Help me pick a video card!

[Sominex24]

Ok, right now I have a 2 year old (approx) Nvidia Geforce Ti250 (64 MB DDR RAM)

Anything will be an uprade for me and I probably need one.


Here is the machine I am building:


Dragon Ultra Glossy Case with 500W Power Supply

P4 2.8 Ghz 800 Mhz FBS with Hyper Threading

Kingston 1GB Kit DDR400 PC3200

ABIT "IS7" 865PE Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU, Model

I already have:

160 GB Seagate Baracuda HD (7200 RPM)

40 GB Maxtor HD (7200 RPM)

Sony DRU-510 A Dvd Burner


I am looking to spend around $100 for the video card in this machine


I will be editing video, burning DVD's and using ULEAD DVD WORKSHOP 2 extensivley.

I will also get a new DSL connection for the computer

Be playing online video games



-- What is the best card I can get for around $100? ANYTHING will be an upgrade from what I have now. I don't need the BEST, but need something to go along with this new, fast system.


Thanks in advance everyone!

[Sominex24]

What do you guys think about these TWO cards?


XFX nVIDIA GeForce FX5200 Video Card, 256MB DDR

More RAM, but runs at 333 mhz


BFG nVIDIA GeForce FX5200 ULTRA Video Card, 128MB DDR

LESS RAM, but runs at 650 Mhz


What do you guys think?

[shelbyGT]

for me, i'd go with the more ram, seeing as how the games i play will eat that up pretty quick.

and I got a nice little card in my setup from abspc.com, the 5900 Ultra. It only retails for a tad over $400, think you can spring for that?

Isn't she a beaut?

[Sominex24]

for me, i'd go with the more ram, seeing as how the games i play will eat that up pretty quick.

and I got a nice little card in my setup from abspc.com, the 5900 Ultra. It only retails for a tad over $400, think you can spring for that?

Isn't she a beaut?

Looks very nice... way too expensive for me.


How about this card?

ATI AIW RADEON 9600 Video Card, 128MB DDR


I will need to get a card or 'box' down the road to input signal from VHS and 8MM camcorder. How are these "all in one" cards?

And does it get tricky to import video AND sound? (I assume they come from 2 different sources going into the computer.)

[indolikaa]

ATI AIW cards are good. I use the 9000 Pro. Visit lordsmurf.com and see for yourself.

The ATI captures audio and video through a breakout box connected to the ATI card. The system does perform a clock sync check with the installed sound card and you will need to tie them together.

I've never had A/V sync issues with my ATI cards.

As for games? 32MB was way plenty for me before, so the 9000 Pro is pure overkill. It depends on the games you play, but if you're not limited to isometric games like me, spring for as much horsepower as you can get.

[stiltman]

ATI AIW cards are good. I use the 9000 Pro. Visit lordsmurf.com and see for yourself.

The ATI captures audio and video through a breakout box connected to the ATI card. The system does perform a clock sync check with the installed sound card and you will need to tie them together.

I've never had A/V sync issues with my ATI cards.

As for games? 32MB was way plenty for me before, so the 9000 Pro is pure overkill. It depends on the games you play, but if you're not limited to isometric games like me, spring for as much horsepower as you can get.

Same card as me, AIW 9000 Pro 64mb, but I don't really play any games. I have a HDD full of them, but never play them

[rallynavvie]

No BFG Asylum cards, and no XFX cards. If you're looking at nVidia chipsets you should be looking at PNY or Gigabyte brands. For $100 you can get the PNY GeForceFX 5200 128 and it'll be a damn good card. I would highly suggest spending a bit more and bump up to a 5600 or 5700 Ultra series. If you go ATi get a 9600XT or 9800 Pro. Don't get an AIW, some people love them but I think it's an expensive way to get all sorts of hardware conflicts.

[Sominex24]

No BFG Asylum cards, and no XFX cards. If you're looking at nVidia chipsets you should be looking at PNY or Gigabyte brands. For $100 you can get the PNY GeForceFX 5200 128 and it'll be a damn good card. I would highly suggest spending a bit more and bump up to a 5600 or 5700 Ultra series. If you go ATi get a 9600XT or 9800 Pro. Don't get an AIW, some people love them but I think it's an expensive way to get all sorts of hardware conflicts.

Do you do a lot of video capturing? This a great segway (sp?) to my next question.

I have on board firewire with my next video card so I have 'MiniDV' video transfer taken care of. For VHS and 8MM camcorders I will need to invest in 1 of 2 things

1. An All In Wonder card (video card/video capture combo)

2. Buy a video card that is good for gaming and will help make video editing FLY, AND an audio/video external box to hook the 8MM camcorder to and transfer via USB 2.0 or Firewire port.


As much as I hate it, I NEED to look at this from a cost perspective angle. But I need quality as well (I know, I can really only get one or the other)

Are the All in Wonder cards jumbled up with so much hardware and software that it would be more problematic then helpful?

How reliable and good are those "video boxes", "movie boxes" and "AV/DV boxes"?

[stiltman]

Are the All in Wonder cards jumbled up with so much hardware and software that it would be more problematic then helpful?

Bought the card
downloaded the latest drivers from ATI
Installed the card
Installed the drivers

Never once had a problem

[Sominex24]

Are the All in Wonder cards jumbled up with so much hardware and software that it would be more problematic then helpful?

Bought the card
downloaded the latest drivers from ATI
Installed the card
Installed the drivers

Never once had a problem

stilman

Thanks for the FAST response!

Here is the current dilemma. Do I go with one crd that does it all (all = great for gaming AND VIDEO editing, AND allows me to transfer analog video feeds from tv and 8mm, etc,etc)

OR get another card GREAT for caming and video editing and then get one of those external boxes/converters for analog video.


Have you used the AIW for analog video transfer to your computer? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

Does it give just as good quality and assurance as an external converter?

Which model do you have and how much did you pay?

Heck, are you on AIM or MSN at all?

[stiltman]

stiltman

Thanks for the FAST response!

Here is the current dilemma. Do I go with one crd that does it all (all = great for gaming AND VIDEO editing, AND allows me to transfer analog video feeds from tv and 8mm, etc,etc)

OR get another card GREAT for caming and video editing and then get one of those external boxes/converters for analog video.


Have you used the AIW for analog video transfer to your computer? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

Does it give just as good quality and assurance as an external converter?

Which model do you have and how much did you pay?

Heck, are you on AIM or MSN at all?

A lot of people will say, I don't want to replace my video card to upgrade my capture card. I personally, wanted to upgrade my video card and wanted a capture card too. I look around and decided this was my best option. I really haven't tried many other capture devices. I used to use a dazzle at work and it really sucked big time.

I've used my AIW 9000 pro quit a bit for analog capture. I have an old Sony HI8 that doesn't have USB or firewire. Here's a pretty good website to get you started with capturing too. I think it does a great job doing caps. I also use it as a DVR and then durn the stuff to DVD-RWs to watch on TV. Caps look like crap on my monitor, so I always stick to what worked the time before and then check it on my TV to be sure. Like I said though, once I got mine setup, I haven't had any problems

[Sominex24]

A lot of people will say, I don't want to replace my video card to upgrade my capture card. I personally, wanted to upgrade my video card and wanted a capture card too. I look around and decided this was my best option. I really haven't tried many other capture devices. I used to use a dazzle at work and it really sucked big time.

I've used my AIW 9000 pro quit a bit for analog capture. I have an old Sony HI8 that doesn't have USB or firewire. Here's a pretty good website to get you started with capturing too. I think it does a great job doing caps. I also use it as a DVR and then durn the stuff to DVD-RWs to watch on TV. Caps look like crap on my monitor, so I always stick to what worked the time before and then check it on my TV to be sure. Like I said though, once I got mine setup, I haven't had any problems

"Caps" look like crap on your monitor? Huh?


I like the feature of recording TV to DVD. This is nice. hmmm...

Well,ok, when capturing TV, 8MM or VHS do you get ANY dropped frames at all?? Is the quality just as good as watching the real thing?


Will this card let me plug my satelite in it? (or just Over the air and cable)

Does it have a TV Tuner bulit in as well?

I must say you are definitely making me lean more towards this All in Wonder card.


I would LOVE to get the "pro" version for faster video editing and gaming over dsl... but seems VERY pricey!

What do you suggest in terms of which model to get?

And thanks so much for answering all my questions and taking a good interest in this for me my friend

[stiltman]

"Caps" look like crap on your monitor? Huh?

Ya, actually, I think all videos look like crap on my monitor campaired to my TV. I think it has something to do with interlace or what ever. All I know is it looks good playing on my TV via DVD

I like the feature of recording TV to DVD. This is nice. hmmm...

Well,ok, when capturing TV, 8MM or VHS do you get ANY dropped frames at all?? Is the quality just as good as watching the real thing?

Nope, no dropped frames. My caps look the same as the original. Remember though, I'm using HI8 and analog cable. Nothing digital yet

Will this card let me plug my satelite in it? (or just Over the air and cable)
Does it have a TV Tuner bulit in as well?

It has a built-in TV tuner, I don't know if it will work with satelite.

I must say you are definitely making me lean more towards this All in Wonder card.
I would LOVE to get the "pro" version for faster video editing and gaming over dsl... but seems VERY pricey!
What do you suggest in terms of which model to get?
And thanks so much for answering all my questions and taking a good interest in this for me my friend

I think the ATI AIW 9000Pro goes for around $150us. I got mine for that price and a $40 rebate. I'm not a gamer, so I don't know how it performs against the other cards. It just fit my budget, did what I needed it to do and I like ATI cards

[Sominex24]

Hmmm....

Ok, what to do. AIW 9600?

OR AIW 9000 PRO?

I would LOVE the AIW 9600 PRO. But can't justify spending $250 on it

Anyone got any comparison charts/websites between the different AIW cards?

Is ATI the only company that makes All in One cards?




--

Can ANYONE give me any feedback on how the ATI AIW cards work with gaming? and with video editing?

[rallynavvie]

Bah, I had an AIW 9000 Pro in my single 1.6 P4 before I bought the current machine (which is for sale) and never had as good a result with it than I did capturing with an ADVC-100 and using TMPGEnc for encoding to MPEG-2. You can hardly adjust your capture settings and not to mention MPEG-2 is not very good source material for editing. And of course you won't see dropped frames into MPEG-2, it'll just douse it in a GOP. From an analog source you'll want it captured to DV, edited, and then encoded to MPEG. I also wasn't able to get the capture to work with Premiere so it was a definite no-go for me. Best get a seperate video card and capture device. ATi has become better with their driver support now with unified drivers. nVidia had them there for quite a while. I have nothing against the ATi chipset anymore, but I just can't waste time/money on the AIW.

Keep in mind that the video card won't help much with the actual editing/authoring of video other than its ability to display 2D information on your monitor. The latest video cards are aimed at 3D performance which is only helpful from the video standpoint if you're using 3D effects with your 2D video. It all ends up as 2D anyway so as far as capturing/editing/authoring goes you only need a video card that supports your monitor at a good res and with fast refresh.

I do hours of captures a week using the Canopus ADVC-100 and always get good results with it. I capture to Premiere, edit, and then frameserve to TMPGEnc to encode it. There are more steps involved this way but the results are better. You should be able to get away with an ADVC-50 for cheaper if money is an issue. I'd say that and the $100 GeForceFX 5200 from PNY should be a good start.

[indolikaa]

There is a thread where Will Hay did A LOT of comparisons between his ATI AIW and an ADVC unit...

(Searching for thread...)

[stiltman]

There is a thread where Will Hay did A LOT of comparisons between his ATI AIW and an ADVC unit...

(Searching for thread...)

Ya, but who's gonna believe Will Hay?

[808smokey]

Only suggestion..

Don't buy from tiger direct. $$$

www.Newegg.com and www.computergeeks.com is cheaper + FREE Shipping

RAM try here. www.buyaib.com

[tdowning]

I have the original ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 64MB DDR, and I still play Command and Conquer Generals on it, and it runs very well.

All ATI AIW cards have an RG-6 connector to a TV/Cable tuner, (Strictly analog) and a breakout box with S-video, and Composite in as well as RCA Left and Right Audio. (you will nneet to have the AIW connected to the sound card to capture the audio.

Therefore, you can record from any analog source.

It's just like a VCR. with analog cable, or over-the-air broadcasts, the computer can chose from multiple channels to record.

but digital cable and DSS must be processed by a set top box.

I guess the computer is just like a cable-ready TV. It can work with any analog signal you feed it.

If you use the PC With AIW as a Personal Video Recorder, using the tuner will allow the computer to change channels itself. Digital cable or satellite will require that you also program the set-top box to change the channels or have some sort of IR transmitter connected to the computer pointed at the set top box.

I think that covers everything.