What Video Card to Get?

[rousie13]

I watch a lot of movies on my computer at school, so I need a video card suited for that. I also want one with integrated TV capabilities. I was looking at the ATI All in Wonder 9200 and 9600. Any ideas on what to look for? I don't want to spend a ton, but I'll spend enough to get something I'll be happy with.

[corn322]

I have an ATI 9600, and works awesome. it's a good card. has DVI and S-Video out

[[Zero-S]]

9600 would be your best bet if you're looking for midranged (still awesome performance for a "mid range" hell its good performance for a high end card...)

I'm sure you could get a 9800-based AIW for cheap now. Also look into the GeForce line by nvidia.

[red_240_fastback]

i have an ATI 9600 too and it works nicely

[Mr1der]

while bored, I found one for 1200, not really sure what one would do with it, but you need it.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...d=933

[corn322]

holy crap.

[red_240_fastback]

http://www.zones.com/cgi-bin/zones/site ... 2&zone=zbs

[C-Kwik]

while bored, I found one for 1200, not really sure what one would do with it, but you need it.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...d=933

That's a dual DVI card. Few of us would have a need for running dual LCD's.

I'd be looking at the GeForce 5950 for my own use. I don't really care for a built-in TV Tuner. Some of the things to look at is not just the memory size, but also the GPU clock speed and the memory clockspeed. Especially when running some complicated DirectX graphics. Halo and Splinter Cell on PC require some serious graphics hardware to run smoothly. Both of these games lag with my Geforce 128 mb MX card, even at 800x600 resolution. I hate DirectX. OpenGL is just so much smoother. Damn Microsoft.Here's an example of a 5950 card:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...app=0

[Oatmealman]

i have a geforce4 works like a dream,it's like watching hdtv on a computer.

[lessthanjakejohn]

x800xt > *

[C-Kwik]

i have a geforce4 works like a dream,it's like watching hdtv on a computer.

Usually the quality of video is not as much the issue. The speed can be. And at higher resolutions you need a faster Graphics processing unit and more memory to handle it. Most particularly with 3-D graphics. And even moreso with heavy DirectX applications. Graphics are just getting way too intense. Some of these graphics cards are more powerful as some older computers.

[Zydeco]

www.pricewatch.com

[Hijacker]

workhorse graphics cards > *

nothing beats having the best of the world's graphics cards.

[(jd)]

I'm still running a Geforce Ti500 but have been looking into Radeon 9800 series.

Best bang for the buck IMO would be the Nvidia FX5700 w/256mb ddr dvi and tv out.

I do a lot of pc shopping at http://www.newegg.com good prices and shiping is reasonable.

[lessthanjakejohn]

seriously though, get the 9600 AIW

[hannibal]

forget NVidia.when I was building my first PC last summer, most people I talked to agreed that ATI has better video out than NVidia. So if your using your TV as a monitor, then I think you'll like ATI much better.I got a AIW 9000? for $80 after rebate from CompUSA. But if youre gonna be playing games, I think you need something a little faster.

[blink0r]

http://www.ncix.com has great reviews.

I've got the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. WHOAAAAAA. Craziest video card i've ever seen, and it was only ~$350

[Fenvy]

buy my Nvidia GeForce 4 4600 Ti 128mb DDR DVI

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...68785

[xns]

i want a fire GL those things are hardcore

[s13EastTN]

I've got a fx5200 for about $94 w/ DVI and TV out, 128 megs of DDR. Pretty nice card. I would go with any 256 meg ATI however, as i've heard they run better than the nvidia 256 megs. Also, if you buy the lower end card, such as the basic 9800, I'm pretty sure you can swap out the bios w/ the pro and have a card just as good as the pro. But you might wanna check into that.

[rousie13]

I've narrowed it down between the 9600 all in wonder and 9600xt all in wonder. The 9600 is $162 and 9600XT is $184....should I spend the extra $22 for the XT?

[hamsterball]

$22 isn't much.. Just spend it to upgrade that feature.

I on the other hand have an ATi Radoen 9700 PRO (128MB DDR w/ tv out). I've had it for a year since it came out, and I'm extremely impressed.. best part of my computer lol.

If I were you, I wouldn't buy a GeForce.. they're nothing compared to Radeons.

[Zydeco]

here its is for 157 http://www.newegg.com/app/view...epa=0always check out pricewatch for cheapest price for computer parts. http://www.pricewatch.com