Need some advice..

[Avron]

I have decided my current gfx card is insufficient for my needs and I am looking to find a card that is. However I work and I don't have the time to read about a gazillion of reviews on different cards, chipsets and whatnot so I was thinking I'll say what I want from the card and maybe some of you can tell me what I should get? =)

My current system is an Athlon 1ghz, MSI K7T Pro 2, 512mb RAM and a G400 MAX. I am not interrested in upgrading the CPU at this time.

First of all I need a card that can handle gaming, let's say RTCW with all graphics settings turned to max in 1024x768 with decent framerate(>40).

Second the card needs a good TV-out since I watch a lot of movies on my TV through my computer. From what I understand, Matrox is the only card with two RAMDACs so viewing on both monitor and TV-out won't be possible. Another option would be if there is a stable solution with a pure gaming card and a PCI TV-out card somehow? Or if there is any add-on card for the gaming card for an extra RAMDAC with TV-out? Well whatever options you have I'm listening.

I'd rather not spend more than $350 for this upgrade.

Please help. =)

[Bohrn]

For now, ATI Radeon 8500. Just make sure you have the proper VIA drivers and such for your system, and grab the 9008 drivers (or later, but I find the 9008's the best)

If money is an issue, get the OEM version, but make sure it is an ATI card not some cheap chinese rip-off. Make sure it is clocked at 250/250 as well, some are 230/230. If you can afford it get a Retail boxed one,as they are at 275/275 and you know that it is an ATI made card.

IMHO the NVidia TV out and image quality are not too good. And only the best Ti500 cards are as fast as the 8500.

The Kyro 2 cards are pretty good, but not really THAT much faster to justify an upgrade. I don't know if they do TV out??

ATI Radeon 7500 and G4ce3Ti200 cards are fast enought, but I dunno about TV out on either(All in Wonder 7500 maybe?)

But again, ATI Radeon 8500. It IS good. I have had no real problems, and the 3D is gorgeous!! At extremely high res, the 2d is slightly off the G400, but only a small amount. And at 1024x768 it is totally fine. With anisotropic filtering set to 64, and everything cranked up, modern games look drop dead gorgeous!! Mech4 is like a new game.

Yes there are some issues with drivers, but I have found the 9008's to be great. And new ones are in the pipeline. XP and 2K have them now, and the other 9x will be soon. I personally have no problems with these drivers or the card. But I run an intel processor and chipset.

Best of luck.

[PowerHungry]

I've been thinking about upgrading my G400Max since I read this post 15 minutes ago. I can only spend 200, and I am looking for something to replace the Max and my WinTV Theater to do vid caps. Anyone have experience with the AIW 7500? If not that, then I will go for the 64 MB 7500 board. All retail. Any thoughts?

[Wombat]

I just got a Gainward Ti200, "golden sample". $162 after shipping at newegg.

Had to fiddle with the monitor brightness and stuff, but the 2D is pretty damn good. At 1280x960, I can notice a little blurriness with black text on white if I look for it. Notice it, but not bothersome. I can notice the difference if I consciously look for it, but I haven't had any moments that make me say "wow, I want to swap my MAX back in." And I haven't done the cap trick yet.

Speed? Amazing. Must Ti200's come clocked at 175/400 ( I believe that the Ti500 is 250/500). This card comes out of the box at 200/450. The included OC tools let me take it up to 250/550, and it's not showing any problems running at that speed the past day or two.

The Gainward and the Visiontek card have the Conexant TV out chip, so they can output 1024x768, but I think it's monitor OR TV-out. But I don't own a TV, so.

Drivers were no-hassle. Matrox still has better drivers (slow, but accurate), but installation was easy, and nothing broke in the process.

I would choose it over an ATi 7500 any day. I wasn't about to lay out the money for an 8500, so I didn't think about it.

[Tom]

Re: Need some advice..

Originally posted by Avron
First of all I need a card that can handle gaming, let's say RTCW with all graphics settings turned to max in 1024x768 with decent framerate(>40).
Second the card needs a good TV-out since I watch a lot of movies on my TV through my computer.

Only 1024x768?
My Radeon8500 plays RtCW perfectly @1600x1200x32
with everything cranked up. (WinXP Home + ATi v.6025 drivers)
Also, the T.V. out is fine....EXCELLENT DVD playback.

So far, it's been an EXCELLENT card for gaimg.....
I will say that, surprise-surprise, my MatroxG400 MAX
does have clearer high-res 2D than the Radeon8500.
However, gaming is night and day.

p.s. The G400MAX only has one REAL ramdac (360MHz)...the 2nd one is a "virtual" dac rated at 135 MHz.

[Gurm]

Hey, if all you want is RTCW at 40fps+, my GF2mx400 will do that handily, and is currently available for around $75 online.

Then you can save the rest of your pennies for... *ahem* something else.

- Gurm

[Avron]

So how much is the Radeon 8500 OEM? $300?

[PowerHungry]

I found an Radeon 8500DV Retail for $320!

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?sid=ccmpcv83je8s2v1&id=373

The same site has a Radeon 8500 for $229.

[PeTe]

Hmm.. not sure but the Hercules 8500LE SHOULD be a STEAL. Thats the normal 250/250 LE like ATI has.. no 230/230 crap here.

Found it @ 199€ here in FINLAND. thats something like 180$.. they dont have it in stock yet, but should get it in couple weeks.

PeTe

Ps. The only thing that im not sure about is that can you use ATI's drivers with it..( pretty sure that you can hack them, but dont know if they run if you just install them)

Edit:douh forgot that you wanted a AIW, well hercules is making those too, but not sure about the price.

[Wombat]

Sound's like you've been lured in. "We don't have it, but it will be here soon." Don't pay money now for something they don't have in stock yet. There's no reason to be locked into a price right now, even if they do get stock eventually.

[PeTe]

I have a Radeon 8500LE allready so i coudnt care less about the offer. But it sure sounds like a great deal, Radeon 8500 rocks. Running mine on 285/295.

PeTe

[Avron]

Sounds like it's a Radeon 8500 I want.. But doesn't the standard 8500 come with TV-out? What exactly is the AIW package?

[PeTe]

Sure, 8500's have TV-out, but AIW allso has Video-IN + TV-tuner

Some AIW specs...
Powered by the RADEON™ 8500 GPU
64MB DDR memory
Connect a digital camcorder to a PC
Digital and analog video capture and editing
Wireless radio-frequency remote control
Stereo TV-tuner
TV-ON-DEMAND™ Time shifting
Integrated Interactive Program Guide
DVD video playback with Dolby® AC-3 digital audio output

Just check http://www.ati.com/na/pages/products...500/index.html

PeTe

[Novdid]

I guess a Radeon 8500 is what you want, it has two RAMDACs and can output two independent monitors, but it's not as complete as Matrox's Dualhead though.

The 3D, well that's a different story.

[Nuno]

I do agree a R8500 LE is maybe your best choice now performance wise (GF3 Ti200 would be best if you didn´t need 2 RAMDAC´s), but...

The Kyro 2 cards are pretty good, but not really THAT much faster to justify an upgrade. I don't know if they do TV out??

Sorry, but a KyroII is 2x-4x faster than a G400Max on a 1 Ghz CPU. I am yet to see a game that doesn´t work properly and smooth on the KyroII at 1024x768x32. BTW, RTCW surely does more than 40 fps average with all maxed out at 1024x768.

Even now I don´t have any problem recomending a KyroII to anyone but hardcore gamers (and of course 3dfart 2001 junkies ) as a cheap upgrade. You can get an OEM *Hercules* prophet 4500 TV-out for $ 68.