GeForce 5500 for $50 at compgeeks

[THRILLHOv]

I just want to put something cheap in my mythtv box, right now im using an old geforce2mx 32mb with no tv output.

i really dont want to spend too much and picked this one up... should i cancel it?

http://www.geeks.com/details.a...=FX5500-128MTV&cat=VCD


Specs for my box so far
Sempron 2400+
ECS k7vta3 V.6
512mb 2700 DDR
GeForce 2 MX 200 32mb
WinTV GO w/ remote (thinking about getting a 150, or a 150 MCE as well)
WD 80gb 7200 ATA100
Maxtor 60gb 7200 ATA100
NEC 2500a DVD+/-RW
Sony 24x CD-RW
Logitec Wireless Desktop MX
250w Antec PS
AT&T Wireless PCI 802.11g
Win XP pro SP1a
(I have the latest Fedora burned to DVD that I will use.)
(and a copy of KnoppMyth)

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

This should probably be discussed in a different forum but that seems like a decent price for a mediocre video card. Will definitley beat your old G2 card. Just be aware if you want to play any decent games that you're going to have to turn down the settings. This is a very low end card, hence the price. But it will be a step up from your old card.

 

[MisterE]

Note that the card that you linked to has a fan on the GPU, so it will probably be a little louder than you may want for a MythTV box. If you main concern is getting something with TV out, then you might want to go cheaper and get a card with a GF4MX or GF4000. For example, Newegg has the fanless Asus Geforce MX4000 with TV out for $33 plus $2 shipping (only composite TV-out, though). Among other cards in the same price range, Newegg has a fanless Albatron GF4MX-440 with S-Video out plus a composite TV-Out adapter for $34 plus $0.99 shipping. There are tons of cards that will fit your needs that can be had for a lot less than $50.

 

[VirtualLarry]

There are fanless Radeon 9200s out there (I own one), as well as Radeon 9200 VIVOs, although I'm not certain that I've seen fanless R9200 VIVOs. If you just want a good card with a good TV in/out (or even just out, if you are going to pair it with a WinTV PVR-150), then the 9200 is excellent and can be found for under $50 easily. I've been using the TV-out over Composite to a 20" NEC TV, running at 1024x768 (!), and the text is nearly pretty readable. I consider that slightly amazing. (I could use the S-Video, but I don't have a long enough cable.) I've always been partial to ATI's tv-out being a bit better than NV's.

 

[Samus]

There are fanless Radeon 9600's also, however, they are as fast as a GeforceFX 5600 which is also fanless (some models, none of them really need fans.) Both of these cards should run you well under $75. I jumped on a woot.com deal of a 5600 Ultra, which is on par with my Radeon 9600 Pro in most games, when it was $50 bucks.

I consider that slightly amazing. (I could use the S-Video, but I don't have a long enough cable.) I've always been partial to ATI's tv-out being a bit better than NV's.

...and thats a very 'partial' oppinion. nVidia's TV out is on par with ATI's in any recent card. Sure, GF2-GF4's lacked quality, mostly because of the output processors (usually crappy brooktree 8xx series) but any recent (last 2 years) card uses a good codec and processor.

I recently built an HTPC and was SO disappointed at ATI's neglect to properly support HDTV resolutions, even after shelling out for their overpriced piece of crap DVI to HD Component convertor that I dumped my Radeon 9600 Pro in favor of a cheaper and far superior (for the project) FX5600 Ultra. nVidia's drivers properly support HDTV resolutions and enable the adjustment of custom timings. ATI recently introduced custom timing modifications in their drivers (although nVidia has had them for years...) but they don't even work.

 

[THRILLHOv]

thanks for all the help... a lot to think about.. and yeah it was kinda OT.. but since i was linking to what i thought might be a specific good deal on a card from a specific site i figured it applied.

so basically, this card seems like a significant jump over my 2MX, and a good jump from my 9000mobile... can any one point me to a card that is just as much a jump, for around the same price (under 60 shipped) thats got TV out (DVI would be nice) and is fanless? a link would be great

but a really good point on the fan...

Originally posted by: Samus
however, they are as fast as a GeforceFX 5600 which is also fanless (some models, none of them really need fans.)

so is there a reason that the 5500 needs more cooling than a 5500? i guess it makes more sence to buy one of those than to buy the 5500 and try to get it to passively cool...
i apprecieate all the help. i guess since its sunday i have tonight to think about it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Samus
...and thats a very 'partial' oppinion. nVidia's TV out is on par with ATI's in any recent card. Sure, GF2-GF4's lacked quality, mostly because of the output processors (usually crappy brooktree 8xx series) but any recent (last 2 years) card uses a good codec and processor.

Well, that's part of the problem, with an NV card you are dependent on the OEM's choice of output chipset, I think that the ATI ones are on-chip, at least this card has tv-out, and no seperate Rage Theater chip like the VIVO cards have.

Originally posted by: Samus
I recently built an HTPC and was SO disappointed at ATI's neglect to properly support HDTV resolutions, even after shelling out for their overpriced piece of crap DVI to HD Component convertor that I dumped my Radeon 9600 Pro in favor of a cheaper and far superior (for the project) FX5600 Ultra. nVidia's drivers properly support HDTV resolutions and enable the adjustment of custom timings. ATI recently introduced custom timing modifications in their drivers (although nVidia has had them for years...) but they don't even work.

Interesting that you dig at ATI's HDTV support, since they were first to support component output, AFAIK. I don't have a display that takes component, but I'll admit that their drivers can be a bit quirky, moreso that they've been moving towards that CCC thing. (A RAM-hogging abomination, IMHO. Plus, it doesn't even run yet for 9200 cards.)

So for comparison, which NV cards out there support TV-out @ 1024x768 (NTSC)?

Edit: Well, found this for the 6800 - "Integrated NTSC/PAL TV encoder supporting resolutions up to 1024x768 without the need for panning with built-in Macrovision copy protection". But that's way overkill for buying for a HTPC box. OTOH, you could use the "PureVideo" shader-accelerated DVD-playback stuff.

 

[DefDC]

So, what would be the general consensous for a PVR box, that might do some light gaming? I want to spend as little as possible, and I think the OP found the best deal I have seen yet.

 

[mscdex0]

Maybe it's just me, but did anyone else notice that on the front of the video card box it says "Geforce 4"? It's an FX card.

 

[foolish501]

Originally posted by: mscdex0
Maybe it's just me, but did anyone else notice that on the front of the video card box it says "Geforce 4"? It's an FX card.

i noticed that, i've not even heard of the fx5500 chipset, i guess it must be one that came out after the fx5200/5600/5800

 

[THRILLHOv]

yeah i noticed that too... and every where else i looked up the product code had the same pic, but i think its just cause they all got the pics from the same place... ive heard of the 5500.. its mostly an OEM part sold to the public to get the most "value" i reluctantly canceled my order today... it is the best deal for the money ive seen, but then id have to invest in alternative cooling... but DefDC put it perfectly as to what i want. this card was pretty much perfect but the fan... any one know of a cheap fanless heatsink i could mod onto this... i dont want to spend $30+ on that zalman (not on this card at least)

 

[Samus]

this is probably a rebadged geforce4mx or something...who knows, nvidia and ATI have crack-whore pr and sales depts, whoever comes up with these names has got to go. let the engineers give them cool names, you know the public would love owning an "nVidia 8-pl 500mhz ddr3 1.3ns sm3.0 rev 3 alpha 1 pcie16x turbogum5001-xlti megaplus exacto"

 

[fbrdphreak]

The 5500 is basically a 5200 OC'd by 20MHz, yet still a good bit slower than the laughable 5200U
Link

 

[DefDC]

Hmmm... FWIW, NewEgg has had a lot of Radeon 9200s in the refurb section for ~$30-$40. I've almost pulled the trigger on a few of those. Then it was a toss-up on spending the extra $10 and getting a new FX5200. Still dunno what I going to do. I'll just wait for a deal to blow me away I guess. The OP's post almost did it, but the stupid box shot soured me. Hmmm, 1st time I ever complained about a box sh.... Eh... Nevermind...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, I'm guessing that the box pic is accurate, that whatever chipset the card has, the box actually does say "GeForce 4" on it, probably some super-generic far-east mfg. I know this because ompgeeks was selling a P4 S478 854PE mobo (that I ordered), and the pic showed an additional SATA cable as part of the bundled accessories, but the 854PE/ICH4 doesn't support SATA, and I couldn't find any mention of a 3rd-party onboard SATA chipset nor what looked like SATA headers, so I told them via their "feedback" box on the page, and the picture magically changed the next day to not show the SATA cables anymore. So as far as I can tell, they do those pictures themselves.

 

[magomago]

Just wanted to add not All Geforce between the 2-4 series suffer from poor tv out quality. I have a MSI G4mx420 and the tv out quality is superb

 

[bjohns]

I bought that Ablatron card from Newegg ($35, including shipping) for my Mythtv box and it works great. It took very little configuration (using KnoppMyth).

Originally posted by: MisterE
Note that the card that you linked to has a fan on the GPU, so it will probably be a little louder than you may want for a MythTV box. If you main concern is getting something with TV out, then you might want to go cheaper and get a card with a GF4MX or GF4000. For example, Newegg has the fanless Asus Geforce MX4000 with TV out for $33 plus $2 shipping (only composite TV-out, though). Among other cards in the same price range, Newegg has a fanless Albatron GF4MX-440 with S-Video out plus a composite TV-Out adapter for $34 plus $0.99 shipping. There are tons of cards that will fit your needs that can be had for a lot less than $50.

 

[k1114]

For that price I would start shopping for a used 9600. I got my fanless 9600 np on the fs/ft forums here for $50.