Looking for the CHEAPEST card with DVI (single, no dual needed) and passive cooling

[glenn1]

If you want TV stuff, maybe. The original poster wan't big on games. The GF4MX-4000 is basic, but will handle a *little* 3D OK. But it's reliable, decent output, and dirt cheap. Like I said, a lousy $20-30.

Sounds like you're on my wavelength, I'm running the onboard video on an Asus A7N-266/VM now so it's not like I need a speed demon, just something that will allow me to web surf and do basic office tasks. Probably the only 3d game I play is Unreal Tournament once in a blue moon, Civilization III is my game of choice otherwise. But I figure since the LCD I'm getting has DVI, might as well take advantage of it.

You'll be on the 130 MHz pixel clock mark when you're running a 1280x1024 panel. 1600x1200 panels are 162 MHz. NVidia drivers work around the issue a bit by letting you run the panel on reduced refresh rate, to push the pixel frequency back down into the window where the signal quality is still "good enough".

If the signal integrity issue strikes, you don't get a picture AT ALL, or nasty jumps and twitches as the display fails to sync up with the poor signal. I've seen that happen with 5200 cards often enough, even on 1024x768 panels where the signal frequency hardly is 100 MHz. This problem exists, and has been demonstrated in both measurement and effect by numerous website. This isn't a superficial issue that can be debated away - unlike load times of control panel software and somesuch. How often do you think that will be used? Once? Twice? Never again after installation?

Why put up with inferior output quality when there are alternatives that plain and straightforward WORK?

Anyone out there who can comment on this? I could care less who makes my vid card, ATI, Nvidia, or Fisher Price for all I care, but I would definitely not be a happy camper with "twitches" when doing something simple like websurfing at the monitor's default resolution. If that means I need to buy a more expensive card so be it.

 

[Peter]

You don't need expensive, you need anything-but-NVidia. ATi's 9550SE is perfectly OK. If it desperately HAS to be NVidia, you indeed need to spend more money and get a card whose designer knew about the issue, ignored the NVidia chip's integrated transmitter and used a separate, working transmitter chip.

Excuse linking to other hardware sites, but here's analysis:

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041129/tft_connection-08.html
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_zdext/is_200310/ai_ziff110973

Quote: "When we initially spoke with Silicon Image back in July, they showed us a slide with the results of their DVI testing on eight different GeForceFX 5200 cards -- none passed. We only checked out two cards this go-around, but our testing indicates that the 5200 may be problematic."

 

[glenn1]

Do the older ATI cards (like the 7500, etc) have enough ooomph to drive a 1905FP on standard resolution for light computing duty (i.e. websurfing and basic office tasks) ? Seems like I can get an OEM 7000 or 7500 for about $15-20 shipped on Fleabay and that the 9200's and such are 35-40ish on Newegg. Also, is an OEM pull X300 a reasonable enough choice? I'll be damned if I can figure out ATI's new naming scheme.... what happened to the 7xxx, 8xxx, and 9xxx series cards? You have to be a damn mathematician to figure out what you're buying nowadays.

 

[SilverTrine]

Originally posted by: bluemax

Originally posted by: stuman74
Since I also want to watch TV on my PC, should I get a good DVI card plus a TV tuner card instead of an AIW model?

Many would recommend a nice video card and a good TV tuner like the Happauge 250 (forget the exact name.) It's got better quality than the AIW series and more (and more reliable) features. Most importantly, you won't have to buy expensive All-in-Wonder cards every time you upgrade. A decent card plus the PVR-250 is almost equal in cost, but far better in function.

Well thats not entirely true, the ATi recording software and tv guide software that comes with the AIW is better than Happauge as well as the compression being better. As far as quality, theres a minor difference, though its doubtful that most people will notice because if you dont have absolute perfect cable reception(which most people dont) you'll notice that before anything else.
Also the AIW cards hold their value better than other aging videocards.
I vote for an AIW card.

 

[stuman74]

Are Sapphire ATI cards any good? I see this one at newegg.com that is pretty cheap. No onboard TV tuner, but it has DVI. I can then add-on a separate TV card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102320

My motherboard is a Asus A7N8X (nvidia chipset). Are there any concerns with certain video cards with my mobo? I've read that some people have issues with nvidia mobos depending on the video card they have.

 

[selfbuilt]

Since gaming didn't matter, you could also try an ATI 9200se 64Mb with DVI, available for around ~$30 (for ex.: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814164028).

I put the Powercolor version of this card in my Mom's Asus A7N8X and it works flawlessly. Just fyi, the 9200se and GF4MX 4000 should be roughly equivalent gaming performers (about the level of an old GF2 ti, actually).

 

[stuman74]

Allright, I think I am down to either:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10353873&loc=101&sp=1
plus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102320

OR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102365

DVI is a must, so adding TV points to one or the other.

Any final tips are much appreciated!