ATI AIW (9800) 'vs' stand alone (6800?) w/Leadtek

[marmasatt]

I know this has been asked a few times. But I'm going to tailor it a bit. Just looking for opinions.

I've trying to figure out if I want a 9800 AIW or a stand alone 9800XT/6800 and a Leadtek Expert/Deluxe joint.

I notice PCI express is pretty hot right now. Are AGP slots gonna go the way of ISA or something? I do not have a PCI express mobo. I don't see myself getting handcuffed w/ a 9800 AIW for a year or two with regards to gaming. But I've heard the pro's of keeping them separate with regards to upgrades. Anyone else think differently? I'm looking to mess around w/ the tuner/PVR function and do a bit of capturing from old VHS and VCR as well. Has anyone gone one route and then wished they went the other? I've also heard about problems w/ ATI's blasted drivers and such. Please advise.... Thanks.

Oliver

 

[McArra]

I would definetly go with 2 card option, that way you can upgrade video card and keep the tunner.

 

[mastaDJ]

I say get a Geforce 5200 PCI or ISA.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: mastaDJ
I say get a Geforce 5200 PCI or ISA.

i say stop posting

 

[marmasatt]

I say "bump" for some real opinions.

 

[gpgofast]

I have a Hauppauge PVR250(USB version) with a BFG 6800oc(nu) and couldn't be happier. I would recomend going with a higher end TV tuner card if you can afford it-mainly for life of the product. The Hauppauge's are a really nice product since they have hardware encoding and tax the CPU very little in real world use. GP

 

[josepavento]

I had a 9600pro AIW, and wish that I had bought a normal 9600pro and a seperate TV tuner. While I really liked the AIW features/ setup/ ease of use/ etc, I just upgraded to a 6600gt so I have no TV tuner. If you buy a good TV tuner you should be able to use it for a while, probably longer than you would use a video card or two.

If you dont plan on upgrading the video card for two or three years, then I would go for the AIW. But if you are like me, and are going to buy an agp card now, and a PCI-E card in a year or so, I cant see any reason not to buy a seperate tv tuner.

JOse

 

[marmasatt]

Ok, now we're talking. Thanks for the responses. I would say I'm gonna have this card for a few years now (2 at least). I don't have a PCIe so and I don't see myself building a new system unless I can sell the one I have. I would think that would be more reason to separate - not get an AIW, just to get a bit higher performance for gaming (As a 9800 is almost "mid range" at this point) and then still keeping the Tv Tuner/capture function. But I don't know. If I go 9800 AIW (which you make a case for, over 2 years), what are the chances of me being bottlenecked on gaming in a year or two? AIW is software encoding? I mean I have a 3.0, is that really an issue? Thanks again.

Oliver

 

[batmanuel]

I'll second the opinion of going with a seperate Hauppauge PVR/MCE card.

Their cards are a lot better than the AIWs as TV tuners since they have hardware MPEG2 encoding so you can capture multiple TV shows (if you have a dual tuner model like the PVR-500MCE that run around $200 or so) and you get the best software support. The Hauppauge PVR and MCE cards pretty run with pretty much any PVR program you want to use: Windows MCE, Sage, Beyond TV, even most of the Linux PVR distros, whereas the AIW cards are far less compatible with the third party PVR software apps that tend to offer better performance and functionality than ATi's PVR software.

A seperate PCI PVR card will be a better investment anyway, as an AGP AIW card most likely won't work with most mobos a year or two from now after the big shift to PCIe graphics occurs. PCI will also be obsolete, but it is fairly easy for mobo manufacturers to hang a few extra legacy PCI slots off of the PCIe bus without as big a loss of performance as you get with an AGP Express slot, so you should be able to use a nice WinTV PVR-500MCE for years to come. At least until you cable provider shuts off all the analog channels, forcing you to upgrade to a digital TV capture card.

This is a nice Beyond TV/WinTV PVR bundle that I've had my eye on getting for my wife's new PC, since she wants a TV tuner/PVR for it.

 

[marmasatt]

Ok, well lets just say I only have about $225 - $250 to spend. I would be left w/ only $ 100 or less after I bought the Hauppage 250. Given the budget, you all would say to keep separate?

 

[marmasatt]

 

[HappyNic]

If I go 9800 AIW (which you make a case for, over 2 years), what are the chances of me being bottlenecked on gaming in a year or two?

it all depends on what game you will be playing,, of course if you want to play the latest game your card will not do that well in a year or 2.,, just a 9800 pro.

Ok, well lets just say I only have about $225 - $250 to spend. I would be left w/ only $ 100 or less after I bought the Hauppage 250. Given the budget, you all would say to keep separate?

You can't always get what you want with a budget, in order to get what you want, you will have to save a bit more until you have enough for both., unless you just want to go with a 9800AIW.

 

[marmasatt]

Damn, I'm so indecisive. The 9800 PRO AIW is now $ 195 as a refurb. I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on this deal too. Not to change the subject, (ok, well yeah - to change the subject....) Anyone have experience with AIW refurbs. I'm kinda scared as this is kind of alot of cash to be spending on a refurb. But sometimes as I understand it, you get pretty lucky and get a solid, working card and sometimes with all the add-ons that they state don't come with it. Is all that other stuff worth the $40 and also "new" for piece of mind?