Advise me on a Audio and Video Card

[rnparhi]

Hi,
I am in the final stage of assembling my PC.I had postponed buying Audio and video card till the end. Firstly because there were too many choices and secondly because I had not done enough research.
But, sadly, I am still confused about the right choice. Some swear by Creative cards whereas there are others who strongly criticise it. Any advice from recent buyers? I have a PIII, 1G processor,ASUS Black Pearl MB, 128 MB RAM, 20 Gig HD and rest as usual. I want one graphics card which will last me for at least a year and should allow me to do most of the tasks including playing games smoothly. I also want to spend as less as possible http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif....Thanks a lot in advance.

[evalroy]

rnparhi,

I have a couple of recommendations you may want to consider:

Video - I recently upgraded my Nvidia TnT2 card to a Hercules 3D Prophet Kyro card. This Kyro card really impressed me, especially when you consider the price compared to a GeForce2MX.

Audio - I have both Creative (Live)and Aureal cards in a couple of computers I own. Both are impressive in their own right. Given a choice, I would go with an Aureal based card because of the price.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

ER

Originally posted by rnparhi:
Hi,
I am in the final stage of assembling my PC.I had postponed buying Audio and video card till the end. Firstly because there were too many choices and secondly because I had not done enough research.
But, sadly, I am still confused about the right choice. Some swear by Creative cards whereas there are others who strongly criticise it. Any advice from recent buyers? I have a PIII, 1G processor,ASUS Black Pearl MB, 128 MB RAM, 20 Gig HD and rest as usual. I want one graphics card which will last me for at least a year and should allow me to do most of the tasks including playing games smoothly. I also want to spend as less as possible http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif....Thanks a lot in advance.



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I think, therefore I am -What the hell was I thinking?

[rnparhi]

In addition, I would like to know if there is a difference in AGP card and PCI VGA card. Since my MB has a AGP slot, should I go for a AGP card?

Originally posted by rnparhi:
Hi,
I am in the final stage of assembling my PC.I had postponed buying Audio and video card till the end. Firstly because there were too many choices and secondly because I had not done enough research.
But, sadly, I am still confused about the right choice. Some swear by Creative cards whereas there are others who strongly criticise it. Any advice from recent buyers? I have a PIII, 1G processor,ASUS Black Pearl MB, 128 MB RAM, 20 Gig HD and rest as usual. I want one graphics card which will last me for at least a year and should allow me to do most of the tasks including playing games smoothly. I also want to spend as less as possible http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif....Thanks a lot in advance.



[This message has been edited by rnparhi (edited 09-05-2001).]

[bassvax]

Check out this page (http://www.asus.com/Products/Techref/Misc/Agp/agpqa.html) for some info on AGP.

Yes, I would recommend the AGP over PCI.

I'm not familiar with the Kyro...but I do own a 32MB ASUS V7100 Pure with an Nvidia Geforce2 MX chipset and it is fabulous...I paid $150 for it back in February of this year. I can tell a big diff between the Geforce2 MX and the TNT2 chipsets (both Nvidia).

Not sure about sound card...depends upon whether you are a real audophile or not...I went with the Creative SoundBlaster Live Platinum 5.1, but I'm sure the Gamer version would work wonders. Have heard good things about Aureal as well.

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Flush 'N' Forget
FE Stokes WWTP (http://www2.apex.net/users/hwuswtp)

[Bullwinkle]

Diamond Stealth III S540 32MB AGP Video and Creative Live! Value have both served me quite well and are reasonably priced, actually bargains compared to their successors.

Today's $150-$300 cards will be tomorrows bargain basement sale items. You just can't spend fast enough to keep up. Reliability and functionality is the key.

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Socialism can work; spread your wealth.

[iisbob]

rnparhi either the geforce2mx 400 series , or the ATI raedon are good affordable choices for a vid card; definatly go AGP-it's a direcxt pipeline to your systems memory made specifically for video performance.

Not to keen on the KYRO cards ( they're actually based on an older STmicroelectronics PowerVR chipset, which was exteremly crappy ) however i've heard a few good things about the newer models, biggest grumbling i hear is that ther drivers are still crappy.

If you're not adverse to spending a little, go Geforce3-you'll be astounded at how good your games ( and other video apps ) will look! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

As for the sound card, i use the Creative soundblaster live! gamer, other than soundblasters' annoying propensity to conflict in the IRQ's-it's been a good card. But i've heard that Turtlebeach, Phillips, among others also make a good sound card-maybe you can get the local PC store to let you hear a sampling of these cards.

Luck! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.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."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." --Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

[mjc]

Also it depends upon what you want to do...if you are building this machine for gaming then yeah, the Creative SB Live series the sound card of choice, while I've seen many recomendations for the TurtleBeach Santa Cruz for music work. Also the KyroII is still just first or second generation drivers, while the ATI and GeForce cards have fully developed driver sets, but I have seen and heard a number of good things about the KyroII, even with the current drivers....

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

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