Which is better? Looking for Good 3d/2d/TV <$99

[RushWilliams]

I currently have a NVidia TNT2 32mb card, and have recently been toying with the idea of getting a TV out card that I can play DVDs and movie over to my TV. I'm tired of watching Band of Brother .avi files over my 17" monitor and wonder what it'd look like on my 32" TV. I also play some 3d games (Return to Wolfenstein, Red Faction, Serious Sam, etc), so I want good 3d performance and 64MB ram. My budget (and wife) has limited me to something below $99, so after searching and WATCHing PRICEs, I'm looking at these options:

64MB DDR Cards
ATI RADEON 7500 $71
GeForce2 TI $74
GeForce2 Pro $85
GeForce2 GTS $91
GeForce4 MX 440 $87
GeForce4 MX 420 $83

Non-DDR
GeForce2 MX 400 64MB SDRAM $50
RADEON 7500 128MB SDRAM $90
SIS315 128MB SDRAM $51


Can someone tell me which is the better/best card? If it's close, I'll opt for the cheaper card. Like I said, I'm looking mainly at TV out function, but want good 3d. I'm not a power gamer by any means, so as long as the card performs better than my 32mb TNT2 card, I'll take it.

 

[rbV5]

Well, I've got an AIW 7500 and the Video-out quality is excellent(supports up to 1024X768) theater mode is great for watching video and gaming performance is great, its clocked slower than a regular radeon 7500 so I'd assume they would be even faster. I'd look for a Retail ATI model.

 

[mrzed]

What he said. You will be taking such a huge jump in 3d performance from your tnt2 that it would not be an issue at all. ATI tv out is the best, and it has hardware DVD decoding.

Just make sure you know exactly what you are getting. Now that ATI cards are made by 3rd party vendors, the specs vary. I have yet to see a 7500 without TV out, but it pays to check just to be sure.

 

[AA0]

For your needs, get the ATI 7500 64 meg card. Good price, speed, and excellent 2d and tv out.

 

[RushWilliams]

I just saw a ATI RADEON 64MB DDR "VIVO" card on NewEgg for $79 shipped. How's this card differ from the Radeon 7500 w/TV out? I apparently has video capture capabilities, but does it offer the same TV out & 3d performance?

 

[rbV5]

<< I just saw a ATI RADEON 64MB DDR "VIVO" card on NewEgg for $79 shipped. How's this card differ from the Radeon 7500 w/TV out? >>



The 64DDR VIVO is a capable card, I've got a retired 64DDR VIVO SE sitting in my drawer right now. It only supports the lower quality composite video input (still good, but not as good as the S-video input of the AIW cards)the regular 7500 has no video input. Has no tuner (I used my VCR's tuner hooked to composite video-in, works great), this won't work with the regular 7500. The OEM VIVO probably has 5.5 or 6ns memory vs the 5ns memory on the AIW 7500 and the Retail SE model and the 4ns or better memory on the regular 7500, so it wont overclock as high. The 7500 features the new 128 bit memory controller, so while the 64DDR VIVO and 7500 share the same GPU, the 7500 will walk all over it in gaming performance. The 7500 also supports 1024 X 768 resolution on TV-out vs 800 X 600 max with the VIVO.

If you need video capture, the 64DDR is the better choice over the regular 7500, but not nearly as good as the AIW 7500.
Gaming performance goes to any flavor of 7500 over the 64DDR VIVO.

 

[Lithium381]

it's not in your list, but i'd like to say that the ATi Rage Fury Pro works great, it's only a 32mb card, but it's under 99, and it does all the 3d i want has tv out and in, works great