video card reccomendations?

[Tighr]

I am currently putting together my HTPC, and was looking at getting a Radeon 9600 (non-pro) because it has DirectX 9, s-video out, and DVI (I happen to have a FPD monitor with DVI, but this is not important). The card costs about $100 bucks on newegg. Can someone explain what benifts/features I get in Sage by getting a DX9 card? Are these features worth the 100 bucks I'd spend, as opposed to say, getting onboard TV-out on a motherboard? Are there cheaper DX9 cards that get the job done? is DX9 even worth using?

Basically, I want someone to justify to me why I should spend 100 dollars on a DX9 video card for Sage, or if getting onboard TV-out would give me the same options (or possibly a cheaper graphics card with tv-out). I'm curious about what hardware requirements there are for things such as overlay, or transparency, or partial transparency, OSD... those types of things. Whats gonna make my TV display look "pretty" to a sister or GF?

This will be an HTPC with amd barton 2500+, PVR250, 512mb ddr3200. Thanks!

[stanger89]

The biggest thing VMR9 will get you is the Semi-Transparent OSD (you can get 100% transparent w/ Overlay). If you want to impress someone (especially a non-techie) then the Semi-Transparent OSD is probably the way to go.

Now DX9 or not?
I'm of the belief that the better video cards are better for video, at least to a point. If you read the AVS Forum, there's a member there that has tried darn near every video card out there, and has come to the conclusion that Quadro FX 1100 with VMR9 gives the best PQ. Now a Quadro is overkill, but the GeforceFX 5700 is pretty much the same card, only different drivers. There was also a thread there (that seems to have been lost) where and nVidia employee commented that the FX line implimented some advanced deinterlacing (pixel-adaptive) and that the 5700 could do more advanced deinterlacing than slower cards.

Do you need a card?
Personally, I don't think onboard video is good at anything but being cheap. The Radeon 9100 IGP is probably the best onboard video now, but I'd still much rather have a "real" video card.

VMR9
One thing to remember about VMR9 is that you need a relatively powerfull DX9 card to pull it off flawlessly. I've had trouble with my Radeon 9500 non-pro, so my advice would be at least a Geforce FX 5700 (not LE) or Radeon 9600 pro. And a couple more things. It seems you may not need a DX9 card to to VMR9 (I'd still recommend it, I haven't got a non-DX9 card do do VMR9), and also, I've been playing with XP SP2 RC2 which includes DX9c, and VMR9 seems to work much better than with SP1a DX9b. I haven't used it much, but it does seem promising.

Besides, don't you want a nice video card to go with that nice system?

[nethawk]

My 9800 pro runs 4 instances of Sage client flawlessly. I imagine the 9600 pro would go ok.

[Tighr]

You're right, I would love a nice video card to go with my system. I just need a little convincing . The reason I ask is because if I can get respectable quality that I'm not going to be able to tell the difference, then that would be a big savings (ala the tried and true "i'm a college student" method of buying computer parts).

I will probably go with the radeon 9600, possibly pro. The big difference is that the non-pro doesn't have a fan, so it will run quieter in my system. I think though that the fan might not add so much noise that its unbearable. Plus, it will probably be good for keeping things cool (I'm choosing an Antec Overture, so heat might be a problem).

[kny3twalker]

my 9600 XT has stuttering issues with some decoders
nvDVD, Sonic, cyberlink (ATI)
does it fine with elecard and intervideo (either hauppauge or retail)