Video Card opinions....All opinions welcome

[Sarrkazztic]

I am thinking about buying This Card I play some games not too graphic intensive yet...just started playing Riven The Sequel to Myst! I also have played Phantasmagoria and usually play TigerWoods Golf 2000 and some slot machines....I watch Dvd's and I am particulary looking for a video card that I can have an application open on the monitor and still have dvd output to the television what do you think about this card and do you have other suggestions that would be able to do the same things ie an application on the monitor and dvd output to the television....also giving good quality gaming experiences.

[zam1el]

well a look at epinions shows some reviews...
also there is this

sorry if it is a different card...

I'm not going to give my opinion on this card, or even my card...my opinion is basically that every user has different needs...

so, for the next person...
are you a gamer?
do you do high end graphic stuff?
what kind of monitor do you have?
what is your current video card?
what do you mainly use your PC for?

good luck...

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zam1el
Don't kill the messenger.
[email protected]

[Murf]

Another good review site:
http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/1,10121,0-1107-402- 0,00.html?tag=lnav-agp&pn=1&ob=1&qt=&F2=0&F5=0&F6=0&F7=1&F8=0&F9=0]Here:

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Murf

Visit-Murf's Windows Garage

But if it ain't broke - "Break It" - So we can help fix it!

[This message has been edited by Murf (edited 10-19-2001).]

[Sarrkazztic]

so, for the next person...
are you a gamer?
do you do high end graphic stuff?
what kind of monitor do you have?
what is your current video card?
what do you mainly use your PC for?

I do play some games...
I do not do high end graphic stuff but I may in the future
current video card is the S3 Savage 4 32mb card
I mainly use my comuputer for some games dvd playing everything that I put in the original post of this thread.....the only thing I did not put was the specs of my machine
Ecs K7vza rev 3b with athlon 1.2ghz OCed to 1.332 with vantec cck-6035d hsf
cdr and dvd
40 gig maxtor on IDE 1 master
atapi zip 100 as slave
512 megs pc 133 ram
maxtor 20 gig connected to ultra66 bios flashed to fastrak66 raid card set to spanning
5 total case fans 3 blowing in....2 up front down low and 1 with the hard drives and 2 blowing out in the rear at cpu height in an antec sx-830 case

[Ridgerunr]

Hi sarrkazztic, My uses seem to match yours pretty much.'Bout 6 months ago i decided to go with the biggee from ATI(Radeon 64Meg DDR VIVO)for my main machine and haven't found anything it can't keep up with so far.

If you decide to go with "any" ATI card however,,i would recommend you download the drivers "and" Multimedia/DVD player packages from their web site first. The CD's supplied with the cards can cause BIG time problems when installing. Sloppy CD construction,i believe..

Isn't the card you mention above for dual monitors? And, if so, are you intending on running two? If not, i'd go with this card if it were me.
http://www.ati.com/na/pages/products...ddr/index.html

It was a' bit spendy when i bought mine,,but prices are dropping now...

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God Bless America!!

[Sarrkazztic]

yes this card supports dual monitors or 1 monitor and tv out which is what I am interested in.

[Murf]

sarrkazztic,

Curious, I am building a system (from a bunch of spare parts I have), just bought a S3 Savage 4 32mb card (AGP) for $20, have you been satisfied with it. Will throw it in mine and put my current 16MB RIVA TNT2 card in the other system.



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Murf

Visit-Murf's Windows Garage

But if it ain't broke - "Break It" - So we can help fix it!

[Sarrkazztic]

Yanno Murf this is the 3rd one I have used so far I have found it meets my needs....It works well watching dvd's a far cry better than the 4meg rage 2c that I had before...The rendering in Tigerwoods Golf is great...and so far in Riven it is great too...but when I load up 3dmark the scores are terrible.....but I have never been a fan of SCORES....the real world performance is what matters to me....and it works just fine.....The only reason I am thinking about upgrading now is I want video out to the tv....I could put the DVD decoder card in that I have but...it doesnt play well with the vcr I have in the office....(for some reason my regular DVD player didnt work well with this vcr either)....but to answer your question.....I am very happy with these S3 Savage cards for what I use them for and for the cost....I have not had any problems.....What O.S. are you using....I have this card running in both 98SE and WinME machines.....the WinME driver was hard to find...but the new card I bought actually had it on the cd...if you need the ME driver I can email it to ya...

[Murf]

Win 98SE, Direct X 8, working great with this TNT Card. Not into Gaming, or real heavy braphics, so this card should fit my needs. Notice it has a heat sink but fan, may throw a fan on it. My TNT stays pretty cool.

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Murf

Visit-Murf's Windows Garage

But if it ain't broke - "Break It" - So we can help fix it!

[rednek tek]

I have that card. It is good. I have had no problems with mine. Excellent software bundle. No major potential conflicts/issues I am aware of.

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640K ought to be enough for anybody. Bill Gates

[Sarrkazztic]

rednek which card do you have??? the ati or the S3.....Murf...let me know what size fan you mount on that heatsink and what method you use to attach it.....I have been thinking about glueing one on mine....for right now I have a slot fan right underneath it..