[EX-R]

Ive been out of the loop in terms of the latest computer hardware since a few years ago so i need someone to guide me in the right direction.
Heres what Ill be using it for mostly:

-Run Flash games smoothly
-Connect my cpu to a sharp lcd tv by either dvi or hdmi
-last me for a few years (around 3)

Im currently running an ATI Radeon 9600 XT from 4 or 5 years ago and its falling behind now. I wont be doing any gaming with my cpu so it doesnt have to be high end.
And as always, the cheaper the better, unless its not much more for the next best thing.

Edit: I have an Asus P4C800-E Motherboard

Thanks!

[asian_XL]

would you watch 1080p movies?

[EX-R]

nope. i have a 720p 32" aquos

[ddr]

then just buy the cheapest hdmi card there is
i dont' think flash has anything to do with ur video card

i got a 4350 hdmi to my tv, does its job nicely and silently

[EX-R]

what do i need to run flash games smoothly? I assumed it was associated cause whenever theres a flash application, it just runs really choppy even at the lowest quality setting most of the time. Never use to be like that.

[asian_XL]

even a 6600GT will do the job

[twitchyzero]

does your motherboard support PCI-E? If not you're probably gonna upgrade your mobo as well cause i recall 9600 is already pretty up there for AGP..

[EX-R]

just looked around and it says that it only supports pci

[asian_XL]

Expansion Slots AGP x8 x 1 • PCI x 5

it has one AGP slot...so 6600GT should be okay

[EX-R]

can anyone find me a local computer store to buy that? i searched on ncix and a-power but cant seem to find it.

[twitchyzero]

most AGP cards are discon't
looks like you have to buy 2nd hand.

[.Renn.Sport]

flash games aren't video hardware accelerated.....
more like its ur P4 being too slow

and just having a clean install of windows will fixed 90% of the problems

[EX-R]

damn...so i guess its time for a new computer?

[DragonChi]

If you plan on downloading HD content and playing it from your computer. Your CPU might not be able to handle it. Even if you buy a card that'll handle hardware decoding it doesn't work for all HiDef media.

Best way to figure it out is to format your computer. Download some HD stuff from apple.com/trailers and see if it plays smoothly.

If it doesn't, it's time for a new computer.

If you dont plan on playing HD stuff on your computer, then just format your computer.

How mcuh RAM do you have installed? If you have too little, and you have alot of stuff running in the background, that could be the issue. Though, a format would fix that.... until you laod more stuff on your computer.

[Bort]

cpus do a shite job of HD, make sure you get a card that supports hardware dxva encoding of vc-1 and h.264. a total waste upgrading to a 6600 from a 9600 if you're looking at hooking up to a tv for media, or surfing.

look at a ati 2000 series in agp, up to 3850 i believe is highest ati card you can get in agp setup that will do HD well, but i think you should look for the cheapest x2000 or x3000 series agp ati card you can find especially if you plan on media playback. for nvidia i'm not so sure, but i think 8000 series is minimum card to get if you want proper dxva HD playback the 8600m in my lappy does a good job, maybe 7000 series does HD as well, but not totally sure on that, or which series of nvidia are available in agp bus. regardless make sure you get a card capable of proper HD hardware acceleration. software decoded HD is pure ass no matter the cpu there will always be spikes with full 1080p content.

[DragonChi]

i'm on a laptop with integrated graphics, playing 1080p (low bitrate relative to bluray bitrates) video isn't a problem at all. and I have no lag at all....

[Bort]

you're comment is 1/2 unfinished. which integrated gpu do you have in your laptop, and what is the native resolution of your laptop's panel, would have made it complete. there are many integrated gpu chipsets that will do dxva decoding. from intel to ati and nvidia . you're most likely not playing 1080p because there are no true 1920x1080 laptops with integrated graphics that do not at least allow HW decoding of vc-1 and h.264 to my knowledge at least. your gpu is most likely only displaying 1280x720 or 1680x1050, it's like playing a 320kbit mp3 but having your computer only play it back at 128kbit. regardless there is no way the OP can upgrade to integrated chipset unless he buys a brand new mobo with integrated video and then left upgrading his entire PC.

if you want to try playing true 1080p blu ray rips on a non HW supported gpu chipset, and still call it smooth let me know. i'll point you to a nice 30gb rip of bourne identity to test out your theory. maybe you'd get away with it on a corei7 920 OC'd to the nuts, but then if the OP could get ahold of that we wouldn't be talking about upgrading a 5 year old 9600 vid card and remaining on an agp bus. If you're planning on calling low bitrate rips of HD quality movies HD, then we might as well just call it DVD playback which even his 9600 should be able handle.

[ddr]

i've d/l and played full 25gb/movie bdrips smoothly on my athlon64 ..... nothing running in the background of course

there are tons of korean mtv's, nature videos at 1920x1080 for your testing pleasure out there

[absolution]

4870 or 4890

[akira112]

4870 or 4890

AGP options only unless he gets a new mb.

[Iceman_2K]

i just did the same kind of upgrade. i got an ati 3650 card agp for about $110 so i could play Left 4 Dead. My previous card couldn't support shader 2.0. for 100 bux or so, i just extended the life of the machine for another 2 years or so...

[EX-R]

in terms of hd and all that, i wont be watching much of it. Or i might not at all since i dont download movies anyways. i just want to connect it to my tv so i can just lay down on my bed and surf since my 17" monitor is too small. so i guess the next thing for me to do is reformat my computer, buy more ram (i have 2 512mb sticks), and buy an agp card. Iceman, did you buy your agp card used? if so, where?

[DragonChi]

I had output to my Samsung 1080p 40 inch 5 series via VGA cable. I was playing 720p rips at roughly 9GB. Hmm, i mentioned i was playing lower bitrate content.

But even "there will be blood" 1080p rip played smoothly. (12gb)

make sure your TV can accept DVI connectors or you might want to pick up some adapters.

[EX-R]

just did some research and found out that it has an rgb input. how do i convert that into dvi?

[Bort]

get a dvi to vga adapter thing, usually comes with vid cards, or check a local comp shop. 9600 usually has svideo out as well if you have a difficult time finding an adapter. would prol be best to run your res at 1280x720 for decent performance and a natural aspect ratio for a 16:9 tv. would be just find for surfing, audio, and sd video.

btw. 12gb with audio is not 1080p. it is compressed. similar to the mp3 analogy i gave before. i run an 8400@4.1 ghz and without proper dxva i do not get fully smooth play with proper 1080p, but then again it's no powerhouse like an athlon64.

[syee]

just did some research and found out that it has an rgb input. how do i convert that into dvi?

Are there any other inputs on the TV? Composite and SVideo are going to look horrible if connected to a TV. (read - fuzzy) I'm sure the Aquos will have at least a VGA connection, if not a DVI or HDMI. It may have component (which I'm assuming is what you're referring to when you say RGB?) I've never tried hooking up a PC using component so I'm not sure how it would look. You might want to check your video card you're buying to see if it comes with the relevant adapters for how you want to hook it up.

I'd recommend VGA, HDMI or DVI instead of using any of the analog inputs. You can find converters for practically anything at Monoprice if you require one.

[EX-R]

its got an hdmi input so i guess i can connect it that way or vga as well.

[syee]

its got an hdmi input so i guess i can connect it that way or vga as well.

I'd go HDMI since HDMI cables are so cheap these days. I'm not sure if the video card will offer some kind of audio pass through, but you might even be able to pass audio through the HDMI to save yourself another set of cables.

VGA might also be good if you have a long enough cable lying around.

[EX-R]

what kind of agp video card offers an hdmi output?

[syee]

what kind of agp video card offers an hdmi output?

Try this (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35436&vpn=AH3650%20SILENT%2FHTDI%2F512M&manufacture=ASUS) one. Apparently it supports audio over HDMI too if you want to pass audio through to your TV.

[EX-R]

just bought two sticks of 1 gig ddr ram so now i have a total of 3 gigs. so far its help things run much smoother. next thing i gotta do is format my computer and see how it is after. then pick up a video card. thanks for everyone's help!

[tgill]

most of the latest video cards from ati have hdmi out w/ sound for your tv

[EX-R]

bringing back an old thread

can anyone tell me what to look for when choosing a power supply? i want a new one thats quiet and be able to run a 3650 or 3850 video card and with the specs noted in the first post. thanks!