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| Thread ID: 78490 | 2007-04-17 14:58:00 | Buying a cheap low-profile graphics card with TV-Out for MediaPC | Chilling_Silence (9) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 541821 | 2007-04-17 14:58:00 | So, The story begins with my Xbox dying. My family use it to stream all kinds of media / pics etc from my Desktop PC (Where the 4x HDDs live, in my room, under lock & key) to the TV (Where the Family lives!). Naturally they were pretty bummed and the kids found it 'different' having to go outside and play on the trampoline or whatever. Anyways, that was all fine and dandy for the last few months, but I want to play a few things on the TV for friends (See previous threads on Slideshows), not to mention the Xbox was the main DVD player for them. I saw a GraysOnline auction at the end of last week and picked up (At a really good price) some description of an IBM NetVista, P4 2.4, 40GB HDD, 256MB Ram... should be plenty to decode the h.264 family videos Ive been encoding (Taking aaages) as well as a few other bits and pieces. I was thinking I was so clever, had recently bought a PCI Graphics card with TV-Out & mobo / cpu combo from a workmate right before he left for Aus. Problem was, the Mobo seems to be dead. So I thought I'd throw that graphics card into this new NetVista box I'd got... ..the plot thickens: Its a small-form-factor box, and only takes low-profile graphics cards :( Now Ive seen a few on TradeMe but the problem is the low-profile plate for the graphics cards appears to be usually optional (That, or the card doesnt have TV-Out). So my problem: I want to buy a cheap low-profile graphics card, doesnt have to be anything fancy at all, just has to do TV-Out. Preferrably nVidia, but I'm on a budget here having spent the $$ on the PC and little left in this fortnights pay packet. Ideally I dont want to have to cut / chop the plate to make it fit, I want it to sit properly & securely in the slot. Dont care if its PCI or AGP, just has to have TV-Out and be low-profile. Pricespy was little help, cheapest being around $105 from Christchurch Incl GST. Im in Auckland so adding postage on top of that.. yeah :-/ Any thoughts / comments / links to sellers / info if you're selling one yourself would be great Cheers Chill. |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 541822 | 2007-04-17 20:06:00 | Something like this (www.playtech.co.nz) should do the job. They don't come with the low profile bracket but I'm sure Playtech would have them as well. |
CYaBro (73) | ||
| 541823 | 2007-04-17 21:57:00 | My personal best bet would be an ATI 9550SE. Heaps of low profile types, usually have Svideo out, the VGA plug has to be removed in low profile mode, but ATI (unlike Nvidia) usually have DVI-I rather than DVI-D so you can happily use a DVI->VGA adaptor plug. It's never going to play games well, but supports DXVA and VMR9 rendering. Has DirectX 9c support. Resist the urge to get a low profile 5200 or 6200 as I'm yet to see one that comes out of S3 suspend without problems. If you are happy to wait for the box to boot, or are never going to shut it down they would be fine of course. |
BIFF (1) | ||
| 541824 | 2007-04-17 23:54:00 | Box will never be shut-down, and it wont be gaming, just playing Videos... :) Have contacted Playtech to see if they have a plate they can chuck in (or I pay for) Thanks! Any other suggestions? |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 541825 | 2007-04-18 00:01:00 | easy- get a mac. they arent designed to be turnt off | mabix (10146) | ||
| 541826 | 2007-04-18 00:12:00 | I agree with BIFF, 9550 all the way I've got one in my media box and it works a charm. | Pete O'Neil (6584) | ||
| 541827 | 2007-04-18 01:01:00 | I got a PCI GeForce MX4000, (XFX) for my Media box and that came with both normal and small profile brackets, does the just perfectly fine too :thumbs: Mabix, he already has the PC, so why not get a GFX card for it instead of buying a Mac? that is the logical thing to do... |
The_End_Of_Reality (334) | ||
| 541828 | 2007-04-18 07:45:00 | Mabix, Honestly, what does a Mac have to do with the price of fish mate? Seriously not helpful in any way, shape, or form... Are you deliberately trying to be a pain towards me? Anyways, I rang PBTech today and spoke with Kelvin (Kevin?), and on the recommendation of Pete & BIFF, he's got a 9550 ready & waiting for me for $80 :) Will pick it up tomorrow Thanks guys! |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 541829 | 2007-04-18 11:27:00 | who turns their pc off? | SolMiester (139) | ||
| 541830 | 2007-04-18 11:32:00 | who turns their pc off? I do, what use is it for me to keep the computer on when I'm at Uni or not at home? |
beeswax34 (63) | ||
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