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Looking For CHEAP video card for DVD playback.

U

Univac

Senior member
Hello.

My current video cards TV out has apprently decided to stop detecting the TV.

I tried forcing it with the Driver/Control panel but it was VERY unreliable.

SO I am looking for a card with TV out that will work well with dvd play back.

I like how ATI card's work with dvd playback, but I also use this comp for when someone wants to come over and play a game or two.

And since the NVIDIA card that is in it now is still good for that, Iwas thinking of a cheap nvidia card so I would have less driver problems swaping them back and forth.

Do the cheap Nvidia cards have/do DVD acceleration??

I have heard that cheaper Nvidia cards sometimes have poor image quality? Does it affect DVD quality too??

If so,

How about something like a radeon 7000/7500??

Why am I looking for Cheap???
I have a 9700pro that is working very well for me in my main machine.

When I start looking around for mid -range gaming cards for the dvd box I get thinking...

"Why don't I just put the 9700 in the dvd box and get me a new one for the gaming system???"
and you know what happens after that..
"well, I should get a new processor to take real advantage of it, then I would need..." 😛
 
Any Radeon from 9200 upward features their most current DVD playback engine and video filters. From the current DirectX9 chip generation, your starting point is 9550SE.
 
I'd look for a Radeon 8500 used if you could find it, or a Radeon Pro VIVO...You can go plenty far back with ATI's line of cards and still get hardware motion compensation for DVD, as ATI has had it since their Rage II +DVD chips. You'll get good quality with the 8500 and still get a DVI port if you need it. Should be cheaper than a new card too. I bought a 32MB one on Ebay six months back with DVI and the Rage Theater chip for $30 for a spare system.
 

I just ordered an Abit 9200se at newegg for $46 🙂

there was one there for $36 but it only had s-video out, and I have had good luck with the abit brand.

Thanks for all the info! :beer:
 
I've had the Abit (=Elitegroup) 9200SE. Analog signal quality is good on both heads - I ran it with twin 20" CRTs both at 1280x960, no complaints. And it does have SVideo out rather than inferior Composite. Good choice!
 
Originally posted by: Peter
Any Radeon from 9200 upward features their most current DVD playback engine and video filters. From the current DirectX9 chip generation, your starting point is 9550SE.
Click to expand...

I also want a cheap card for DVD playback, and possibly digital television. Is a 9550 which has hardware dx9 any better than a 9200 for DVD playback? How difficult could mpeg decode be? Or are their special things in dx9 that would make it worth my while spending a tiny bit extra for the 9550?
 
Just for the history record, PC graphics chips had DVD decoding hardware ever since SiS presented the 6326DVD waaaaaay back in 1998 (or even 1997, I can't remember). People still are way too worried about the amount of graphics horsepower required to replay DVD ...
 
Originally posted by: Peter
Just for the history record, PC graphics chips had DVD decoding hardware ever since SiS presented the 6326DVD waaaaaay back in 1998 (or even 1997, I can't remember). People still are way too worried about the amount of graphics horsepower required to replay DVD ...
Click to expand...

A problem is that reviewers of graphics cards in magazines, on web-sites, seem to focus obsessively on 3D games performance. They don't seem to consider people might want a cheap card, and not care about sizzling frame rates in doom or unreal tournament or whatever the latest bench mark game is. I had a look at the ATI website, they don't exactly make it clear that all of their cards are equivalent if you're looking at just decent DVD playback. I'm sure if you have a modern chip, the DVD decode can be done entirely by the CPU (as in PowerDVD software). The appeal of hardware decode is you might have less CPU useage, which is good I spose if you are running an older chip, or you want to be doing other stuff while your watching your DVD.

 
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