Video Card/TV Tuner Suggestions Needed!

[Vlad16]

I plan on ordering a new video card next week and I'm trying to decide on the best combination to go with. I'm upgrading from an ATI 9000 64MB card, so I guess almost anything would be a good upgrade from that.

I'm trying to decide between an ATI AIW 9700 Pro or the AIW 9600XT. I know that the 9700 Pro is a faster card, but does anyone know if it has the same capture features as the 9600XT? I know that the 9600XT has the Remote Wonder II and a FM tuner which really does not make much of a difference to me if the 9700 has the same capturing capabilties as the 9600XT

Are there any other VC/TV Tuner that might be a better alternative? The reason I'm leaning towards the AIW cards is because of the GemStar TV programming feature they have (somewhat like TIVO). I'm a light gamer and would to keep the combo under $200.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Vlad

 

[rbV5]

The capture capabilities are ~ same.

A better alternative for PVR w/EPG would be a hardware solution like a Hauppage PVR series, ATI eHome Wonder, or one of the new ATI theater 550 cards. The problem is that they all require additonal software like SageTV, BTV or MCE 2005 to work well as a PVR, which puts your budget in serious danger if you are also looking at an additional graphics card.

The AIW 9700pro is great all around, and much more flexable, but somewhat weaker as a PVR, Gemstar+ is OK, but comparatively weak compared to the excellent EPG's in the softwares I named above (I ave no experience with BTV however)