What is the best current AGP graphics card

M4v3r1ck

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Hiya, ive just put my Parhelia on Ebay but i now have to decide which AGP graphics card is best. I won't be gaming at all on my PC so outright DVD video quality is the most important. It must work 100% with MCE2005 and be smooth and fluid. My HTPC is a P4 3.2ghz with 1GB dual channel RAM . I am using an RME Digi 96/8 sound card. Motherboard is ASUS P4P800 deluxe. SilenX Luxurae 450W fanless PSU.

What is best for outright video quality. Been looking at the ATI Radeon X1600 Pro 512MB, anyone using it? anything Better. Money no problem.

Thanks
Mark
 
well most HTPC enthusiasts tend to reccommend the 6600 and 6800 for HTPC use
 
do you think the Nvidia will produce images from DVD as good as those from ATI. this traditionally has not been the case. Have things changed? I want this to be as futureproof as possible. I will want it to be able to display DVD at 1080P without problem. power in reserve sounds like a good idea.
 
perrin21 said:
do you think the Nvidia will produce images from DVD as good as those from ATI. this traditionally has not been the case. Have things changed? I want this to be as futureproof as possible. I will want it to be able to display DVD at 1080P without problem. power in reserve sounds like a good idea.

If you want future proof, wait for the HDCP Video cards that will be released soon. Without HDCP Videp cards you may not be able to play back HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movies in HD. I would buy a cheap nVidia or ATI for the moment.
 
ahhh good point, i was looking for hdcp this morning but nobody is making anything yet. Only thing is that they won't make an AGP card will they and that means a total overhaul of the media PC as it seems everything is pci express. What a pain lol.
 
a good budget card is the 6200 (i have one of these, runs 720p very well! with athlon 3000+ and 1024mb RAM)
 
For purely SD use, I have a ATi 9600 (it'll be cheap if you can find it).

I'm shifting to HD when suitable card come available (i.e. HDCP and Vista), but MCE has no issues with my existing card.

And yes - requires an overhaul!
 
ive heard no mention here of the ATI X1600 512MB Card. Does nobody here use it or is it rubbish compared to the Nvidia? Im not into frame rates as its not being used for gaming. I thought Nvidia used to be inferior to ATI for image quality for video. Im used to using a Matrox Parhelia for DVD and it's stunning, im forced to upgrade due to the requirements of media center 2005.
 
Will the Nvidia or the ATI X1600 do full 1080P ? which offers the best outright picture quality with DVD using power DVD 7 and has best compatibility.
 
Gainward are still making top end cards on AGP (GF7800GS) so they can keep the legacy market with half decent machines happy... they should be bringing out the mid-range next-gen cards on AGP if they can... especially seeing as there's a market to be had!
 

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