I have a dual 3.56 dual Xeon that I am not going to upgrade any time
soon. However, it has a AGP 8 slot in it that currently is using a
All in Wonder 800XT. The TV tuner quality is so poor it is worthless.
It does allow me to capture from my digital cable modem, and that
quality is very good. I am not a gamer, but I would like a Dell 30
inch monitor. For that I will need a different video card. Then I
will probably try a Haupage 350 as the TV turner unless somebody can
recommend something better. HD turner is out of the question for me
because there is no over the air broadcasts...reception is pretty
much non existent outside of the local station.
I thought I would start looking for the best ATI or Nivida AGP card
available, in as it will be my last upgrade to this Xeon PC. I
understand that would be either a 7600GS or a ATI X1950.
I can get one of these three 7600 AGP 512MB cards at Newegg for around $150
XFX PV-T73K-YAL3 GeForce 7600GS 512MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
BFG Tech BFGR76512GSOC GeForce 7600GS 512MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
View Pic PNY VCG76512SAPB GeForce 7600GS 512MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video
Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?SrchInDesc=AGP%20512MB&Page=1&Nty=1&N=0&Submit=ENE&Description=7600gs&Ntk=all
Or an ATI X1950 512MB AGP in the 250 to $290 range, but none of them
made by ATI
HIS Hightech H195PRQT512DDAN-R Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X
IceQ3 Turbo HDCP Video Card - Retail
DIAMOND X1950PRO512AGP Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video
Card - Retail
HIS Hightech H195PRF512DDAN-R Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X
HDCP Video Card - Retail
SAPPHIRE 100171L Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?SrchInDesc=AGP&Page=1&N=0&Submit=ENE&Nty=1&Description=X1950PRO+512MB&Ntk=all
Then today, I see a Circuit City sale on a ATI Radeon X1650 Pro 512MB
card at $120, .... Newegg wants 190 for this card.
The 1650 would drive a 30 inch monitor. I have no idea how it would
work on games. And I have been using ATI All in Wonders for so long
I don't know what I should get in a straight video card. I want to be
able to capture stuff from my Cox Digital cable modem, and I want
multi monitor support, or just the ability to allow me to install my
PCI Matrox G450 cards, or some other PCI cards. And it would be nice
to have stability, and the ability to update video drivers without
worrying about toasting my system.
So what should I spend my money on. When it comes to video cards I am
always confused, so I turn to the expertise of the collective.
thanks
