Help Choosing Video Card ( Radeon X1950PRO or GeForce 8600GT nVidia 8600GT)?

Help choosing a Video Card.



Going to use it on a 71" Samsung 1080p DLP HDTV that has both HDMI and VGA inputs. I will be watching mostly videos (mpeg, avi, wmv) that I launch from my PC using Windows Media Player.



I won't be using it to watch DVD media.



I may occasionally use it for games, but I will use it primarily to watch videos I downloaded.



Here are the choices:



XFX GeForce 8600GT nVidia 8600GT Chipset (540Mhz) 256MB (1.4Ghz) GDDR3 Dual DVI PCI-Express Graphics Card

Price = $120



OR



Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphic Card

Price=$175|||the 1950 will be a better gaming card, higher frame rates then then 86xx in dx9 games, but no dx10 support for new games...but right now there's only a few out there anyway....



but for video, the 8600 would be a better card...it's got nvidia's new pure hd..thing, better resolution then 1950, better video processing, color, and options for adjustments...but it's a really crappy gaming card. the other thing is that it doesn't have a built in hd audio for output support through HDMI so you'd have to hook it up from your sound card (crappy...)



suggestion...ATI's low end card's have both the hd audio support, Pure hd processing, dx10 and are much better are displaying video then the low end nvidia card but they are equally as crappy as gaming cards, for the same price or less....(i.e. 2600xx's)



if you want the best of both worlds you have to shell out 250 for a low end 88xx 320mb...|||I tend to prefer nVidia cards because the driver support is better in Linux. Either of those cards will give you acceptable video playback.|||ATI is better i have it and it is great|||Both are good cards to watch videos with. Make sure your computer has a PCI-Express slot instead of just PCI or AGP.



Video cards are most important when it comes to gaming since newer games are very demanding on computers. Much more so than videos.|||The ATI if youre running XP(DX9) The 8600 if youre running Vista(DX10) If youre running XP and plan on upgrading to Vista the 8600. 8600 is DX10 in Vista and DX9 in XP. 1950 is DX9 in both.|||I recommend the 8600GT. It kicks a$$|||The 8600GTS.



The 8600GTS is about 24% faster than the 8600GT.



The 8600GTS is almost the same speed as the X1950Pro, cost $40 less; uses about 25% less power; and supports DirectX10.



If this is just to be used for a media center with no gaming the 8600GTS/8600GT/ X1950 may be overkill. Each cards 12 volt current requirements may require you to upgrade your power supply.



Video card fan noise in a media center application may also be a factor.

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My opinion for a new video card:

For playing the latest games a FRAPS (frames per second) of 50 or higher

For moderate games a FRAPS of 30 or more.

For 2D (simple) games or no games a FRAPS of 18 or more

Refer to:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.h…



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FRAPS (frames per second); higher is faster per

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.h…



NVIDIA 8500GT ($59) FRAPS=17.5



ATI Radeon X1650PRO ($39.99) FRAPS = 30.8

350-Watt power supply or greater (fully loaded system)



NVIDIA 8600GT ($120) FRAPS= 43.1

350 Watt Minimum; 22 Amps minimum @ 12V rail



NVIDIA 8600GTS ($133) FRAPS= 53.6

400 Watt Minimum; 22 Amps minimum @ 12V rail



ATI Radeon X1950PRO ($130) FRAPS= 53.8

450-Watt Minimum, 30 Amps minimum @ 12 volt rail



NVIDIA 8800GTS ($269) FRAPS=102.2

400 Watt Minimum; 26 Amps minimum @ 12V rail .



NVIDIA 8800Ultra ($549) FRAPS=116.9

500 Watt Minimum; 34 Amps minimum @ 12V rail .



ATI cards listed support DirectX 9

NVIDIA cards listed support DirectX 10



Prices per

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis…



NVIDIA power requirements per

http://www.evga.com/products/moreinfo.as…

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Graphics card gaming performance charts:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.h…

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=399…

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option…

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CPU gaming performance charts:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.h…



CPU Benchmarks

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/index.php

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Higher performance video cards require more current from the 12 volt leg of the power supply that supplies the video card. This may require changing to a more powerful power supply. Determine the amps at 12 Volts the video card recommends and compare it to your existing power supply.



How to Buy a Power Supply

http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-a-Power-Suppl…



NVIDIA SLI Certified Power Supplies

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_bu…



ATI Radeon Crossfire Certified Power Supplies

http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/…



Diamond Video Cards Certified Power Supplies|||Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphic Card



Is better