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<blockquote data-quote="Tech Geek" data-source="post: 36871" data-attributes="member: 18181">Addorfable?&nbsp; You mean affordable?Ok, I think I just confused the issue so I'll answer your question and then try to explain what I was getting at.All the new ATi GPUs have Avivo.&nbsp; X1300, X1600, X1800 and X1900.However, the only AGP card is an X1600 that is $140. (all prices in US Dollars)It's probably the fastest 3D AGP card but to be honest I wouldn't spend that much on an AGP card.&nbsp; AGP is pretty much dead end now.A somewhat comparable NVidia card (Video playback wise)&nbsp; would be 6600 based and they aren't exactly giving those away either.&nbsp; The lowest priced 6600 was over $100 last I checked. The 5200 (under $35 + shipping) won't have all the video features of a 6600 or X1600 but it would do the job.&nbsp; An ATi 9550 (under $50 + shipping) is also a good choice.&nbsp; It has a few more features than the 5200, faster 3D and you won't gain any more video features for under $100.The bottom line... do you want to spend a lot of money on an old system or just enough to do what you need and save the extra money for a new system?I wanted to upgrade my old system too... but I had a choice of cheap parts that wouldn't improve it or expensive parts that were almost more than building a new system... so I built a new one.&nbsp;&nbsp; I already had a DirectX 9 video card though so upgrading the old system didn't make sense.In your case you don't have DirectX 9 and that really is a must to run MediaPortal properly (or at all with new versions)&nbsp; and you also have some inexpensive options for upgrades.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tech Geek, post: 36871, member: 18181"] Addorfable? You mean affordable? Ok, I think I just confused the issue so I'll answer your question and then try to explain what I was getting at. All the new ATi GPUs have Avivo. X1300, X1600, X1800 and X1900. However, the only AGP card is an X1600 that is $140. (all prices in US Dollars) It's probably the fastest 3D AGP card but to be honest I wouldn't spend that much on an AGP card. AGP is pretty much dead end now. A somewhat comparable NVidia card (Video playback wise) would be 6600 based and they aren't exactly giving those away either. The lowest priced 6600 was over $100 last I checked. The 5200 (under $35 + shipping) won't have all the video features of a 6600 or X1600 but it would do the job. An ATi 9550 (under $50 + shipping) is also a good choice. It has a few more features than the 5200, faster 3D and you won't gain any more video features for under $100. The bottom line... do you want to spend a lot of money on an old system or just enough to do what you need and save the extra money for a new system? I wanted to upgrade my old system too... but I had a choice of cheap parts that wouldn't improve it or expensive parts that were almost more than building a new system... so I built a new one. I already had a DirectX 9 video card though so upgrading the old system didn't make sense. In your case you don't have DirectX 9 and that really is a must to run MediaPortal properly (or at all with new versions) and you also have some inexpensive options for upgrades. [/QUOTE]

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