Video Card Q's

[Village00idiot]

Note: My screen name in more than a few ways reflects my computer knowledge.

#1

I plan on purchasing a Micro Star K7T Turbo RAID motherboard for my AMD system. I was wondering if buying a MSI video card would have an advantage over other brands... say a Vision Tek?

#2

What is the difference between these brands anyway if there is any? What brands are the best and which brands should I stay away from?

#3

If the best deal on a video card I can get is with a TV out when I am most likely not going to use it will it get in my way? Will it run just like a normal card when the TV out is not in use?

[iisbob]

well, let's take this a step at a time; http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

[#1

I plan on purchasing a Micro Star K7T Turbo RAID motherboard for my AMD system. I was wondering if buying a MSI video card would have an advantage over other brands... say a Vision Tek?]


Not neceassarily, however if you've bought a card in the past-visiontek was problebly the manufacturer of the board, even though it came from a different vender. Look for service and support when you purchase a quality board, i would suggest some like hercules, leadteek, or even give visiontek a try. It's the GPU ( graphics processing unit) that's important-right now i'd have to say nvidiais your best choice becuase they support most if not all gameing programs on the market.

[2

What is the difference between these brands anyway if there is any? What brands are the best and which brands should I stay away from?]

What happens is that nvidia markets it's GPU out to vendors who supply it with their own customized BIOS settings and driver files, however usually you'll get better performance out of nvidias version of drivers. ATI, Voodoo are also good choices, tho Voodoo is no longer in business, nvidia now controls their technology. I would purchase your card from a reputable local vendor-that way if you experiance problems you can return it.


[3

If the best deal on a video card I can get is with a TV out when I am most likely not going to use it will it get in my way? Will it run just like a normal card when the TV out is not in use? ]

No, TV out will not affect your system in anyway-until you choose to use it, then you'll just follow the provided instruction set with your card. Yes, it will still be just a plain vid card, just with the added feature( should you choose to use it ) of TV out capabilities.


Hopefully this gives you a little more info on which to base your decision-i would recommend a Geforce2 mx400 or an ATI radeon going to game casually, if you wish to take the chance there are usually some good deals on Voodoo4500-5500 models on eBay, though there is no longer any support for them( other than forums like this ). Go to this site http://www.guru3d.com/forum/ and peruse it-you'll find a wealth of information on vid cards. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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iisbob
"Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run."