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Above avg. video card for gaming and video-in

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petesamprs

Senior member
Hey guys,
I'd appreciate your help in suggesting a video card for my needs:
1) <$250 if possible, willing to go more if worth it.
2) Ability to play FPS and non-FPS games well at higher resolutions (not max)
3) Ability to record analog video from camcorders so I can save old movies digitally.
4) Don't want to upgrade my power supply or install extra cooling to accomodate the card

I'm currently running a FX5200 that came with my Dell (P4 3.0,1GB DDR@400mhz)...works ok even on Doom 3, NFS-U, but need an upgrade bad to play at higher resolutions.

In addition to your recs, can you also comment on:

1) The quirks of ATI drivers in playing nice w/ Windows if I buy one of their cards
2) Whether I should wait for the "6600" which everyone keeps talking about it...is that the new PCI-express cards everyone is hyping up? Do you need a new computer/motherboard to take advantage of those?

apologies for some of the noob questions...
thanks.
 
You will need a new mobo to be able to play using Geforce 6600's at the moment as they are PCI express and your computer will have an AGP slot which is not the same thing... But ....if you wait the 6600 should be coming to AGP in the near future. You also won't be able to keep your Intel processor as it is most likely a P3 or P4 using either coppermine or northwood cores and on socket 478???(not sure) and whatever the P3 used to run on

IT'S A DELL SO IT HAS TO BE INTEL B4 i GET FLAMED!!!!

The Intel PCI express boards all use the LGA775 chipset at the moment and only the prescotts are available in that package at the moment.

Your graphics card is important but if you want to save digital movies then look at firewire....most new cameras support it....for older cameras that need to use composite then an old 9800Pro All in wonder will do nicely for gaming and video capture....

Hope I'm not speaking out of my arse.....Someone is bound to correct me if I am!!
 
Ok, so scratch the PCI-e since I don't want to get a new computer/motherboard.

I don't have that many movies...just 1 or 2 video tapes that I want to throw onto my computer. Maybe it's not even worth the extra cost of getting a video-in card if I only have 1 or 2 videos (find some other way to convert them to digital). I was looking at the All in Wonder but was concerned about price and the Nvid to ATI switch...heard ATI drivers don't play nice.

Additional info appreciated.
 
We have saved some home movies....my wedding to be exact...into digital.....luckily our video camera supports firewire....I believe that it takes a lot of the stress off the video card and just plays it in some sort of raw format without encoding/decoding....we then used pinnacle studio to capture the video.....decent quality considering the computer used was an Athlon 2100XP+ with a geforce 5600 in it...
 
You could get a x800pro vivo 256mb for under $300 and overclock it to a x800xt. Then you would be set for gaming for a long time!
 
Azzy: is the 6800nu only worth it if I can unlock the extra pipelines?
robwes: how easy is the overclock and does it require more than stock cooling/power? how risky is it? Also, I'm seeing this card well north of $300.

Also, do both of these cards support video-in?
 
1) The quirks of ATI drivers in playing nice w/ Windows if I buy one of their cards
Click to expand...

I have used both nVidia and ATI over the past year or so. I don't find any difference in their ability to play nice with Windows. I haven't had any problems with either. I don't think this issue should influence you purchase decision at all.

Fern
 
You could get a x800pro vivo 256mb for under $300 and overclock it to a x800xt. Then you would be set for gaming for a long time!
Click to expand...

After further research it seems like this a good option for me given my needs above. But where the hell do you see one of these for <$300? what should I realistically expect to pay for this?
 
Originally posted by: petesamprs
You could get a x800pro vivo 256mb for under $300 and overclock it to a x800xt. Then you would be set for gaming for a long time!
Click to expand...

After further research it seems like this a good option for me given my needs above. But where the hell do you see one of these for <$300? what should I realistically expect to pay for this?
Click to expand...

Mis informed, If you can find those for under 450 i would be surprised. Your best option would be an ATI 9800pro AIW. I know you don't need the tv tuner, but it comes with the vivo you need and it has more than enough power to run nfsu and any game (currently running HL2 on high settings at 1024).

 
Now that I think about it, I won't be using the VIVO enough to justify getting a card for it. If the card has it, all the better, but it's not a requirement. With that in mind, the 6600GT seems like a really good option from a performance/price tradeoff. Hopefully it'll last me two years.
 
Get a separate TV tuner or capture card/dongle rather than one integrated onto gfx card... that way it isn't lost when you upgrade lol
 
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