Question about dvd

[Beef Stew]

I just got my first matrox card....I was a die hard voodoo 3 user and as you can all guess I'm happy as hell with this card, I didn't realize how ugly the grafics are on the voodoo untill I put this puppy in..well anyway, my question is if the matrox g-400 will do hardware dvd decoding? I'm planning on buying a player and I'm not sure if I should get a decoder card for it. I've seen alot of people on forums saying they drop frames running it on software...also, I don't have the cd that comes with the matrox (I bought the card from a friend and he can't find it anywhere)I heard there's dvd software on there (so I can maybe buy an OEM player with no prob.)..can I download the software that comes with the card I can't find it on the matrox site...thanks for reading this any help/orientation is apreciated..by the way my system is a
PII 400@450 on an asus P2B, 128 ram, SB Live, G-400, CD-RW Hp 9100i, Maxtor 20 gig on an ATA-66 controller card

[CrazyBee]

No, it doe snot do hardware decoding as with something like the Dxr3 or Hollywood+ cards.

Basically, most video cards have hardware features that are used by teh DVd software, such as scaling, etc. And, of course, there is always the marketing spin they put on it.

It is very EASY to assume by what matrox says that it does full-on hardware decoding, but, in reality, the card has some hardware features that definately help in CPU usage and picture quality.

I have a Celeron 366 at 566 with 256MB RAM and I have never had a problem with dropping frames. I mean, you can't watch a DVD and run another program and expect nothing to happen. In that instance, yes, you will drop frames.

My computer is my computer and entertainment center at the same time. When I watch a movie I do just that. So, its neve rbeen a problem for me.

[Beef Stew]

so with my system configuration do you think I should get a decoder card or try running it on software??

[CrazyBee]

It depends.. if you plan on using your computer for other things while watching a movie I would suggest a decoder card, like the Hollywood+ from Sigma designs.

If you plan on watching a movie and not doing anything else at all I would try with software decoding first. Since, the G400 comes with DVD decoder software and you won't have to buy anything additional.

Do you have a current home theatre setup? Like, a Dolby Digital or DTS reciever or anything?