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| Thread ID: 64049 | 2005-12-01 06:46:00 | AGP Video Card - which one to buy? | dwnz (5333) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 409208 | 2005-12-01 23:09:00 | Hi, I need to get an AGP card, with TV out, and at least 64mb memory, that can work in a 4x port, but also 8x so i can upgrade mobo when money allows it. What would you recommend? I would like something from nVidia, but will go with ATI if needed. I also dont want to spend more than $200. Thanks Daniel If you are building a MS media center make sure the card is dx9c compliant, as media center will require support for vmr9 and dxva to play it's videos. I would suggest an ati 9550SE card, it won't do high def well, but it will do everything else you want.. The nvidia 6200 card is very good but I struck a lemon which wouldn't allow my machine to suspend and resume so I have gone off them because of that. |
BIFF (1) | ||
| 409209 | 2005-12-01 23:19:00 | Ok. Turns out the machine i was going to use isnt powerful enough anyway, so im looking to build a whol new machine. Would MCE run well on a Sempron CPU? or should i get a P4? Daniel |
dwnz (5333) | ||
| 409210 | 2005-12-02 00:20:00 | Ok. Turns out the machine i was going to use isnt powerful enough anyway, so im looking to build a whol new machine. Would MCE run well on a Sempron CPU? or should i get a P4? Daniel You would be surprised at what you can get away with, as the TV timeshifting is done in hardware on the capture card you can probably get by with a 1GHz P3 with decent RAM and a very snappy harddrive. My first Media Center 2005 box was a P3 1GHz with 512MB RAM, 200GB 7200RPM 8MB cache harddrive, and ati 9250 graphics card. It did everything except ripping a CD and watching live TV at the same time. This is because ripping a CD takes 100% CPU and live TV requires about 30% CPU on a machine like that. If building a machine I would suggest begining with an existing name brand PC because they will have solved most of the noise and thermal and stability problems already for you (eg imagine waiting for soltek to fix a problem with their motherboard; -IBM, Dell, and HP will have one out the door in about 10 minutes) I'm not suggesting buying a Dell media center, I mean start with a business desktop like an Optiplex. A low profile computer will look better but it will limit you to a low profile graphics adaptor, and possibly a low profile tuner too. Watch out for Small Form Factor ones though as you wont be able to add *anything* to those! I would suggest you investigate what you are going to be doing with it before beginning. Eg will you want a graphics card with component output for a 720 or 1080i display. Will you want optical spdif passthrough for dolby dts audio to your reciever? Check out http://www.thegreenbutton.com for tips on roll your own MS media centres. Check someone is sucessfully using a piece of hardware before purchasing it, my envy24 sound card was a dud as I had unsolvable lip sync problems with it. My personal recipe for a good media center is ATI graphics, Intel chipset, analog devices sound, seagate harddrive, hauppauge tuners, nvidia mpeg decoder. An AMD will probably spank a P4 performance wise but then you have to use nforce or <spit> via for the motherboard chipset. Stability wise people will say they are great, but the way a media center works requires months of suspending and resuming which will bring out even the most obscure fault in a system. The WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) will drop if it takes a minute to boot up, or requires regular rebooting. It has to be up in 3 seconds, and asleep in 2 seconds to replace a telly. :) Ascent are now selling OEM media center stuff, the other source I have used is Computerlounge. |
BIFF (1) | ||
| 409211 | 2005-12-02 00:25:00 | I was thinking of using a 733mhz P3 just to see how much i liked it, and if i did i would upgrade. All i want it for is recording TV really....and watching live of course....Do you think it would be ok for that? Daniel |
dwnz (5333) | ||
| 409212 | 2005-12-02 00:35:00 | Well all u need is a tuner. They usually come with a program, and a remote. You DON'T need some fancy system. You dont need Windows Media Centre. XP will do. Just as long as its fast enough, and u have enough ram. And if u want to burn whatever get a dvd writer. |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 409213 | 2005-12-02 00:57:00 | I know i dont need to use MCE, but i want to. | dwnz (5333) | ||
| 409214 | 2005-12-02 02:26:00 | Well all u need is a tuner . They usually come with a program, and a remote . You DON'T need some fancy system . You dont need Windows Media Centre . XP will do . Just as long as its fast enough, and u have enough ram . And if u want to burn whatever get a dvd writer . Nice troll! |
BIFF (1) | ||
| 409215 | 2005-12-02 02:33:00 | I know i dont need to use MCE, but i want to. A 733MHz is gonna be pushing it, it'll probably work ok watching live TV, but the moment you want to skip back and forth or fast forward it might get itself into a tangle. For some people that Sky plus thing will be enough for them, but there are many reasons for wanting media center. |
BIFF (1) | ||
| 409216 | 2005-12-02 02:58:00 | Nice troll! Whatever |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 409217 | 2005-12-02 03:21:00 | A 733MHz is gonna be pushing it, it'll probably work ok watching live TV, but the moment you want to skip back and forth or fast forward it might get itself into a tangle. For some people that Sky plus thing will be enough for them, but there are many reasons for wanting media center. Yea. Im looking at building a new machine now, all 100% compatible with MCE, hopefully i can get it all for under $1400...nice xmas present for myself Daniel |
dwnz (5333) | ||
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