What to get - TV tuner newbie

[Guest]

I'm looking to build a computer at the end of next month but because I'm bored and have been out of the loop for three years I thought I should start doing my research now. At any rate, one of the primary things I want the computer to be able to do is display TV images at high quality on the monitor (I'm taking it to college with me and I want to be able to watch TV and play GameCube/PS2 in my room).

I've been looking at various TV tuner cards and it seems the ideal is the ATI All-In-Wonder 32mb DDR card. The problem is, I really want a GeForce 3 for my video card.

Would I be better off trashing my dream of having a GeForce and just get the ATI card or is there a good stand-alone PCI TV card that I can purchase to go along with the GeForce? It has to have a TV tuner and composite and S-Video in and out.

This system is already breaking the bank so price is not a major factor.

Thanks in advance.
/Dutch

 

[fulgore_123]

well, I don't think that anyone will ever make a geforce 3 with tuner just like they did with geforce 2. But they may make a geforce 3 mx with a tv tuner (again)like geforce 2 mx. Since we probably won't be seeing a geforce 3 mx for quite a while, you might wanna go with the AIW radeon. It's pretty good and feature rich. I have an old All in wonder (8 meg pci) and I love it (only if it worked correctly with via chipset). In case u are wondering, I play games with a voodoo 3 2k (I don't use ati for games anymore). I'm sure the AIW Radeon won't give u any trouble and it's a hell of a card in high res.
Hope that helped.

Since we cannot get what we like, let us like what we can get

 

[mjdunn]

ATI also makes TV Tuner Card then you can still have your GeForce3

http://www.ati.com/na/pages/products/pc/tv_wonder_usb/index.html

http://www.ati.com/na/pages/products/pc/tv_wonder/index.html

http://www.ati.com/na/pages/products/pc/tv_wonder_ve/index.html

Just a thought.

96.3 % of Statistics are made up.

 

[Renegade87]

Hey, look at both the Pinnacle and WinTV PCI cards. I've used both of these and they work very well. Be sure the one you choose will support the GeForce3 though. Some cards don't always support the latest GPU chips.

"This was no boating accident"

 

[SerArthurDayne]

I used a WinTV tuner when I was in college a couple years ago

It worked fine, and only cost like 50 bucks. Not the best quality though....

 

[Guest]

Wouldn't it be possible to use the Radeon AiW PCI version and a GeForce3 AGP card?

Sarcasm maybe the recourse of a weak mind,
But it can be funny as hell.

 

[Guest]

Main problem with GeForce -- and all nVidia cards is that they do not support direct hardware overlay -- which is essential for a good tv image. Without it you'll have to resort to things like changing your screen resolution to 640x480 in 15-bit mode and interleave noise would be quite apparent. AFAIK only ati's and some older graphics cards support direct hardware overlay. Check out Hauppauge HCL at http://www.hauppauge.com/html/VGALIST.htm
You'll have to decide what's more important to you -- games or TV (or perhaps schoolwork?)

 

[Guest]

i highly recomend the asus 7700 (gforce 2 ddr 64mb comes with tv in and out ports, tv tuner box, and some cool but overrated 3d glasses - also comes with heaps of software and a couple of good games (soldier of fortune)

this card will cost you a bit but save a gforce 3 or gforce 2 ultra will not only blow all comers out of the water but allow you to do almost anything else you want as well (eg: you can use your computer not only as a tv but as a vcr as well - all software required comes witht eh card)

Also the price is likely to have come way down in the last few months due to the release of gforce 3

can not rate it high enough!!!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

Are you bashing the Radeon???

"Would I be better off trashing my dream of having a GeForce and just get the ATI card..."

Even though the Radeon was originally designed to compete with the ORIGINAL GeForce, it's still a better performing video card. It is also an excellent performer for DVDs and TV(AIW).