$150 to blow on which video card?

[ToxMox]

I got $150 to use on buying a new vid card for my Sage box for Christmas . I am currently running a 128mb 5200FX card and would like to upgrade it. Looking for suggestions. The card must be AGP.

A little more info:
I am currently outputting VGA to a TC2000 transcoder into component on my TV at 480p. My TV supports 480p and 1080i signals via the component.

[GbrNole]

i'd give you two choices.

either wait for a non gt 6600 in about a month or buy a radeon 9600 pro and an ati dongle for 1080i playback.

[stanger89]

Or a 3rd option, spring the extra $50 or so for a 6600GT

[GbrNole]

just not a friggin' msi one!!!!

i'll cut ya a deal on an msi 6600gt agp - the fan works well

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by GbrNole

just not a friggin' msi one!!!!

[GbrNole]

at least xtreme gear was quick to issue the rma with no fuss. maybe i can complain that the next one doesn't output any audio?

better yet maybe i should keep the component breakout cable and hold some poor xfx 6600gt buyer hostage to an outrageous fee for said cable - like $215?

[ToxMox]

Ideally I'd like to get one of the newer nVidia cards with the component out. So is the 6600GT better than the 6600? I am willing to shell out the extra $50. I'd also like to be able to take advantage of the PureVideo.

[ToxMox]

Another thing I'll mention even though I don't know if it will have any bearing but this will be running on an Athlon XP 2000+ with 1gb of ram.

[stanger89]

The 6600GT is faster than the 6600, whether it's "better" or not I can't say. I would think the extra power would be nice if you want to run VMR9 at higher resolutions.

[cliffro]

is it for TV stuff or Games...? if its just for TV dont bother with spending the money the extra speed will be wasted on TV stuff

[cliffro]

heh i cant wait till gigabyte releases their Dual GPU 6600GT that wil be some power right there without having to buy 2 cards and loads cheaper

[foolio]

Originally Posted by cliffro

is it for TV stuff or Games...? if its just for TV dont bother with spending the money the extra speed will be wasted on TV stuff

I agree. I run VMR9 at 1776x1000 on a mx440 without problem

[sudipto]

Umm ... pardon my ignorance, but what is the problem with the MSI 6600GT AGP card ? I just bought this card last week but have not installed it yet.

I am planning to install this card on a MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum mobo.

Is there a known problem with the MSI 6600GT AGP ?

[ToxMox]

Ok so I just ordered the Leadtek 6600GT from newegg. We'll see how it goes running an AGP 8x card on a 4x board. I may have to do some mainboard swapping. Currently running Sage on an Abit AT7-Max (KT333) with 3 PCI slots and 1gb PC2100 ecc ddr ram. Other machines in my place have an Abit AT7-Max2 (KT400 & AGP 8x) with 1.5gb DDR333and a Gigabyte GA-7N400PRO2 ( nForce2 Ultra 400 with AGP 8x) with 1gb (PC3200). So I think I'm covered in case something doesn't work nicely
I'm looking forward to not have to use the transcoder anymore.

[ToxMox]

Originally Posted by foolio

I agree. I run VMR9 at 1776x1000 on a mx440 without problem

TV stuff mainly but I'd like to be a little future proof.

[korben_dallas]

You can get direct from ATI a Radeon 9550 256MB 8x AGP card and the DVI-to-Component dongle for $150 total, and maybe even get shipping waived.

The 9550 is kin to the 9600se, but it has 128bit DDR memory and maybe a little faster clock/memory core.

This card will do very well for any HTPC setup, and it will play an occasional game here and there (maybe not Doom3).

[sudipto]

Originally Posted by sudipto

Umm ... pardon my ignorance, but what is the problem with the MSI 6600GT AGP card ? I just bought this card last week but have not installed it yet.

I am planning to install this card on a MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum mobo.

Is there a known problem with the MSI 6600GT AGP ?

Okay, so I read the other thread by Gbr_Nole and now I know the problems he was having. However, I am curious to know if anyone else had any problems with the MSI 6600GT AGP version.

Gbr_Nole - could you figure out if your problem was related to this one specific card ? Are you going to return it or get a replacement of the same card ?

[GbrNole]

i got an rma and mailed it off so i should get a replacement of the same card in the next few days.

if you go to newegg every poster on there has had a positive experience with the card while over at gameve.com there are 2 negative reviews. YMMV.

my current card is an msi 5900xt, features a very quiet fan and has caused me zero problems since i bought it so i figured sticking with msi brand would be ok. i'm just gonna mark this one up to dumb luck but if a second one comes this way i'll be pissed.

[GbrNole]

Originally Posted by foolio

I agree. I run VMR9 at 1776x1000 on a mx440 without problem

i don't buy that. overlay maybe but not vmr9 especially if you're running in sage at that res.

[stanger89]

Yeah, that gets into a gray area because that card doesn't support DX9, so any DX9 features are emulated in software. It's very possible that even though you select VMR9, it's emulated by Overlay or VMR7.