All-In-Wonder or 9700NP with capture card??

[JohnyDecepticon]

Hi. I'm a newbie and this is my first post on Anandtech. I hope someone can help me decide on a video card solution for my new system. I can't decide whether to get a AIW card or a decent Radeon with a seperate capture card. I really don't play many 1st person shooter games so I don't think I need a card that pumps out massive FPS. I'm going to be editing a lot of video but I still play the newer RPG's from time to time. Also I'm going to display it on a widescreen HDTV and I don't know what would work the best. I'm willing to buy a $400 card, but can I get the same things done for less money?

Here's what I have so far;
Aopen AXC4 Max 875p
P4 2.8 800fsb
2X Seagate SATA 120G
Sony DVDRW/DVDR
TT 480 Silent PSU
TT Xaser2 6000a case

Any insite or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Lonyo]

If you get a seperate tuner, it means later on you can upgrade your graphics card and still have tuner capability, or, if you buy a whoel new PC including new graphics card, you can reuse your tuner card.

Buying seperates gives the flexibility of moving/upgrading either, if you buy an AIW, you're tied to the card, and if you upgrade you'll need a new tuner.

I'm guessing you'll have enough PCI slots and case space for the extra card.
It's the way I would go, a 9700 and tuner, probably.

 

[rbV5]

Since you're going to output to a widescreen tv, what type of connection is it going to require? What kind of video are you editing, analog/digital? Outputting to tape, burning to CD/DVD? You can do things for a lot less than $400. A dual head card is nice for video editing, which leaves out AIW cards unless you wait for the AIW 9600. Good capture cards are not much more than $50 shipped from Newegg, and match that with anything from a $79 refurbed 4200 (I just picked up a 8500 for $55 for a spare rig), for a real budget solution up to what ever your budget can handle.

Myself, I like the AIW cards. The remote, with EZlook is great for my HTPC and the Pinnacle software (shipped with the newer models) is a decent editor. I use VGA for my connection to the widescreen which is easy to configure with powerstrip, but a bit of a hassle due to the single VGA of the AIW. The component output of the AIW 9700 pro is less of a hassle (my TV will accept either), but not as easy to configure for PC output. I manage to handle editing video with a single CRT as well, but the upcoming AIW 9600 with dual VGA would be perfect for my rig right now.

 

[JohnyDecepticon]

The best connection for my tv is the two component inputs. One is 420X720p and the other is 720X1080i. I've looked for DVI to RGB adapters but I haven't had any luck. As for the editing, I'm just pulling analog from old VHS tapes but I plan on buying a digital camcorder pretty soon.
What did you set your to resolution to match your TV? I guess I could use an S-VHS out but then I'd would be stuck with the lower Res.
How much different are the 9700p and 9800p cards? Also what do I sacrifice by buying OEM or bulk from NewEgg?

 

[rbV5]

If you are buying a DV camera soon, I'd hold-off with the capture card purchase untill you've tried the analog>digital conversion of your camcorder. You can just connect your VCR to the camcorder and convert it to digital and transfer it to your PC using firewire and the DV format, many people have told me that takes most of the pain out of transfering their VHS tapes to a digital format, edits easier and the quality is quite good. It also eliminates the need for analog video input.

For component output, the native component output of the AIW 9700 pro would be the easy but somewhat expensive solution for a modest gamer, and you can get a VGA or DVI> Component dongle from ATI that will work on most r200+ cards for a somewhat lower price point. 720p and 1080i are supported out of the box with the Catalyst drivers. I use powerstrip to set custom timings using Karnis's guide at AVSforum HTPC forum, he has timings for both the VGA/DVI connectors and Component dongle adaptor.

Alternatively, you can use a transcoder like the Audio Authority model, which will work with a variety of cards and give you VGA>component connectivity.

Check ATI.com for differences between the 9700/9800 models, and for OEM newegg, AIW cards are the exact same card as retail, no fancy box, or extra software, but all the cables/remote and needed software is included. For models other than AIW cards, you get a mixed bag, lower core/memory clockspeeds maybe, omitted features perhaps..you want to be sure what you are getting before buying. Refurbs are another matter, cables, adaptors and even software maybe missing. OK for standard video cards (I've purchased several refurbs from newegg..no problems), but probably not a good deal for an AIW as you'll spend some cash for the extras they leave out.

AVSforum is a great resource btw., good luck!

 

[JohnyDecepticon]

AVSforum is a great help thanks to people like you.

Thanks again