ATI 8500DV or GeForce 4 and ATI TV Wonder?

[RyboFlavin]

I need to get a TV Tuner/Video Capture device, but I do not want to lose any 3D gaming power. Should I purchase an ATI 8500DV or should I buy a GeForce 4 and an ATI TV Wonder card? I plan on using Windows 2000 Professional mostly. Please let me know your opinion.

 

[FSUpaintball]

First off, win2k is NOT a gaming platform. It slows your framerate down significantly.

When you get a multimedia video card, you will ALWAYS lose gaming power. That's just how they make the cards. The 8500DV performs slower than the 8500. I'm not sure about the new GF4s.

BTW, dont' bother with the GF4 MX series. They're really just like GeForce 2s.

Those new GF4 TI cards could be a good solution, if you've got the cash. I'm not sure what their multi-media specs are. Right now, your best option is the 8500DV.

What kind of video card are you using right now?

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< First off, win2k is NOT a gaming platform. It slows your framerate down significantly. >>


Not true. In many cases it equals or bests Windows 98 SE, and almost all of the time it bests Windows XP.



<< When you get a multimedia video card, you will ALWAYS lose gaming power. That's just how they make the cards. The 8500DV performs slower than the 8500. I'm not sure about the new GF4s. >>


There is no multimedia version of the GF4 as of yet.

To answer your question, I would choose the Radeon 8500DV (which is inferior to the standard 8500, but still adequate). I would caution you about the second option, as I've heard that the TV Wonder has significant problems.

 

[FSUpaintball]

I heavily disagree with you about Win2k. I ran Win2k for a few months with a GeForce 3, and it was NOT a good gaming system.

I upgraded to XP. My games are drastically better.


One big reason: Win2k likes to group tons of devices onto 1 IRQ. Wrecks havoc on video games and video cards.

Win XP is very similar to 2000 - they're both built on NT technology, but XP is much more of a gamer's system.

 

[rbV5]

<< When you get a multimedia video card, you will ALWAYS lose gaming power. That's just how they make the cards. >>



Not always, the multimedia features are generally handled independantly of the GPU. Unless you are trying to capture video while gaming, all things being equally, the performance will be the same. My AIW Radeon performs identically the same as a Radeon 32 DDR retail. A Radeon AIW 8500dv and AIW 7500 will not perform to Radeon 8500 performance levels because the core/memory are clocked below retail speeds. Extreme cooling may get you retail clockspeeds, probably more likely with the AIW 7500 because of the heat generated by the 8500dv's tuner chip though, but why risk an expensive AIW card for a few fps?

Win2k is definately adequate for gaming, the drivers for most cards are very mature now and equal to and sometimes exceeding win9x performance. If you are getting a capture card, you want to use NTFS if you're working with large files anyway, that means XP ot 2K. Nothing to worry about there.

The TV wonder isn't based on the Rage Theater chip, you wont get the same functionality or compatability of the AIW cards, but it may work fine for what you want, and you can just upgrade your video card down the road. I'd do some research first and check out the hauppage cards and ask around.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< I heavily disagree with you about Win2k. I ran Win2k for a few months with a GeForce 3, and it was NOT a good gaming system.

I upgraded to XP. My games are drastically better.


One big reason: Win2k likes to group tons of devices onto 1 IRQ. Wrecks havoc on video games and video cards.

Win XP is very similar to 2000 - they're both built on NT technology, but XP is much more of a gamer's system. >>

The IRQ thing would be my only qualm, but there are ways around it. Since Win2k still has higher performance and doesn't have the extra crap, I'm avoiding XP for now.

 

[rbV5]

<< One big reason: Win2k likes to group tons of devices onto 1 IRQ. Wrecks havoc on video games and video cards. >>



XP and Win2k both can use ACPI, I use ACPI and it doesn't affect my rig in a negative way, in fact I believe it helps keep all my devices playing together nicely (add a V3 2000 PCI to mine that I stuck in my rig today also), no conflicts, all but PCI slot 1 populated, RAID card, 2 video cards, burner, DVD ROM, SB live Plat, Nic, 3 hardrives blah blah blah.

 

[RyboFlavin]

Thanks for all of the opinions so far....let me clarify my original question a little further now:

I am NOT going to use Windows XP, so please don't start a war between 2k and XP arguments. I just wanted to find out opinions between using the Radeon 8500DV or using a 3D Video Card and a TV-Tuner add-in. Here is my current configuration:

Athlon T-Bird 1.33 GHz
512 MB DDR PC2100 - Crucial
Elsa Gladiac Ultra 64 - GeForce 2 Ultra

In my original question, I shouldn't have asked about using a GeForce 4...I should have asked about using my current GeForce 2 Ultra 64MB card with the ATI TV-Wonder. Mainly, I wanted to know if anyone has heard any specific negative effects of using this combination. Can someone tell me of specific BAD things about the ATI TV-Wonder? Probably my best bet is to buy one and try it because they are only like $80.00. I am sure I can sell it or take it back if it doesn't work well.

On the other hand, I am willing to bet that the Radeon 8500DV would blow my GeForce 2 Ultra away in the 3D department...or is this a BAD assumption? I really don't care that the 8500DV may not perform quite as well as the standard Radeon 8500. I want to know how it would compare to my GeForce 2 Ultra.

Hopefully, this helps to clear things up a bit.

 

[reformat]

I installed a ATI TV Wonder VE (only difference is TV tuner is not stereo) and GF2 32mb DDR in my daughters computer, all of the TV Wonder's features operate as advertised. I was actually quite impressed considering it $40 price tag.

 

[Wolfsraider]

sheesh give the man a break lol

hey ryboflavin

try these benchmarks on for size Here





<< 8500DV may not perform quite as well as the standard Radeon 8500. I want to know how it would compare to my GeForce 2 Ultra. >>



it's there for both

hope this helps

 

[FSUpaintball]

Since you have the GF2 Ultra, I'd spring for the Radeon 8500LD or whatever the "all-in-wonder" version of the 8500 is. I'm willing to bet you'll get a bit of a boost in the 3D department over the GF2 ultra, and you'll also get all those bells and whistles you wanted.




P.S.: WIN2K SUCKS!!!!

LOL just kidding. I guess we'll just disagree on this one.

g'night guys.

 

[Thump553]

No matter what main video card you choose (the GeForce4 or a plain 8500) I would go with the add-on TV card route. My reasoning is video cards don't last all that long, esp. for us hobbyists/power computers. Inevitably, three to six months later, there is a new latest and greatest video card that you must have. Why pay $100+ extra for an integrated video card each time when you can get all the TV capabilities you need in a $40-75 add-on card that you buy once (your unlikely to ever need to upgrade that in the foreseeable future). The only drawback to this is one less available PCI slot, but you have a lot more cash in your pocket.

 

[richleader]

Ditto that. Why buy a tv tuner every year? Get a Geforce 4 and a separate tuner that will last you a while.

 

[HyTekJosh]

If you are looking for some info on the ATI AIW 8500, take a look at the review I just did here

 

[Jabroni]

I would not buy a TV card from ATI, I would get a hauppauge card, they are much better cards. The tuner on my 495 is much better than either the ATI or Studio PCTV tuner cards I used to have, and the SW is also much better (at least hauppauge's SW).

Either way you should be fine, but saving a PCI slot is important then go with the AIW. An integrated solution should mean no campatibility issues... (there should be none with the NVIDIA cards)

Have fun. I love to buy stuff.

 

[Mats]

WhoTF is gonna buy ATI when you can get a GF4...

Money being no object of course.