[userji]

I am in process of building HTPC & need help on video card choice....HTPC used for DVD playback only on Sony 1272Q pj.

I have been doing lot of reading on ATI "build by" & am still confused deciding which card to get...

I am thinking about upgrading to higher end pj(G70 or NEC135LC).

Is it possible to display 1080i or higher resolution (DVD playback) thru HTPC? If yes, Which card is best choice???

AIW 7500, 9700 or 9500?

 

[Duplicator]

You don't need an AIW if all you'll be doing is playing DVD's.


The 7500 will work just fine for just about anything you'd want to do, so long as you don't want to use the machine to play games. If you're going to be playing games, I'd get the 9000 series card.


If you're not doing PVR stuff, the only thing the AIW will give you is a remote

 

[userji]

Is 7500 capable of converting dvd signal to 1080i output??? will 9500 make differnce in picture quility.... I have open budget an am thinking about getting H3D card to covert s-video signal from my Dish Network 6000 receiver.

Thanks

 

[jaykay]

I have the same dilemma trying to pick the best video card for DVD playback (atleast for now) to drive my Sony VPH-1271Q projector. I am leaning towards either Radeon 9000 or Radeon 9000 Pro. I am NOT a gamer.


I need some help from the experts :


1. Should I go towards Radeon 9000/Pro series or stick with 8500/7500 series ?


2. Video Memory (64 Mb vs 128 Mb)


3. Best O/S -> Windows 98 SE or Windows XP (with or without SP1)


Any help is highly appreciated.

 

[TracerBullet]

1. Go with the higher radeon. They have 10 bit DACs, which means, after all the various manipulations the pixels go through, they are more faithful to 'reality' (even tho your display can only show 8 bits)


2. memory is dirt cheap. get at least 256, if not 512. 128 is way too low.


3. win2k is still the best, for my money. 98 is absolutely worthless. If you can't get a copy of 2k, XP should be just fine. You may experience some problems with some HDTV cards, but I'm not knowledgable about that.

 

[jaykay]

Thanks TracerBullet.


I meant Video Memory not the system memory. I'd just modified my posting.

 

[TracerBullet]

Oh. In that case, either, especially if you're not gaming.


Used to be, you'd need video memory to store the contents of the screen. 1024x768 pixels, 32 bits per pixel, is a bit more than 3 megs, so back in the days of yore you'd need a 4 meg video card to display that 1024x768 'true color'. Now, video memory is used to store such things as verteces and textures, so that the video processors can manipulate them into pixels.


Since you're not interested in gaming or, I presume, CAD or some other form of real-time rendering, 64 mb will be entirely sufficient.

 

[userji]

which higher radeon has 10 bit DACs? Should I get 9000, 9700 or wait for 9500?

Which card is best for its money for DVD playback @ 720p or higher...

 

[jkaiser]

They all have 10 bit DACs. 10 bit DACS go all the way back to the original Radeons (pre series numbers) such as the Radeon 32Meg, Radeon LE, etc.

There really isn't that much difference between the 9000 regular and Pro and the 8500 series. 9000 seemed to not score as well in games as the 8500, but it is newer and may have a few more bells like shader. If you are thinking on using the RGB Dongle (with it's DVD limitations), then go with the 8500 otherwise go with the 9000.


I personally am waiting for the 9500 pro (the regular one has started to show up at vendors) as I may want to do limited gaming and is not quite so downgraded as the 9500 regular. Tom's hardware had a review of the 9500 Pro on Dec 2, 2002.

 

[Waters_10]

Does anyone know if the Radeon 9500/9500 Pro will work with the component dongle? From what I read, the 9700 works with it, right?

 

[Duplicator]

The only difference between the 9700 and the 9500 Pro is the memory paths. There shouldn't be any reason why the dongle wouldn't work as it's the same card thru and thru.