Need suggestions for a new card for watching movies, etc. (non-gaming)

[LakerGod]

I have a Radeon LE 32mb ddr card. Recently when playing movies, they take a really long time to load, audio and video don't match up, and i've even had my computer freeze. I'm thinking the video card is going to hell.

Does anybody have any suggestions for a card for watching a lot of big divx movies, creating and editing webpages, photographs, video, etc...

100 bucks or less...preferably less...:beer:

Thanks guys!


EDIT: Here are some computer specs (let me know if there is anything else you might need)

PIII 933mhz
512 PC133

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: LakerGod
I have a Radeon LE 32mb ddr card. Recently when playing movies, they take a really long time to load, audio and video don't match up, and i've even had my computer freeze. I'm thinking the video card is going to hell.

Does anybody have any suggestions for a card for watching a lot of big divx movies, creating and editing webpages, photographs, video, etc...

100 bucks or less...preferably less...:beer:

Thanks guys!

Well..if you use Divx Player, and have a Radeon 9800/9700/9600/9500 card it has post-processing, which is nifty. You can get it for $112 w/free 3day shipping, from GameVE.com.

 

[Corporate Thug]

maaaaaaatrox

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: shady06
maaaaaaatrox

Yeah, Shady is right, really. I was just going..a bit overboard I guess.

 

[Auric]

The 7200 can still be had if you were happy with the LE and for less than $50. The 7000/VE is nice should you want to watch movies on TV (dual RAMDAC allows independent displays) yet don't need the T&L for gaming. The 7500 has more oomph than the 7200 but the dualies of the 7000. All use the excellent Rage Theater chip and sport unmatched hardware video acceleration and quality. The Radeon series for the forseeable future are using a unified driver so even an old 7200 is "current". Matrox are okay but cannot compare feature and support-wise -they lack HWA and also have a queer problem with aspect ratio moduls.

 

[rbV5]

I'd give a driver change a shot first myself. I wouldn't think your card would slowly go out, and your card should be near as good as the best for rendering video.

 

[Auric]

Yeah, a possible software issue is a given but I assumed you'd know that. But another thing occured to me... it could be that the movies you are getting lately are more demanding on the CPU which is less than necessary for full resolution and especially with all the post-processing enabled. If you use the DivX decoder be sure to enable all the Quality Settings but fiddle with the Post-Processing to see if that helps (that is after you have eliminated any other potential software problems).