trying to choose a vdo card

[mpancha]

I just blew my last vdo card (nvidia geforce 256 w/ blue orb), I know, not the best card, but at $20 it was a bargain, and I got 2 months use out of it. I'm back to using my 3 yr old Riva TNT card, which suits me for now.. but I want better. yeah, I'm greedy

Anyways, I don't want to shell out too much for a new geforce 2, seeing as how I don't do much 3d gaming. What I do want in my next vdo card is tv out, preferably in the form of a composite vdo cable since my tv doesn't have Svideo. I also want the card to do dvd decoding. if it can do 3d acceleration, that would be nice, but not a must.

I've talked to friends and they have suggested an ATI radeon, or Matrox g450 eTV. I found a few Radeon VE 32 MB cards for under $150, and found a few Matrox cards for roughtly $200 (both are before tax and s&h).

Should I get one of those, or is there another card anyone would recommend. Any help is appreciated. My price cap is $150 for the card alone. Thanks.

 

[ChipNOW]

If you could wait you could go for a Guillemot 3D Prophet 4500, which uses the STMicro KryoII chipset. I don't believe you'd get TV-out though. This said, the thing'll beat a GFII Pro for $150.

 

[junthin]

You can get a V3 3500TV and a DVD decoder card and that'll be cheaper than either option. If you want a card now, go for the Matrox since you don't do 3D gaming and that has good 2D.

 

[mpancha]

for anyone interested, I'm going with the ATI Radeon VE AGP 32MB. Dual monitor support, and s-vdo and composite out. I found it for $100. And I'm getting myself a Sony 12x DVD ROM that I found for $100 as well.

 

[cmaMath13]

I would recommend a name brand GeForceMX. I think this video card is a perfect match for you. Some of them have TV-Out and/or Dual monitor hook-ups. All for about $100.

 

[DARRIN]

check www.newegg.com video card prices.