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Real world importance

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  • Tuner Cards
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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December 7, 2001 5:53:05 PM

I currently have an ATI Xpert98 8MB PCI teamed with a Monster 3D II 8MB PCI for gaming. It's running on a Soyo K7VDragon+, Athlon XP 1600+, 256MB Crucial DDR, and a WD 30GB ATA100 7200RPM HDD. I want to get that new Gainward MX400 but I want to get a DVD drive a little bit more. I would like to do some DVD ripping, and playing in general.

How much does the video card matter for that, in my case? The card is plenty for me, as far as resolution and color depth. I figure that it isn't that necessary for ripping, and I would think that the cpu/mobo/ram/hdd would be more stressed for playback of the ripped video. Am I right?

More about : real world importance

December 7, 2001 7:47:45 PM

You'll see a little better image quality with the GF2. I wouldn't go with the MX400. You'd get more for the money if you bought the cheapest GTS, which is about $10 more than the 400.

Since you're ripping and playing, that GF2 is the way to go. No since getting an Ultra or above and your monitor will become the limiting facter with the GF2. Anything below 1023x768x32-85hz isn't doing your eyes any justice; even if you're only watching Divx.

And yes, your computer will crank out Divx. Left *and* right. But you won't come close to the +20meg/s your hard drive can write, so your processor is still the limiting factor followed closely by memory bandwidth.
December 7, 2001 9:39:08 PM

The only reason I chose the MX400 is because it's fast and it has vivo. The GTS with vivo is going to cost like $50 more, probably. I'm far less concerned about crazy mad framerates in Quake 3 Arena than I am with value and good solid fuctionality.
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