Questions about 8500 w/newest drivers...

[Guest]

I'm in the market for a video card upgrade. I'm running a Creative Annihilator Pro (GeForce classic 256, 32mb DDR) in my Ghz Athlon system. Games run fine for me and I'm satisfied with the performance, but new ventures in home entertainment have left me yearning for something with a well-functional TV-out.
Basically, I want a card that performs no worse (compatibility & straight-out performance) when compared to my Creative card, and offers exceptional TV-out capabilities. I've asked and looked around, and it seems a lot of people are pretty big on the 8500 since last week, with the latest driver release. I get a bad taste in my mouth when I think ATI - compatibility/drivers of course haven't been the best in recent past (every game I own, it seems on troubleshooting forums, there's specific fixes for people with ATI cards). I run W2K, and it looks like people say the 8500 does OK in 2K with the newer drivers. Does this seem like a good bet when compared to the Ti/other cards out there?

Also, how is the 8500's TV-Out? I'm aiming to upgrade to a 16:9-able Wega TV soon. Anything that would be good/bad from the 8500's TV-out on such a TV?

Thanks for any advice...

 

[rcf84]

Works fine my 19in Sony Wega. But then i only use it for DVD Playback.

Nice Nvidia and ATi users get a Cookie.... Yummy

 

[Guest]

I saw something on ATI's product desc for the 8500 that it supports 16:9 monitors. Can this be used in conjunction with the TV-out, on the hypothetical Wega, or do you just use the normal 800x600 over S-Video?

 

[bront]

I like my Radeon 8500. The TV out is at 800x600, but will allow for a virtual desktop, and I thought was quite readable when I was running at 1152 x 864 through an 800x600 virtual window.

Suposedly, the AIW Radeon 8500 is suposed to have a 1024x768 TV out.

Chesnuts roasting on an open CPU
Bill Gates nipping at your wallet

 

[Crashman]

You may want to consider simply buy a TV with a 15-pin monitor connector. I was looking at several widescreen TV's, and some had them.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[bront]

Actualy, wouldn't they be more likely now to have DVI inputs? Or perhaps the new HDTV tuner boxes might.

Also, I was reading on ATI's website, in the FAQ on the Radeon 8500 (BTW, I guess it only goes to 800x600 on TV-out, I saw it speced at 1024x768 a while ago on the ATI site) that they will eventualy be releasing a DVI to YPrPb (Component out) Dongle for the AIW, I would guess it would work with the others, unless it needs special software.

Component inputs are available on most high end TVs now, as that's how many HDTV tuners will end up sending the signal, and how many DVD players send their high-quality signals.

Q12: Is component output enabled with the initial shipment? How do I get component output?


A12:
No, component output will not be available with the initial shipment. However, you will be able to purchase an upgrade package with DVI to YPrPb dongle from ATI shortly after shipment begins.

From <A HREF="http://www.ati.com/na/pages/faq/aiw_radeon_8500_faq.html#12" target="_new">ATI</A>

Hope that helps.

Chesnuts roasting on an open CPU
Bill Gates nipping at your wallet

 

[Crashman]

Current widescreens have a DAC for the analog tuner. So using and anolog monitor input was not a problem. Circuit City sells one for mid-bucks in it's size.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?