ATI Radeon and tvout (2 Viewers)

[teampirkko]

Hi!

Are Ati Radeon 9550(se) or 9600(se) good choises to htpc (and MP)?
I like to connect my htpc to sony 32" tv via S-video.
Later I maybe will use VGA-to-SCART(RGB)!
Should I choose other videocard ? if yes,what?

 

[mPod]

If you've got the choice, you'd rather go for an nVidia card. Definately less problems with stability and drivers.

 

[teampirkko]

If you've got the choice, you'd rather go for an nVidia card. Definately less problems with stability and drivers.

What would be good choise? (it should be AGP, passive cooled and cheap)
Does those nvidias support right tv-out resolution(like 720 X 576) for my 32" wide sony?

Can I later use VGA-to-SCART(RGB) adapter?

Best Regards

Ville

 

[rtv]

I disagree with mpod: Traditionally nVidia's TV-Out is worse than ATI's.

E.G. Germany's IT-magazine "C't" #6 2005 testet 18 GeForce 6600(GT). The best sample achieved only 41% of PAL-conformity _after_ tweaking.. Furthermore the Philips video decoder present on some cards does only accelerate movies with optimized software which isn't available yet. HDTV isn't accelerated at all! :twisted:
Finally they all get hotter (louder) than compareable ATI cards.

For a freaky gamer in urgent need for shader model 3 support in one specific game there is no alternative to Nvidia but in a HTPC you'll have more fun choosing ATI..

 

[rtv]

it should be AGP, passive cooled and cheap

The widest spread solution is a passive cooled Radeon 9600 Pro!

 

[Casper]

Can I later use VGA-to-SCART(RGB) adapter?

Not as "easily" as with an ATI based card. The nvidia cards cannot produce a composite sync signal which a TV needs so you'll have to add some sync-combiner circuitry to get it to work.

 

[AllenConquest]

it should be AGP, passive cooled and cheap

The widest spread solution is a passive cooled Radeon 9600 Pro!

Does a HTPC really need the Pro edition of this card. How about the Connect 3D Radeon 9600 128mb which is also passively cooled, but should run cooler (as is cheaper).

 

[rtv]

Of course, I just meantioned the top-seller for multi-purpose-htpc with the best price performance tag

The Non-Pro should even be a little smaller and therefore better fit into stylish cases..

 

[AllenConquest]

Does anyone know of a site that compares the Radeon cards and their technical specs. What is the real difference between all the version (Pro,XT,SE) ?

 

[teampirkko]

Are 9600 better choise than 9550?
should memory be 128bit?