need advice on video card purchase

[completelyhis]

I have a 2.4 ghz dual/quad core machine w/3bg ram. it currently only has the onboard video. I want to add a video card. it takes PCIe x16. I'd like to have a dvi connector, and I'm looking to spend $50-$100 bucks. I guess I could spend more if I was convinced, but i have seen TONS of cards that match my description on ebay for that range...I just don't know which is the good one and all that. I'm wanting to use this machine for running Media Center, music, tuning hdtv over the air, dvds (eventually add a blu ray drive).

any thoughts?

 

[completelyhis]

I have a 2.4 ghz dual/quad core machine w/3bg ram. it currently only has the onboard video. I want to add a video card. it takes PCIe x16. I'd like to have a dvi connector, and I'm looking to spend $50-$100 bucks. I guess I could spend more if I was convinced, but i have seen TONS of cards that match my description on ebay for that range...I just don't know which is the good one and all that. I'm wanting to use this machine for running Media Center, music, tuning hdtv over the air, dvds (eventually add a blu ray drive).

any thoughts?

I'm thinking this card:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Sapphire-ATI-Radeo...1QQcmdZViewItem

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2

Thoughts?

Ian

 

[CollinR]

This is what I have an I am very happy with it thus far.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127301

Add in the $20 for purevideo and you are still well inside your budget.

If your sound card or mainboard has an SPDIF output you can patch it to the HDMI port to get everything over the one cable and it is HDCP too.

 

[completelyhis]

i looked at that, but I was thinking that for about the same $ the other one had twice the ram. what is purevideo? also, is a pci-express 2.0 card backwards compatible with good ole' pci express?

 

[completelyhis]

google tells me pcie2 is good with pcie, which i assumed would be the case, because agp 4x and 8x and etc x and all.

 

[CollinR]

a.) That is on eBay...
b.) That is an ATI card. (I hate ATI, that is ATI before AMD took over.)
c.) I don't think that ones HDCP so it won't play newer copy protection schemes like Blu Ray uses, not that this can't be bypassed.

 

[completelyhis]

wow, you're right the one i was looking at isn't hdcp. I found some local retailers that sell the 512mb 8500 for about the same price (after adjusting for shipping). it doesn't have the onboard hdmi, though. If I put a dvi -> hdmi adapter on a dvi connector am I still going to get 1080p to my display?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...0#productdetail

Ian

 

[CollinR]

You will loose audio if you do.

If you don't game then you won't have any issues with 256MB.

If you do game then thats totally the wrong card and you need to evalutae which games and how much they need. Some games barely play on the top end 8800s in SLI so I quit even tring to think about it (Crysis, Flight Sim X).

The 8500 and 8600 are for media center/HTPC/multimedia use the 8800 is for gaming and actually lacks some multimedia features of the 85/8600 IIRC.

 

[completelyhis]

I want this pc to be an htpc, hapc (automation), and a gaming pc (for in my theater) so, after MUCH thinking and research, I went with the 9600. bit more than I wanted to spend, but my wife is out of town...when I was in the store, i looked around, and said, "honey, if you don't want me to buy this, say so now.....no, ok, thank you baby!!"