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 Post subject: Nvidia Card question
PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:50 pm 
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Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:45 pm
Posts: 76
Ok, so TV-out on the PVR-350 is not supported yet so I am thinking that since both TVs are HD capable that I should probably go out and get two Nvidia cards. One for my master backend and another for my slave backend.

I have looked over some of the recommendations out there and it seems any newer 8000/9000 or 2xx series cards should work just fine. Bottom line is I would like to know what is most common and trouble free at this time. I see I can get the EVGA GTS for around $120 and the GT220 for about $75.

The master backend is a P4 3.0GHz box with 512mb ram. The slave I am not even sure if it supports PCI Express but it is a P4 2.6GHz box with 1gb of ram.

I know the slave may be a problem because it does not support PCI Express, but was wondering if anyone has any recommendations to make this a painless as possible if I decide to scrap the PVR-350 cards for doing output.

Thanks


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 8:14 pm 
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Just looked and neither motherboard supports PCI express. So will these system even perform well enough with AGP to have decent video. The TV with the master is a LCD projector with a 121" screen size. The TV with the slave is a 42" rear projection.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:08 pm 
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Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 11:00 am
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Location: Arlington, MA
Resolution and connection methods are going to matter far more that inches here. I remember seeing 50" home theater screens that only did 720x480i, or maybe EDTV 480p(!), and my folks have a "puny" 30" 1080p capable set. Guess which one takes more video card and system horsepower to drive? (and If you guessed the 50" 480i/p try again...)

What display resolutions are you using?

How is the PC connected to the TV? VGA? DVI? DVI-HDMI? HDMI? ...

I'm using an Nvidia FX5200 AGP card connected to a 1080p capable (Samsung) set via a DVI-HDMI cable. The combination is capable of driving the TV at full resolution and maximum quality when properly configured.

If you're only doing 720x480i/p (which is the maximum resolution that the PVR-350 will do) over a VGA cable just about any POS video card will work.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:40 am 
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The machine the slave is hooked to is capable of 720x480i. So that machine should be pretty easy then. Just get a AGP card that can do VDPAU.

The projector the master is hooked to can do 1080i. With the PVR350 in it now though it looks ok. But I have digital cable with HD channels that is currently not going to the myth box. Myth is connected to standard cable. If I got new cards, I would hook the cable into the PVR. So I would probably want the 1080i capability.

Both TVs have component hookups but currently both are svideo from the PVR-350s.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:55 am 
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I see that the 5200 has svideo out. Is there a model with DVI out? I did not think you could do 1080i via svideo. Oh, I do see that you can get it with DVI.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 12:23 pm 
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Location: Arlington, MA
symcha wrote:
Is there a model with DVI out?

Yes. As stated above that's what I'm using.

Figure $27-35 on-line for an FX5?00 based card with DVI output. $31-65 for a 6200 based card, $60-70 for a 7?00 based card (although I seem to remember some kind of XvMC problem with the 7?00 series chipsets). The Fx5?00 cards will let you use the Chromakey option, but you may need to tell the driver to ignore the clock limits to do 1080p.

Look for a fanless card with no complaints about overheating in the reviews, and a DVI to component cable if your big projector doesn't have an HDMI or DVI input.

Also remember to order any cables you need ahead of time, since the retail markup on those is utterly absurd. You can get a full set of top quality cables for what one crappy cable would cost at your local worst buy. When I upgraded to the HDTV replacing all my old cables (component for the DVD player, RCA stereo and DVI-HDMI for the PVR, RCA composite video/stereo for the old VCR, and a couple other odds and ends) cost under $50 shipped from monoprice.com.

OBTW - You're just not going to find a AGP card with a VDPAU capable chipset. They don't exist and you don't need it there anyway. Any decent card with XvMC support is more than enough for 720x480i. Before the HDTV came to live with me, my FX5200 drove a SDTV via a S-Video cable, and I never bothered with XvMC because it just wasn't necessary.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 2:43 pm 
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Thanks tjc!


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