PureVideo decoder has to be purchased seperately though. Do some research on nVidia's Purevideo & ATI's AVIVO!

PureVideo will have H.264 hardware decode support for 6x00 to 7x00 soon.

any cards older than those are not recommended...

[Cris]

I've just upgraded from Nvida 5600 to a 6200 - noticed a significant increase in speed between screens and image transitions. Both were 128MB AGP. Very nice card from PNY Technologies, about $145. I don't think you need anything more for HTPC, unless you want gaming as well. My system is dedicated to HTPC.

[Mamba]

Originally Posted by phroman

This will be dedicated to PVR use only, gaming will have to wait till I go full SLI...

Given that I'd go with the 6600GT and buy a second later for SLI. They seem to be very popular with HTPC folk and work well with Nvidia PureVideo codecs.

[Mamba]

Originally Posted by bpsmicro

I recently upgraded my ATI 9600XT...I ran the component output from the 6600GT to my HDTV...

Just curious since I still use the ATI...were you using the VGA->Component converter and if so, now using it on the 6600GT?

[bpsmicro]

Hi Mamba. No, I didn't have ATI's VGA->Component gizmo. It was rather a toss-up between buying it and hoping it actually did a decent job, or upgrade the card. As it happens, the 660GT went on a post-Xmas sale at discount that was difficult to ignore. Since everybody raves about the 6600GT, I decided to take the plunge.

The 6600GT has a different Component-Out gizmo, which is included with the card (not a separate purchase like ATI). It works great, and one of the forums here covers my experiences in getting the 6600GT operational.

I don't need (and never used) the input capabilities of the ATI card, so that was no sad loss. And eventually I'll just rotate it into another of the PCs I have around the house, since supposedly it's a decent game-playing card (both my young'uns do a fair amount of game-playing).