~$100 to spend on a Video Card

[Deleted member 54998]

Hey all, thanks for the help in advance.

I am looking for a card that must do the following things:

• be AGP
  be capable of running 2 analogue displays
  be capable of component hdtv out (1080i)
  meet the dx9 requirements of Longhorn

I don't play any new games on this computer, it is used mostly for work. Are these things possible from a card in this price range? I can stretch the budget a little if it will get me something much better, but I really don't need anything top of the line.

Thanks,

Joel

 

[Chapbass]

I have pretty much the same expectations out of my HTPC, and it seems like a normal 6600 would fit the bill pretty well...im not positive about the requirements of longhorn, but i would tihnk this would be the best option at this price point....

I've seen some 6600's for like 75 bucks.

 

[fbrdphreak]

A 6600 will work fine in Longhorn. I would just get a 128MB or 256MB one tho, can't hurt to be safe w/more VRAM

 

[Deleted member 54998]

I've heard that ATI does the best job with HDTV output...is this true? How well does the 6600 handle it?

Thanks

Joel

 

[Chapbass]

I tried using my HDTV with my 9800 pro....meh, average...


Tried it with my 6600...oh man a lot better. 1080i res was very nice because of nvidias built in underscan to adjust the screen nice and easily without messing with powerstrip. Obviously the desktop still looks a little blurry (it will with res that big...), but any 10 foot app (i use Beyond Media/BeyondTV personally) will look absolutely stunning with it.

For the reference, I use my HTPC with a 57" Sony CRT RPTV using a DVI connection.

I dont know about ATI's X series cards, but man the HDTV support, software wise, is just awesome with the nvidia cards....and i usually favor ATI cards when it comes to video card stuff.

Trust me, go 6600, seems like the bargain at this price point.

 

[Rage187]

I second the 6600 idea, I ran one in my htpc and the HDTV support was great.

 

[Nextman916]

well ATi has been known for their superd image quality, especially over Nvidia however im not sure about HDTV. IMO should be the same comparison instead of a 6600 get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102584 . For your requirements it should handle smoothly but know if you ever plan on gaming in the future you will need a better card.

 

[Aznguy1872]

I've seen some 6600 GT's for under 100 dollars. That would be the best choice.

 

[SynthDude2001]

I can vouch for Nvidia's HDTV support being great...

I own a 6800GT and have connected it (via DVI) to a LCD rear projection HDTV several times, and it works flawlessly every time. Display is automatically detected, underscan seems to be adjusted without me having to do anything at all. I think there are several 6600's/6600GT's with native Component output support, so those should work well for you.

I used to have a 9700 Pro before that and once connected it to an HDTV via Component (using the ATI adapter), and it wasn't quite as intuitive...I was able to get it working well, but it took some effort. This was well over a year ago though, and I would imagine it's gotten a lot better since then.

 

[Chapbass]

My main reason for saying nvidia over ATI was because with the ATI drivers i couldn't find a way to easily underscan anything (TV's naturally overscan)...and using powerstrip IMO is a pain. Nvidia drivers actually display it as a TV and not just another monitor over a DVI connection....

I could've missed something when i was messing with my 9800 pro, but when i plugged in the 6600, the clouds just seemed to part...it was so easy.


Also, if you ask any of the boys over at htpcnews.com, which all they do is HDTV's, youll see almost unanimous support for the 6600. I've gotten a lot of help over there, made my vid card choice based on their recommendations, and boy were they right.