graphic card question

[fatrich]

hi
at the moment i have a radeon ve card which i run on my barco 808 (with the help of powerstrip) at 1280x720 resolution , i have had this card for 6-8 months and am thinking of upgrading to a radeon 8500 or something similar, can anyone comment on this card in regards to improvements over the existing ve card and any other alternatives.
The htpc is used purley for dvd playback (no tv in or o.ut) but i am thinking of using it for games as well.

Dont want to upgrade if it only improves picture quality by small amount.Finally would buying an OEM version of these cards be an issue with any of the current ati drivers.

currently using windows Me.

any advise would be appreciated

regards

richard

[Branxx]

I am in the same situation, running Radeon VE @ 1368x1024, but I think we shoudl upgrade to new Radeon 9500 or 9700 once in becomes available (probably September).

[Lex]

Overclockers are doing the ATI ALL-IN-WONDER® Radeon 8500 DV 64MB for £139.00 + VAT

Seems a pretty good deal to me!

Overclockers

[fatrich]

cheers guys
but its not a money issue, i can get the 8500 fronn ccl for £134.00+vat, its more a question of performance and how much better than my ve is the 8500 or the 9000.

The 9700 is not on this planet, it look absolutly unreal at an unreal price i might add

cheers

richard

[Tim Cooper]

Hi Rich,
Did you know about the broken gamma with the 8500....well ATI fixed it with their new catalyst drivers, the problem now is the hardware acceleration doesn't work.so be aware.
The dvd playback on the 7200 7500 use the same "engine" 10 bit dacs etc etc, the 7200 is what i have it's got no fan,the 7500 uses a fan so does the 8500.
Don't know much about the VE cards but i suspect they are the same as well.
If you play games as well go for the 8500 but remember the hardware accel' problem.
If you must update go for a pukka retail made by ATI card due to driver issues with some oem cards although there is a work around for this.
Personally i'd wait for the 9xxx cards to be main stream but again wait for the drivers to "mature"before jumping in, too many people had their fingers burnt with 8500 debacle.
check this scroll down to graphics cards & have a read.
Cheers
Tim

[fatrich]

Hi Tim
cheers for the info, i think i will wait till the 9700 comes down in price and also like u mention the driver issue, how the 1095 doing? teamed it up with a tag yet?

catch u soon
take card
rich

[Tim Cooper]

how the 1095 doing? teamed it up with a tag yet?

Hi m8 the mating happens sunday week can't wait although my Yammy has now got to be sold & my mrs has got the major hump i feel that it's worth it

Cheers
Tim

[fatrich]

Tim
Just read that radeon thread and im shagged out it was huge, so how good is the radeon 7200 and which driver are u currently using?

regards

richard

[Tim Cooper]

Hi Rich,
Because i use Theatertek, i use the 6025 for win 2k or 7093 for win 9xx drivers.
Can't fault the card m8 cost me less than 60 quid (last xmas) the picture is superb.
What's wrong with the ve?
Tim

What's wrong with the ve?

Nothing. Personally I wouldn't change this card at the mo'. Particularly if you are using the DVI socket.

[Tim Cooper]

There you go Rich i knew there was someone who was using a VE Radeon, if it's good enough for Jenz it's good enough for us mere mortals
What drivers do you recommend Neil for the VE?
Tim

Standard TT recommended Drivers :D

[fatrich]

thanks Neil
look like i will hang on to the ve a little longer, wot do u think would be a good replacement for the ve in the near future?

cheers

richard

Well obviously the 9xxx series cards are the ones to look at. The thing is that I'm beginning to question just how much better I can improve the existing setup by changing the graphics card alone. I'm not convinced I will get bang for the buck by doing this.

So I'm gonna experiment with the H3D card, Component and SDI.

Right now I'm just enjoying films

[fatrich]

Neil
i would be interested in the results, the sdi card option seems quite popular at the moment, i believe jeff has an sdi modded dvd player, i am not up to scratch on the sdi cards but i am let to believe they are quite expensive.I like u use the tt player but would like to improve the overall picture quality if i were to use the sdi card wheres the best place to purchase one and how would i intergrate it in to my system (i use htpc for dvd playback and not a standalone player)

all advise would be greatful

thanks

richard