TV-Out videocards...

[romeus]

Hello everybody,

I'm looking to build a computer that will sit under my TV for entertainment purposes i.e. playing DVD's, other movie formats, and emulator/3d games. I have an extra Aopen AK33 motherboard, 256MB PC133 SDRAM and a SB Live! Value for this project. I'm going to buy an Athlon 1700+ CPU and a new video card. I will be running Windows XP Pro. I've narrowed down my choices to 3 cards:

ASUS Geforce4 TI4200 128MB - 250$ CAD (saving 0$)
ASUS Geforce4 TI4200 64MB - 210$ CAD (saving 40$ CAD)
Sapphire ATI Radeon 8500LE 128MB - 160$ CAD (saving 90$ CAD)

The performance on all these cards is great from what I've read.

I'm leaning towards the 8500LE because of the $ savings, but I've heard from many different sources that ATI's drivers aren't that stable nor exteremly compatible.

Another issue here is 64MB vs. 128MB which I'm still debating... if I'm thinking in the long-run, I guess I should go for 128MB.

I'm looking for stability, compatibility and image/TV-out quality. Also, hopefully a card that will last a little while in the long term... Any input is appreciated.

Thanx in advance.

Romeus

 

[AnAndAustin]

Well ATI drivers are now and have been for some time as good as nVidia so I wouldn't let that be an issue.

To look at GF4TI4200-64MB vs 4200-128MB. 4200-64 use faster clocks and faster RAM, so def=250/500 o/c=300/600. 4200-128 use 250/444 o/c=300/550. For reference 4400=275/550 4600=300/650. However having 128MB does yield a boost meaning at defs the 4200-128 is only 2% slower than the 4200-64 despite the 13% clock advantage. So 4200-64 @ 300/600 isn't going to be much faster than 4200-128 @ 300/550 and that's before the big perf hit which will come when games really need more than 64MB. Since 64MB is going to become limiting, can already hurt perf in a few current games and doesn't save a whole lot of money added to which a 128MB card will sell on much better - it makes sense to go 128MB certainly in any new card you buy. As for Radeon8500 64MB vs 128MB def go 128MB as the Rad8500 really gets a nice boost from it in all games, hence 8500LE-128 is def wiser than Rad8500-64. The Rad9000 cards however don't seem to gain anything from having 128MB over 64MB so it is solely down to 'future-proofing' there.

As to 4200 vs Rad8500. Both have excellent image quality, dual RAMDACs for dual display, DX8 hw and great 3D perf. The Rad8500 has hw DVD playback and higher quality TVout while the 4200 offers superior AA & 3D perf esp on the faster CPUs plus it o/c's really well with TI4400 speeds usually easily achieved. There's no doubt that unless TVout and hw DVD playback are hugely important that the 4200 is the better card, however the Rad8500 is very well priced in the US & Canada. Both are very fine choices. However do bear in mind that Rads unlike 4200 tend to vary quite considerably with manu. If you buy do check it has dual RAMDACs and the correct clock speeds as these often vary not only by manu but also oem/bulk vs retail versions too. For the 4200 cards manu makes almost no diff at all, features, image quality, clocks, o/c'ability etc are all very standard but do watch out for the odd manu which only give 1 output as you can't then use dual display and also AOpen, EVGA and standard Gainward 4200's are known to use cheap crappy RAM on some of their cards too.

Just to touch on Rad9000 for a sec. Rad9000 is about 20% slower than Rad9000PRO which is about 15% slower than Rad8500LE which in turn is about 10% slower than Rad8500 (GF3TI500 type speed). So Rad9000PRO is slower but the advanatges are that there is a lot less variance by manu and it also improves image quality and hw MPEG playback a little. Really Rad8500 (inc LE) are the ones to go for while they are still being sold.

All that said I'm very sure that the manus you state, Asus for 4200 and Sapphire for 8500 are great manus and neither skimp anywhere. So drivers, stability, compatability, image quality are all VERY close. As for TVout the Rad is clearly better while in 3D the 4200 is definitely the card to go for although the 8500 is hardly a slouch. Both are very fine choices, if you don't need AA or every possible FPS out of your AthlonXP the 8500 is prob the best choice, if gaming is a higher priority 4200 is worth the extra, to be honest both are very fine choices and neither way will you lose.

 

[Anubis]

id say go with the GF4 TI4600 128meg version or 64 meg version if teh bothe output at teh same size

My TI4600 TV outs at 1024x768 which is sweet. my old Readon 64meg DDR VIVO. only did 800x600.

the larger output size is well worth the extra $$$. unless of corse the 8500 LE does this also

 

[rbV5]

unless of corse the 8500 LE does this also

Radeon 8500 supports 1024 X 768 via TV-out.

 

[sechs]

The 8500LE is clearly the best choice here. It will provide you with the power that you need and can be easily overclocked, for effect.

 

[Dunjon]

I would recomend the ATI card by a very far margin for any kind of tv-out purposes. There is not a better combination of 3d and video output out there. The thing with the Geforce card is that the tv out capability differ between cards and manufactuers so just go for a sure thing right off the bat.

 

[romeus]

I'd like to thank you all for your input. I'm going to go for the ATI Radeon 8500LE 128MB now that I've considered your responses. It seems to be the all around better deal in this particular scenario.

Romeus

 

[AnAndAustin]

Yes I'd agree Rad8500LE-128MB is prob the best choice for you.

NVidia have standardised the TVout/VIVO implimentation on all GF4 cards meaning you no longer need the manu's drivers to use them and also there is VERY little variance with manu although some cards are still limited to 800x600 in TVout most aren't. Add to this the fact that you can now simultaneously display the TVout signal and the monitor signal and at diff refresh rates and these are some of the areas nVidia has successfully tackled with the GF4 cards. Of course nVidia should tweak their drivers (something which would be easy to do) to add TV-Tool like functionality, but even then they wouldn't be as good as the Radeon's TVout. Even so it is important to stipulate the enhancements the GF4 cards offer over the GF2/GF3 rather than presuming what was true for the GF2/3 is also true for the GF4. Image quality, dual RAMDACs for dual display, hw DVD playback on the GF4MX and slightly enhacned AA on the GF4TI are other areas which the GF4 cards improve over the GF2/3.