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$2000 to spend on new video card * What is YOUR PICK

C

Cybordolphin

Platinum Member
I am looking for a high end video card that will allow me to output to a new home theater. I may want to have TIVO type effects, but more importantly I want the image sent to my screen to be the best money can buy. I want to be able to read the fine print on the screen. Cost is no object.

Home theater room to be 23x37, with a screen size of 160" plus. I would like Svideo as well as DVI outs.

Let me know what card(s) you would use and what configuration of cards (Hauppage tuner, video combos, etc.).


Thanks to all those who take time to post.
 
there aren't very many cards costing nearly half of that amount. I would suggest an ATi x800XT + Hauppage WinTV studio.
 
actually to tell you the truth, you don't really need such a high end videocard if all you're doing is using it as a media PC. Try swapping x800 XT with a radeon 8500 or above... or even a Matrox G450 for dual DVI, etc...
 
Originally posted by: ed21x
there aren't very many cards costing nearly half of that amount. I would suggest an ATi x800XT + Hauppage WinTV studio.
Click to expand...

a bunch of the workstation cards cost as much as 4000$

you dont need a uuber card for your HTPC, just get a 9700 Pro for like 150$ and a Hauppauge Win TV PVR 350 for another 200$ and you are good to go

the 9700 pro has a Svid out as well as DVI out
 
I read that the AIW 9600 pro put out a picture that was not of good enough quality for what I need.

The output image must really be the best available.

Thanks again for the posts.
 
you can use teh output from the TV card if you think itll be better
your gonna have serious trouble reading text on a 160 screen no matter what you use, im guessing you have a projector of some kind, it can only display xxxx*xxxx resolution, most cards do all that almost the same

however if you are concerned only with 2d get a Matrox card the G450 will be fine dual DVI but its still gonna look iffy on a 160in screen unless you have the worlds greatest projector
 
The AIW 9700 pro comes with a remote, etc.. Would an ATI AIW kit like this be a better way to go than say MS Media Center 2005 with a Hauppage, etc.?

The AIW cards do seem to offer all that I would want.
 
Yes the projector is $30,000.00.

I was hoping the larger screen would actually make the image/print from the video card look better (easier to read).
 
The AIW 9800 pro or the new AIW x800 XT look pretty good.

Is it worth the cost difference to go with the X800 XT? Any bad experiences found with this card yet?
 
Wait for the AIW x800 XT. It's gonna be outrageously priced... but as said before, you can go with pretty much any card and then put a TV Capture card / TV Tuner in for your TiVo thing.

The quality really doesn't change when you up the video card... it just processes information faster.
 
Originally posted by: iamskew
go to www.avsforum.com and go to their HTPC section, they will be able to give you a much better answer than you'll get here, the whole forum is dedicated to that kind of stuff...
Click to expand...

Agreed...their hi end systems forum can give you help as well. Might I ask what else you are using in this beastly hometheater of yours? :camera:?
 
Originally posted by: iamskew
go to www.avsforum.com and go to their HTPC section, they will be able to give you a much better answer than you'll get here, the whole forum is dedicated to that kind of stuff...
Click to expand...

Agreed

I'd definitely stay away from the AIWs though, that way you can upgrade your gpu without upgrading your tv-out, or vice versa. For 3d processing, with a big budget, there's no substitute for a pair of 6800 GTs or Ultras in SLI on an nf4 motherboard, the cards & mb will run you $1k-$1300 or so. TV-out is AVSForum's specialty, but my (admittedly layman's) suggestion is a Hauppage pvr250 or 350.
 
$30K projector?

WOW.

That's more than 13 of my cars 🙁

Yeah, this probably isn't the ideal forum that will be able to provide you with a great answer when dealing with 30K home theatre setups.
 
Well if you want the best s-video output you can buy, then you need a separate scan converter. The ones built into video cards suck compared to what you can buy stand alone when willing to pay money. Anything that takes only s-video and lower isn't going to be capable of sharp, high resolution display anyway, however. So going overboard for quality for the s-video portion of this is rather pointless anyway.
 
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