Video Card Recommendation

[Charlie S.]

I have an AMD 2800 Sempron processor with a digital flat panel 19" monitor.
Looking to add a video card. Don't play computer games and don't have any
immediate needs for video editing graphics. Most likely will be watching
some DVD video clips and basic media player type stuff.

Should I be looking to buy a video card with one analog and one digital
port? Or, a card with one or two digital ports. I tried using a card with
separate type ports before. Didn't have any success. Ended up using either
one or the other. Seems the computer software disables one when you use the
other.

Radeon seems to be one of the leaders in this field. Anyone recommend a
good Radeon card for my needs?

I don't know much about this market. Seems there should be millions of
these cards on EBay. Good place to go, or is the risk too great in this
type of product?

 

[Todd]

If you don't play any games and you don't do anything in the video realm, then there is
only one more consideration. Do you plan to use your current machine to run Windows Vista
when it comes out in 2006? If so, it would be wise to get something with a lot of ram, 256
megs or so, so that you can crank up all of Vista's graphics bells and whistles.

If this is your plan, then get something in the order of the X800 series, as they have
lots of processing power but are coming down in price since the new X1000 series debuted
last month.

If you have no plans for Vista, then you have no reason to get a seperate video card. I
assume that your PC already has a video processor built into the motherboard. If such is
the case just save your money for something more usefull

 

[Batman or Superman]

If you don't play any games and you don't do anything in the video realm, then there is
only one more consideration. Do you plan to use your current machine to run Windows Vista
when it comes out in 2006? If so, it would be wise to get something with a lot of ram, 256
megs or so, so that you can crank up all of Vista's graphics bells and whistles.

If this is your plan, then get something in the order of the X800 series, as they have
lots of processing power but are coming down in price since the new X1000 series debuted
last month.

If you have no plans for Vista, then you have no reason to get a seperate video card. I
assume that your PC already has a video processor built into the motherboard. If such is
the case just save your money for something more usefull

Baaaaah! Look around for an X300 or X600. Since you aren't playing
games, you don't need a higher end card like an X800. The new X1300
might fit the bill as well.


Am I Batman or Superman? I'm so confused.

 

[SL]

Ditto with Batman...

I have several pc's with ati cards. A 9500 pro, 9800 pro, and an X800 XL.
All of them put great video output to my 20 in. monitor and my 52 inch HDTV.
As a matter of fact, they all look identical when viewing stuff in HD on the
hdtv. The biggest trick is trying to get your version of OS (mines XP Pro)
and Catalyst etc to do things in a nice manner. I have found it takes some
experimentation to get it just the way you want.

 

[Todd]

Hello Batman and SL,

"Baaaaah!" is such an indiscriminate criticism. I fear it does not serve you two well
in this instance

I would still suggest a nice X800 series card over an X1300 or X300, etc. Why? Because
there are so many bargains in that line right now. You can get an X800GT for a very
agreeable price, around $140 or so. An X1300 would also be at least that much, I would
think, thus negating any reason to buy it as the reviews I've read state it does not
perform very well at all. And while X300s and X600s are also available for $100 or less
now, why not spend a little bit more and get a really significant leap in performance?

The only thing to be carefull of is to get 256 megs of RAM, as that is what M$
dictates for top performance in Vista, and probably an AGP interface, as that is probably
what his motherboard needs.

 

[Todd]

Hello Batman and SL,

"Baaaaah!" is such an indiscriminate criticism. I fear it does not serve you two well
in this instance

I would still suggest a nice X800 series card over an X1300 or X300, etc. Why? Because
there are so many bargains in that line right now. You can get an X800GT for a very
agreeable price, around $140 or so. An X1300 would also be at least that much, I would
think, thus negating any reason to buy it as the reviews I've read state it does not
perform very well at all. And while X300s and X600s are also available for $100 or less
now, why not spend a little bit more and get a really significant leap in performance?

The only thing to be carefull of is to get 256 megs of RAM, as that is what M$
dictates for top performance in Vista, and probably an AGP interface, as that is probably
what his motherboard needs.

 

[Batman or Superman]

Hello Batman and SL,

"Baaaaah!" is such an indiscriminate criticism. I fear it does not serve you two well
in this instance

I would still suggest a nice X800 series card over an X1300 or X300, etc. Why? Because
there are so many bargains in that line right now. You can get an X800GT for a very
agreeable price, around $140 or so. An X1300 would also be at least that much, I would
think, thus negating any reason to buy it as the reviews I've read state it does not
perform very well at all. And while X300s and X600s are also available for $100 or less
now, why not spend a little bit more and get a really significant leap in performance?

The only thing to be carefull of is to get 256 megs of RAM, as that is what M$
dictates for top performance in Vista, and probably an AGP interface, as that is probably
what his motherboard needs.

If you followed the OP, he doesn't play games or edit video thus
negating the need for a mid to higher end graphics card. His videos
would look no different on an X300 than on an X800, fact. They both use
relatively the same DSP chip. So he can pay 50-60 bucks for an X300 or
150+ for an X800.


Am I Batman or Superman? I'm so confused.

 

[Todd]

Do they make an X300 with 256 megs of RAM?