Recommend a PCI-e card for under $100 ?

Ach3r0n · Dec 8, 2005

I'm planning out my new system and looking for a PCI-e vid card under $100. For the most part, this will be a multimedia and multi-tasking PC. I don't play many PC games and when I do it's game likes Civ 4 - no FPS or anything like that. Just a lot of encoding and watching flicks for me.

I'm looking to avoid the really off-brands of cards, but I don't mind something like a Sapphire built card. A TV tuner would be an added bonus but definitely not necessary. I would prefer 256MB onboard. No preference for ATI/NVIDIA. Typically I know ATI used to be the multimedia gurus while NVIDIA usually came out ahead in gaming, but I noticed NVIDIA has switched gears in recent years and is putting more effort into multimedia now. Perhaps an ATI X700 or X1300 card?

Thanks in advance for any help/recommendations.

p.s. need s-vid out also but I think that's pretty standard.

BigJk-47 · Dec 8, 2005

6600GT,X800 (refurb $110).Probably all i'd go with.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102573R

The XFX 6600gt is $120.non-refurb

Ach3r0n · Jan 7, 2006

What about the x1600 series for a bit more dough .. as it offers 256MB of memory as opposed to 128MB on the x800 series?

Bios24 · Jan 7, 2006

A 6600GT or x800 would probably be faster than the x1600.

Ach3r0n · Jan 7, 2006

My main concern I suppose is hardware acceleration for encoding/decoding and general multimedia usage ... as I'm not a gamer.

sir_pyro · Jan 7, 2006

If it's not for games, go the Nvidia route with the Pure Video decoder. Much better perfomance because of how the decoder uses Nvidia GPU's to do the work. Thus, a 6600 or a 6600gt. If you really must go cheeper, a 6500 is OK, but still just a souped up 6200tc.

Ach3r0n · Jan 7, 2006

sir_pyro said:
If it's not for games, go the Nvidia route with the Pure Video decoder. Much better perfomance because of how the decoder uses Nvidia GPU's to do the work. Thus, a 6600 or a 6600gt. If you really must go cheeper, a 6500 is OK, but still just a souped up 6200tc.

I was a bit worried to even consider Nvidia. I've got an FX5500 at the moment and it is the most unstable piece of junk I have ever owned - or at least the drivers are. I get BSODs once every week or 2 from the Nvidia drivers (latest). Newer versions better? I'll be honest - the current card is my 1st experience with Nvidia on my own PC. I have used them to build PCs for otehrs, but never my own and it wasn't a good experience.

Granted I have always found certain ATi drivers to cause headaches during install on certain systems but once finally installed, I've always been happy with the stability of my ATi cards.

I've kind of bumped up my budget as you can see to a max of $200.

BLcK · Jan 16, 2006

DsN said:
I'm planning out my new system and looking for a PCI-e vid card under $100. For the most part, this will be a multimedia and multi-tasking PC. I don't play many PC games and when I do it's game likes Civ 4 - no FPS or anything like that. Just a lot of encoding and watching flicks for me.

I'm looking to avoid the really off-brands of cards, but I don't mind something like a Sapphire built card. A TV tuner would be an added bonus but definitely not necessary. I would prefer 256MB onboard. No preference for ATI/NVIDIA. Typically I know ATI used to be the multimedia gurus while NVIDIA usually came out ahead in gaming, but I noticed NVIDIA has switched gears in recent years and is putting more effort into multimedia now. Perhaps an ATI X700 or X1300 card?

Thanks in advance for any help/recommendations.

p.s. need s-vid out also but I think that's pretty standard.

memory wont do you any good if your not going to use it <_< there was a review/thread about it I read stating 256mb wont be of any help if you plan on going 1280X1024 or higher - dont remember where i read it from, but it was either from here or some reputable site.

The cheap: $49
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102415

The 'what you specified' and cheap: $78
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125003

and if you change your mind about games think about getting a 6600 plain/GT and 6800 plain/gt - prices are slowly coming down: $100-200

Recommend a PCI-e card for under $100 ?

Ach3r0n

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BigJk-47

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Ach3r0n

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Bios24

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Ach3r0n

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