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Best Video Card for the money for a Non Gamer?

V

Valvoline6

Senior member
My dad is building a PC. He want's a good video card that will perform well, but he does not play a lot of games. He does do some video projects like transfering VHS to CD's (maybe DVD in the future) and takes a lot of digital images. He is building a Pentium 2.6, ASUS P4C800..
 
Originally posted by: hatim
why? U can get a 64MB ti4200 for $70. Will last longer. Good 2D too.
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Because 128Mb is a must have for modern 3d and difference with 4200Ti isn't as big as between 64mb and 128mb. 8500/9100 perform quite close to 4200Ti.
 
what do you need 128mb video memory for, excepting games and maybe digital images at like 10240x7680 res?
 
He says he does not play a lot of games, so I assume he plays something, in which case he may need 128mb. + 8500/9100 have better 2d IQ.
 
If you don't play 3d games, any card will pretty much do. But, if you play just a little, you need a better card.
 
If he doesn't play any games I'd say get a Matrox or an old 3Dfx card. Very good 2D quality. If he plays a few, but isn't interested in AA and AF and realtime shadows and whatnot, a GeForce3 Ti200 or a GeForce4 Ti4200 (64MB) should do just fine.
On the other hand, if he's going to be working with video and whatnot, he might want to go for a Radeon All-in-Wonder for it's TV tuner and video out and video in and all that crap.
 
I've been searching for a good deal on a Matrox G550. I think this would be a great choice for your friend if he's not a gamer.
 
Originally posted by: Brian48
I've been searching for a good deal on a Matrox G550. I think this would be a great choice for your friend if he's not a gamer.
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Yup.

It's too bad that you can't get the awesome 2D of a 550 and the awesome 3D of a 9800 put together in one card.
 
If he doesn't game at all, then his priorities should shift from speed and lots of memory to no fan, 2D quality, DVD playback, and maybe video out/dual head.
 
Is he planning on keeping this part for a while? Does he plan on upgrading to the next version of Windows when it comes out(Longhorn)? Will he be using the video card to capture the video from VHS, or does he have a dedicated board for that? What kind of monitor will he be using?

For questions one and two, if he will be keeping it for a while and plans on upgrading to long horn, a cheap FX5200 would probably serve him well.

For question three, if he will be using his vid card for capture then an ATi AIW will be the better choice for that.

For the final question, if he has or is planning on getting a LCD at some point you will want to make sure that whatever board he goes with it comes with DVI out.
 
For lots of video in/out features plus:

very occasional or no gaming; Radeon AIW "VE" (Very good card, provided you don't need ultimate gaming performance... it'll still play most games quite decently.)

nice performance for the odd time he DOES play a game; Radeon AIW 9000. Faster 3D performance, same up-to-date All-In-Wonder features of the latest-gen ATI cards.

really good performance for the odd game; Radeon AIW 9600. Same idea, faster still.

Radeon AIW 9800Pro is only for people with plenty of cash and want the best performance there is - period.

I only recommended the latest generation of AIW's because the audio/visual quality has been improved GREATLY over its older brothers! 😉
 
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