What Video Card should I get ??? ~$300

Im making a list of all the parts I need to build my new computer, and one of the things I am having the biggest trouble picking is the video card.

What should I get guys?
ATI (Radeon) or nVidia ???

What card to you recommend for about $300 ?
This computer will be doing alot of DVD, Gamming, and Video Editing.

Thanks,

~John

jtice, I'm investigating the same thing. The question I ask, if you are building a new system is the video slot on the motherboard AGP or PCI express? This is important to know. Also when you say you are doing video editing, does that mean you are depending on the video card for either analog or digital capture?

jtice:
geepondy has a good point about the PCI-X (pci-express) slots. about 90% of the new motherboards off the shelf are going to be agp. The only systems with pci-x are intel based and/or server oriented. I personally do not build intel systems because I feel that they're extremely overpriced considering the performance that you get from them. (that is somewhat of a religion style choice among computer people, and most of us, once choosing sides, become blind to any good points of the opposition.) If you can wait until around January, there will be a fair selection for boards containing pci-x slots. Also if you want a _REAL_ speed demon, make sure there are at least two pci-x slots, SLI style setups are coming back, can't recall what it stands for, but the basic idea is that you hook two cards together, and each one does half the work. Probably won't need it, but it's nice to know your options. With that said, if you're set on building a system now the top cards are being made by ATI, the x800 pro can be had for around $320, and will perform very nicely. Nvidia cards are very reliable, but i don't like the company much, they've lied about specs and falsified reports a few times, and been caught. If you're going to be using any operating system aside from Windows, you'll probably want an Nvidia card. They have better support for Linux and are supported quite nicely under the BSD's as well. As to video in/out on the card, that's another personal preference thing. Mine is to keep the cards seperated, it leaves you with a working system should one card fail, and if you need a new feature, you're only required to upgrade one card. Less expensive in the long run. If you have any other questions, just post 'em and i'll try to keep the replies a little more brief.

--theepdinker Jr.


Jr. is in his words "The Alpha Geek" for the wireless ISP company he works for, in case you're interested.

Theepdinker

This is the mobo I am getting , yes it is Express. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-223&depa=0

I was going to get an ATI All in Wonder card so I could have the video input.
But I cant find specs ANYWHERE on the capture res and fps.
So, I am thinking i will just get a real nice vid card, and then buy a better Dazzle video USB2 adaptor, that does 720 res 30 fps.

OHH forgot to mention, I need the card to have 2 monitor outputs /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I am running 2 monitors now, and want to run 3 or 4 later, I will add another PCI vid card to run the 3rd and 4th monitors, that card doesnt have to be real nice, games and vid wont be played on those monitors.

the higher end aiw cards have a pretty decent media chip they capture video pretty darn good

For PCI express from what I read, I would recommend the ATI Radeon X700 for about $200. For gaming not quite top of the line in terms of today's $400-500 cards but better then $400 offerings a year ago. The ATI card has two vid outputs, a DVI and analog output. Maybe third party vendors offer different configurations. I agree with getting USB2 adapter for video because if either video capture or gaming performance becomes outdated, you only have to replace one segment rather then another possibly $400 plus investment.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=316845&pfp=srch1

Ticey,

Why are you getting an Epox board? Why not an Asus?

ati is about to reaalese a new card X850XT PE they say it will smoke the curent nvidia cards but. ya never know if they will to there realy out

If you want to use an AGP slot (up to 8x) you might take a look at some of the Matrox products, they support two independent displays on a single card right out of the box.

Options are available to run up to 4 independent displays off a singel AGP card.

www.matrox.com

$300 however won't buy the MMS cards (which actually have a hardware engine for each display)

Aaron, Unles Asus has come out with somethign new , the Epox had all the features i wanted, its supposed to have a few good over clocking features, and will do alot of drives /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
One main thing I want, is to be able to do at least 10 drives.

Sence my Epox mobo is PCI express, isnt the nvidia 6800 series the best? I saw it was beating the radeon.

I for one have learned the hard way how ATI's drivers stink.
They are huge to download and a pain to install correctly.
Meanwhile, Invidias are much easier, more frequently updated, more idiotproof to install, and a fraction of the size to download with no code to enter.
I'm never going back to ATI.
My ATI radeon 8500 taught me a sad lesson about crappy drivers.

ati drivers have improved since the 8500

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-503&depa=0

Ticey I suggest you look at the Asus boards, because from what I have heard they are some of the best. They support lots of drives, are very stable, are reliable, and they have 99% of the technology that the other boards have.

i like shuttle motherboards there very well priced and very very stable

Last time I used shuttle was in the mid 90s and they had a serious bug in one of their boards that kept crashing everything and the board had to be replaced with another brand. I tend to use Asus because I like the least amount of crashes possible even if I have to have a little slower CPU for the price of the board.

[ QUOTE ]
raggie33 said:
i like shuttle motherboards there very well priced and very very stable

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm running a Shuttle mb now with an Athlon XP1700 with no probs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

this shuttle i use was like 59 bucks if i recall maybe more uses a nforce 2 400 chipset,and runs rock stable. i cant make it crash it will run prime 95 allday.i like asus but there over priced.i nver had a unstable mother board though.some have required more work to get them stable though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

lol, i ask about video cards, and i get a mobo war. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

That Asus board doesnt look too bad actually.
Dont think that was out last time I was looking at them.

[ QUOTE ]
jtice said:
lol, i ask about video cards, and i get a mobo war. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry Ticey. From what I have heard though, Epox boards were alright, but then somebody bought them. Supposedly they aren't very good any more. I just wanted to let you know.

I would check out http://pcmech.com/ for some PC help. They have a great tech forum, and I'm sure they will have some good suggestions for you.