Tuner card vs. AIW

[Tavelkyosoba]

i was looking through the boards for an answer, but the only thread that looked promising had no responses :-(

Im turning one of my old pc's into a tivo-type thingy. right now its got a pci graphics card from a gateway p133 so upgrading the graphics card is desirable.

but therein lies the question. when i turn this into a tivo, what would give cleaner performance; Getting a tv tuner card(one by asus) AND a graphics card (sapphire 9000), or JUST an AIW graphics card (like ATI AIW 7500).

it seems to me that the two speiialized components would do a better job than one multipurposed component. But i'd really like to hear what you guys think. Thanks.

 

[cleeve]

Actually, if there's a PCI Radeon 9000 AIW out there (I don't know if there is), then that'd be the best bet, methinks.

The AIW cards really do have a zillion cool features.

But if you like gaming, and the best pci AIW you can get is a 7500, then you are better off with a Radeon 9000 and separate TV card.

The 9000 is much better for gaming than a 7500.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 329/337)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~2750+</b></font color=red> <i>(2400+ @ 2208 Mhz)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,876</b>

 

[entium]

well hopefully he isn't gamming on a p133

 

[cleeve]

Ugh! Yeah... hey fella, we're assuming you have at least a Ghz CPU here, hopefully closer to 2 Ghz... if it's slower than that it doesn't really matter what video card you use, it is pretty much guaranteed to suck at gaming.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 329/337)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~2750+</b></font color=red> <i>(2400+ @ 2208 Mhz)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,876</b>

 

[Tavelkyosoba]

i actually came on here to add its specs into my post, but you guys jumped all over it before i could get here. i've also decided that if i get seperate components, the graphice card will be a sapphire 9200 because i know that will play the games i play now(though not as well as my oc'd 9600).

Athlon 1.2 Ghz
Giga-byte GA-7ZXE
256 Mb SDRAM ( i think its value corsair)
20 Gig Maxtor Fireball 3
will have a lite-on dvd-rw
and some graphics card from a gateway p133

This was my old gaming pc, very old. It will be used primarily for watcing tv, dvd's, recording tv, making dvd's, and browsing the internet. but i was actually kind of savvy to the idea of playing games in my living room, b/c i dont have a console. if i were to get two seperate componants i could upgrade one or the other as i see fit(actually trickle components down from my gaming pc) but i need to get it started somewhere.

and i still need to know, does a two componant set-up work as well as a single AIW card? this will help me make my final decision because i think the pricing favors getting two components.

my pricing thus far:

Sapphire Radeon 9200 $54
ASUS PCI TV/FM Tuner Capture Card $40
----or----
REFURBISHED: ATI All-In-Wonder VE 64MB DDR PCI $80<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by tavelkyosoba on 06/08/04 05:55 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[cleeve]

You're definitely better off with the separate components if you plan to do any gaming. The VE sucks for gaming.

Incidentally, I use my old box... an Athlon 1.2 with a GA-7zm mobo... as my dvd player/home entertainment box. I upgraded it's old 7500 to a Radeon 8500 and it made a huge difference, and since the 9200 and 8500 are very close in performance, this is a good bet for you.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 329/337)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~2750+</b></font color=red> <i>(2400+ @ 2208 Mhz)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,876</b>

 

[Tavelkyosoba]

Thank you all very much. I've decided to get a sapphire 9200 and an ASUS tv capture card. I get the gaming ability, selective upgradability, and retail/oem only. The AIW would require me to get a refurbished one to stay in the same price range...but that would mean no software or cables.

I deffinatly think that the facts weigh out in favor of 2 components. Thank you for leading me in the right direction fellas

 

[scottchen]

I've heard of some issues with the Asus TV tuner with non-Asus Video cards, I would recommend the MSI TV@nywhere, it's a card with tons of features, i personally own one and very happy with it.

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

 

[blackphoenix77]

All-In-Wonder! All-In-Wonder!

<b><font color=red> ATI 9600Pro </font color=red></b>
<b><font color=green> AthlonXP-M 2500+ OC'd 3200+ </font color=green></b>
<b><font color=blue> Abit NF7-S </font color=blue></b>
<b><font color=black> 2x256MB Corsair PC3200 </font color=black></b>

 

[Tavelkyosoba]

scotchen, i dont know what to do with all the holes in the back of that thing, stuff play-doh in them?

thanks for the tip (-;

 

[splenda20]

I would also recommend upgrading your RAM to at least 512 and I'm not sure what you plan to record, but you won't be able to save too much unless you buy a new hard drive too. 20 gigs won't be able to save very much high quality video, you should look for a good, fast hard drive.

 

[scottchen]

On my card recording in real time in mpeg4(640x480) for about 30min is about 600mb, compressed to DivX 640x480 at 24 frames it's about half the size.

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

 

[splenda20]

Sure, 20 can store enough, but 20 can also fill up very quickly.

tavelkyosoba:
One other thing, what OS are you using, because FAT32 has file size restriction, I can't remember if it's 2 or 4 gigs or something else. If your using WinXP, make sure you set up your HDD for NTFS.

 

[Tavelkyosoba]

it will be running win2k pro, but i always use ntfs anyway. i know the hdd will fill up quick, but it will be replaced when i can alot more money to the project. im already at 250 bucks, wich is way over the 150 that i originally planned to spend. but my girlfriend isn't mad at me yet so im not gonna sweat it too much.

 

[Crashman]

AIW cards use hardware assisted compression, most $50 TV cards use pure software compression, your best bet is a TV card with HARDWARE compression, which offers MUCH lower CPU overhead, increasing the quality of your video and the performance of your system tremendously.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Agreed, and having a seperate add-in card let's you put it into another configuration later.

I've given up on the AIW/Cinema Series unless they are the only ones to come with HD-in. Having to go from one AIW to another is too expensive. Really Ticks me off that you can't use AIW + other card, unless your AIW is primary. Otherwise I would've kept the PCI AIW.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK