Looking for a good video card -- not a gamer

Eyeless Blond · Post by **Eyeless Blond** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:05 pm

So, it's been a few years since I bought my last computer, and it's showing its age (can't play h264-encoded videos without choking, forget about HD anything).

So far I've bought the following:

Case: Antec Solo
PS: Earthwatts 380
MB MSI DKA790GX AM2+ 790GX
CPU AMD|A64 X2 4850E 2.5G
4 GB RAM
500 GB HD

Total spent so far: $440.31

I figure I'll keep my keyboard, mouse, and DVD writer, as they seem to be working all right, and from what I hear the onboard sound for this motherboard is pretty good. My LCD is rather new, compared to the computer: a 20-inch widescreen Samsung LCD

That means at this point all I've got left is a video card. At the moment, I'm looking at this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814131095
The 3870 seems to be adequate for my needs, and alone of all the sub-$100 cards it doesn't get a bunch of reviews about how noisy it is.

The big question I have is, do you all think that a 3870 is going to be a decent card to live with for another 4-5 years, or is it going to start showing its age too quickly? Should I spend the extra 50+ dollars to upgrade to a Radeon 4-series or Geforce 9-series?

Thanks in advance.

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:47 pm

Don't buy a video card. Use the board's onboard graphics - it's one the best available. If you're not playing games, it'll be more than enough for anything you do.

Eyeless Blond · Post by **Eyeless Blond** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:46 pm

You know, I think I might. The integrated graphics on this motherboard (Radeon HD 3300) is already far better than what I currently have (Radeon 9200); maybe I'll stick with that for a bit and see if it works out. If not, hey, the holiday season is upon us; I'm sure there'll be better sales to come.

Oh, one more thing: should I spring $79 for windows vista home premium? Is it a significant enough upgrade over windows 2000 pro to be worth the cost, or should I just install ubuntu?

Fungi · Post by **Fungi** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:17 pm

If you don't need the video card now, it's a good idea to wait. Technology's always improving, and the low end gets "trickle down" of high end. Right now I'd say get the 4670, but it can only go down in price.

croddie · Post by **croddie** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:30 am

Eyeless Blond wrote:You know, I think I might. The integrated graphics on this motherboard (Radeon HD 3300) is already far better than what I currently have (Radeon 9200); maybe I'll stick with that for a bit and see if it works out.

Yes

Oh, one more thing: should I spring $79 for windows vista home premium? Is it a significant enough upgrade over windows 2000 pro to be worth the cost?

Yes

mLy! · Post by **mLy!** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:48 am

I wouldn't even know why to choose an 790GX over the 'normal' 780G. In the local shops here, the 780G boards are sometimes half the price of an 790GX board.

unless there is some differance in HD playback that I am unaware of

lm · Post by lm » Sat Nov 29, 2008 5:43 am

For what you would actually need the discrete GPU anyway? Since you are not gaming, and your CPU is already capable of decoding HD video in real time? Which tasks is it supposed to do, that the integrated can not do? Regular office 2D usage does not demand pretty much anything from a GPU.

One vote for Ubuntu. I'm 100% linux user myself (well, maybe 99%, sometimes I boot into XP for games, but haven't done so in months because of lack of time).

psyopper · Post by **psyopper** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:09 am

lm wrote:One vote for Ubuntu. I'm 100% linux user myself (well, maybe 99%, sometimes I boot into XP for games, but haven't done so in months because of lack of time).

I am pro-Ubuntu myself, but I can not recommend it for this purpose. The original poster was looking for something to do HD video decoding. To the best of my knowledge there are no HD/BluRay decoders for Linux. There are h.263 decoders but if he decides at some point to go BR in this box he will be out of luck - unless he dual boots Linux and Windows.

For what it's worth - this is the ONLY reason I would recommend Windows over Ubuntu. Otherwise - it's Ubuntu hands down. But since it is a primary concern for the user - Windows wins.

And yes - pay for Vista - Win2k doesn't have the necessary bits to do proper decoding and most of the software out there isn't Win2k compatable anyhow. Honestly - Win2k is 9 years old - it's time to move on.

Looking for a good video card -- not a gamer

Looking for a good video card -- not a gamer

Re: Looking for a good video card -- not a gamer