Need video card advice...

[zippy]

Hey guys,

I got in on that Planar 19" LCD deal over the weekend and I'm not looking to buy a video card with DVI. I don't game much, so no need for an ATI 9700 or nVidia Ti4600, but I do need some high quality 2D and I would like to be able to watch DVDs as well. So I'm leaning towards a Radeon of some sorts.

I want to spend ~$80 or less. So my choices are:

*Used ATI AIW Radeon 32MB DDR $80
*Sapphire 9000 64MB DDR w/ Hydravision, DVI, TV-out, etc. $75
*Sapphire 7500 64MB DDR w/ Hydravision, DVI, TV-out, etc. $65

What do you all recommend? They all have hardware DVD decoding, very good 2D and DVI...so it's hard to choose. How much better gaming performance will I see with the 9000 over the 7500? It's probably worth the $10 for times I'll game. However, with the AIW, I get a TV tuner. How does the TV tuner perform? On an LCD?

Thanks.

-zippy

 

[Wolfsraider]

i vote the used all in one

its what i use on my main rig and i love it for dvd's its tops for games it gets the job done and the tv is very nice i can surf and watch tv at the same time
sure its old but it is reliable and i am very picky on graphics

overall no complaints here

 

[zippy]

Thanks for the input. Do you use it on an LCD or CRT btw?

 

[Insane3D]

The 7500 or the 9000 will suit your needs perfectly. If you can afford the extra $10, get yourself the 9000.

 

[zippy]

Yeah, the 7500 is effectively not being considered - just wasn't sure how much of a performance difference there was.

Just need to decide between the AIW and 9000. Both suit my needs, one is faster in games, the other has a TV tuner...

What kind of speed differences are there in games? Not that I play much, but still...

 

[Insane3D]

There would be a pretty big difference in games. The 9000 is just a bit slower than the Radeon 8500. The 7500 is a good deal slower than the 9000, but faster than the original Radeon....

 

[Wolfsraider]

sorry mine is on a 21 inch crt

and if i wanted to play all games (upcoming) id get the 9000 but i am a tv/dvd buff and an avid gamer lol

 

[rbV5]

One thing to consider is the fact that the AIW has a single RAMDAC, which means you'll miss-out on Theater Mode (watch DVD via TV-out while working on the desktop, the AIW will only clone the primary display, I'm not sure how Wolfsraider is able to do this with the AIW, as I had to install a PCI card to do it with my AIW? ) The tuner itself is the same Phillips tuner used on every AIW Radeon model except the 8500dv, and is of excellent quality.

If it weren't for theater mode, I would recommend the AIW hands down for your set up, but it is a great feature that I can't live without now myself. The 9000 will be much faster than the AIW (6ns Ram for the AIW) and supports up to 1024X768 vs 800X600 for the AIW (only usefull for gaming actually) the 9000 also supports the ATI DVI(VGA)>component video output dongle(s) and is a dual head card, which if you're considering a DTV.

The AIW is still a worthy card, and even a capable gamer, but loses out in this instance unless you really need VIVO (or Tuner) IMHO.

Update: I see Wolfsraider is probably talking about watching on the desktop, rather than via TV-out..so yea, it works great for that!

 

[Wolfsraider]

yes as rbV5 pointed out the tv out isn't the best lol
i hooked up a game cube and ps2 to watch on the monitor ew
i tried out the dvd mode the same way but wasn't impressed in svid out either

so i too adopted to add a matrox millineum pci card to do both watch dvd's and surf although i rarely use anything but power dvd as that program is the best for me i did like the fact that the ati dvd is much easier to fit in a window lol

hope this clarifies a few thngs
mike

 

[rbV5]

yes as rbV5 pointed out the tv out isn't the best lol

Actually I was refering to the fact that the support for 1024X768 via TV-out with the 7500 and 9000 was really only good for gaming, otherwise the TV-out is about equall between the cards. I actually find the TV-out IQ very good, comparatively speaking a DVD movie looks better via TV-out (S-video) than the same movie via the output of my VCR (composite video) on my 32" Sanyo Cheapie TV (pretty good analog non-flat TV actually). No its not comparable to standalone DVD player (although with improved drivers and using the component output dongle on the 9000, certainly has the potential to really raise the bar on that front if you have the DTV to take advantage of it).

I actually used my PCI card w/ my original AIW so that I could use the TV-out and watch TV, while working on my desktop using my V3 2000 PCI (which has pretty good 2D @ 1600X1200 85Hz btw) My Mitsu monitor has 2 monitor inputs, I would hook the Radeon via BNC and the V3 via VGA, clone the Primary card(Radeon) to the TV, and use the Secondary card (V3 2000) for my desktop. There is a button on my monitor to switch between BNC/VGA, push once...full screen TV at 800X600 60Hz..push again....desktop 1600X1200, TV out still working at 800X600 @60 HZ...poor mans Theater Mode LOL.

My AIW 7500 has 2 RAMDAC, making that setup unnecissary...but it worked pretty cool.

 

[zippy]

Thanks for the replies. I probably won't be using the TV-out - maybe so I can play a DVD for my parents in the den once or twice (my sister's wedding video or something...the VHS quality is crap).

Just deciding between a bit of gaming performance vs. TV tuner. Does the AIW Radeon have a time-shift function like TiVo? Also, how does the TV look on an LCD?