Video Card & Mid-Range Jan 2005 article question

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I plan to build an intel system based on anandtech's latest mid-range guide. The article recommended the XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT AGP 128MB, which is a little too pricey for me considering I'm a non-gamer who occasionally watches divx/xvid and dvd's on my PC.

Could someone please recommend a more affordable yet quality video card that'll go well with the ViewEra 17" LCD (also recommended in the article). I'm basically looking for something that fits well with the overall configuration of the mid-range guide. Thanks.

 

[ts3433]

A Radeon 9200 with DVI would be fine ($40-50), but you may end up spending more on a low-end card than you'd need to since that mobo is PCIe. The cheapest PCIe graphics card I found with DVI on Newegg was about $70 (I think it was a PCX 5300).

 

[StrangerGuy]

The best solution IMO is to get a 915G board with Intel integrated graphics and that will be more than enough for your current needs. There is also a PCI-E slot for a video upgrade if you plan to game later on.

 

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Originally posted by: ts3433
A Radeon 9200 with DVI would be fine ($40-50), but you may end up spending more on a low-end card than you'd need to since that mobo is PCIe. The cheapest PCIe graphics card I found with DVI on Newegg was about $70 (I think it was a PCX 5300).

So it seems that with my basic setup (occasional dvd/divx watching, surfing, etc) any reasonable quality PCIe graphics card with DVI (for the ViewEra 17" LCD) will get the job done nicely?

 

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Originally posted by: StrangerGuy
The best solution IMO is to get a 915G board with Intel integrated graphics and that will be more than enough for your current needs. There is also a PCI-E slot for a video upgrade if you plan to game later on.

I am a cheapskate, but of the few pc config guides I've read they all stressed avoiding the use of the mb's integrated graphics due to the performance hit? Are you sure it's ok to skrimp on buying an actual video card? I'd love to save an additional $50-90, but if it'll result in some system slowdown I'd rather avoid going integrated. Thanks for providing this alternate configuration route though.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Originally posted by: symbol

Originally posted by: ts3433
A Radeon 9200 with DVI would be fine ($40-50), but you may end up spending more on a low-end card than you'd need to since that mobo is PCIe. The cheapest PCIe graphics card I found with DVI on Newegg was about $70 (I think it was a PCX 5300).

So it seems that with my basic setup (occasional dvd/divx watching, surfing, etc) any reasonable quality PCIe graphics card with DVI (for the ViewEra 17" LCD) will get the job done nicely?

The cheapest PCI-E card with DVI in newegg is the Geforce PCX 5300, which is the one ts3433 found earlier. Its $70 though, and the 3D performance is going to be horrible to say the least. If basic 2D is all ever you want this will suffice.

However a much better buy IMO will be the $116 Gigabyte Geforce 6600 128MB which has FAR better 3D performance and it has the Purevideo processor which can improve the playback quality of DVD videos. Its just $46 more than the PCX 5300.

 

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Originally posted by: StrangerGuy
However a much better buy IMO will be the $116 Gigabyte Geforce 6600 128MB which has FAR better 3D performance and it has the Purevideo processor which can improve the playback quality of DVD videos. Its just $46 more than the PCX 5300.

Thanks for the Gigabyte suggestion. That looks to be a good way to go. For my intended PC use it's clear how pointless it would be to shell out $200 for the Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT. I probably wouldn't even recognize a difference.

 

[impemonk]

xfx cards are going for 200 bucks at newegg.com. good deal IMO. Its not cheap, but man is it a lot cheaper than what they had been selling it for a couple of months back: 245 bucks?! coooooowwwmmm onnn. Don't dooo itt Tommy!!

 

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Originally posted by: impemonk
xfx cards are going for 200 bucks at newegg.com. good deal IMO. Its not cheap, but man is it a lot cheaper than what they had been selling it for a couple of months back: 245 bucks?! coooooowwwmmm onnn. Don't dooo itt Tommy!!

Obviously the XFX is very nice, but honestly, would it make much sense to drop an extra $81 over the GigaByte's $118.99 shipped price?

 

[ts3433]

There's no need; you've just gotten a comment from someone who thinks the only things people do with their computers is play games.

Integrated graphics would work fine for your system--you'll lose 32-64 MB of system memory (you set this), but this shouldn't be a big issue. Our Dell uses a total of only about 300MB of RAM (out of 512MB Rambus) when running a DVD, WinXP, and whatever other crap is starting up automatically, and it's perfectly fine. The only thing is that you usually don't get a DVI output, and a VGA signal can't be converted to digital (at least not with the intended DVI quality), so you'd still need a PCX 5300 for that. Of course, if you think you might end up doing some 3D stuff like gaming in the future, a 6200 or 6600 regular would be a better value.

 

[Cygni]

If you are only going to be watching movies and what not, and not doing serious gaming, then there isnt any need for a 6600. Thats way way way overkill. If you must have DVI, you can pick up a 915 and the 5300 from newegg, but i would recommend taking a look at a 865PE + 5200 AGP combo instead. You will save a ton on both the board and the card, and have DirectX 9 support for when Windows Longhorn finally ships. If on the other hand you can handle using your flat pannel on D-sub, i would get the 915G board and call it a day. The built in graphics and sound will be more than capable with a fast enough cpu, and you would be set for Longhorn as the integrated graphics are DirectX 9 level.