Video Card Selection

[nexus09]

I'm upgrading my old Matrox G200-TV (yeah, I know) and here is my dilema:
The Matrox card has a TV Tuner, and I want to retain TV viewing capabilities on any new card I select. The AIW Radeon 8500DV is slightly out of my price range. I was thinking of getting a PCI GeForce4 MX4400. I know it's not the best card, but considering my current setup, it's not that bad.

Any comments or different card suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BuddyAtBzboyz]

Originally posted by: nexus09
I'm upgrading my old Matrox G200-TV (yeah, I know) and here is my dilema:
The Matrox card has a TV Tuner, and I want to retain TV viewing capabilities on any new card I select. The AIW Radeon 8500DV is slightly out of my price range. I was thinking of getting a PCI GeForce4 MX4400. I know it's not the best card, but considering my current setup, it's not that bad.

Any comments or different card suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I don't think that card has a tv tuner. Tv out yes tv in no.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Precisely. TVout means you can send a signal out to a TV set while VIVO allows both input and output BUT not TV functionality (as in tuner). For that you'll have to go for the awful nVidia Personal Cinema (GF2MX400 LOL) or FAR BETTER the AIWRadeon cards (no need for the DV version). What's your current setup?

If you are stuck with PCI do consider upgrading the CPU and mobo, an XP1800+ and SktA mobo can cost you as little as $130, under $200 if you want a chunk of DDR to go with it. That would give you a lot more speed, features and options without costing the Earth.

If you go PCI GF4MX420 gives about the perf of a Rad7500 while a GF4MX440 should pull away from these nicely. You'll only get TVout though, and the Radeon cards are certainly the best for that. If you need TV tuner ability consider a seperate PCI card which is a lot more flexible and longer lasting. If you want it all in your gfx card then get a AIWRadeon as they are unsurpassed for true TV functionality.

 

[nexus09]

Precisely. TVout means you can send a signal out to a TV set while VIVO allows both input and output BUT not TV functionality (as in tuner). For that you'll have to go for the awful nVidia Personal Cinema (GF2MX400 LOL) or FAR BETTER the AIWRadeon cards (no need for the DV version). What's your current setup?

If you are stuck with PCI do consider upgrading the CPU and mobo, an XP1800+ and SktA mobo can cost you as little as $130, under $200 if you want a chunk of DDR to go with it. That would give you a lot more speed, features and options without costing the Earth.

If you go PCI GF4MX420 gives about the perf of a Rad7500 while a GF4MX440 should pull away from these nicely. You'll only get TVout though, and the Radeon cards are certainly the best for that. If you need TV tuner ability consider a seperate PCI card which is a lot more flexible and longer lasting. If you want it all in your gfx card then get a AIWRadeon as they are unsurpassed for true TV functionality.

Yes, I'm aware of that. I forgot to mention that my current card is AGP, so I would not be replacing it if I were to get the Geforce.

Well, I need to upgrade my PC desperately and I can afford very little. I'm definately getting a bigger HD, probably a WD400BB; and I need a UPS. If I can afford it, I'm getting a new mobo and a Duron, and retaining my 128MB PC133 Ram. My final "if I can afford it" upgrade is the video card in question. And again, after all that (ok, it's very little I know, I'm broke) I can't afford much for a video card.

Bringing us back to my question, should I just stick a Geforce420MX PCI in there or is there an inexpensive alternative anyone can think of. I mention the AIW DV only because I could only find 128Mb versions of the AIW and the DV was 64mb, therefore reducing the price.

 

[spanky]

how about a 7500 AIW?

 

[Rand]

Originally posted by: AnAndAustin
Precisely. TVout means you can send a signal out to a TV set while VIVO allows both input and output BUT not TV functionality (as in tuner). For that you'll have to go for the awful nVidia Personal Cinema (GF2MX400 LOL) or FAR BETTER the AIWRadeon cards (no need for the DV version). What's your current setup?

FWIW, there are Personal Cinema boards based on the GF2 MX400, GF3, GF3 Ti500, GF4 Ti4200 and GF4 Ti4600. VisionTek's xTasy Everything (MX400)may get the most publicity, but it's far from the only Personal Cinema product. Indeed, I was working with a ComPro GF3 Personal Cinema just last week. That's said I wouldnt recommend any Personal Cinema product to anyone, nVidia's got an awful lot of work to do before the Personal Cinema is a viable competitor.

If you go PCI GF4MX420 gives about the perf of a Rad7500 while a GF4MX440 should pull away from these nicely.

In my experience the MX420 is more roughly comparable to the GF2 GTS-V which is quite a ways off the R7500, and that's assuming AGO it'll be even slower in PCI.
In most cases even the MX440 doesnt exactly blow away the R7500, though it is generally faster.

Depending upon your needs you might consider looking into Matrox's G450 e-TV, it's priced a touch high given it's functionality but they have good driver support and extremely solid TV-Tuner and Video Capturing capabilties along with almost unmatched 2D visual quality, and an exceptional MultiMonitor implementation.

Another alternative is ATi's AIW Radeon 7500 that has slightly more features and better 3D performance, though it's 2D visual quality is comparably lacking and it misses out on MultiMonitor functionality. It will give you better DVD playback capabilities also.
ATi's TV-Tuner functionality is extremely good as well.

You may find it more cost effective just to go with a seperate PCI TV-Tuner card rather then buying a graphics card with such functionality.