just a quick questions......

[coollikeice]

hi....
I want upgrade my graphic card and I appreciate any suggestion,
which one is better,
GF 4 MMX 440 64DDR tv-out or
Ati Radeon 9000 64DDR tv-out
can anyone tell me which one is better for the GAMING performance...and why is better with another one....
and why some graphic card come with heatsink fan & some without heatsink fan even it have a same specification.......
can someone tell me please....
TQ..

[saphalline]

I'd say the Radeon 9000 is better. Unlike the GF4 MX series, the Radeon 9000 series is DX8 compliant (full support for vertex shaders) and it has ATI's reduced rendering technology (if you can't see it, it won't be rendered).

You may also consider a GF3 Ti 200 with TV-out as they are comparable to a Radeon 9000, probably a bit more powerful but also more expensive. Bulk Radeon 9000's with TV-out are around $70-80, while most GF3 Ti 200's are around $90.

As to why some video cards have HSF units while others only have a heatsink - the ones with just heatsinks are lower-end cards (and thus they are cooler). For the more powerful and hotter cards, fans are also required. Don't be fooled by the "same specification" thing, there really is a difference if you look closely enough. If not, then some manufacturer took the extra time to put on a fan, too, so thank them very much!

[sleddog]

Saphalline (or anyone else), for the benefit of a gaming-card illiterate (me) can you briefly explain what are the capabilities of 'TV out'? I'm building a mchine for my daughter and am also looking at the ATI Radeon 9000 (specifically an "ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 64Mb AGP TVO DDR DVI"). I'm a bit lost on the implications of "TVO" and "DVI".

Thanks.

[saphalline]

TV-out is a way to output the signal from your video card to a TV, albeit with limited resolution (usually just 640 x 480 or 800 x 600). It's not all that difficult to do, it's just that you wouldn't need to output to a TV all that often. Maybe to watch DVD's from your PC on your TV if you don't have a DVD player for it. Or sometimes for presentations (business users). I have TV-out on my video card, never used it.

DVI is much more useful. Standard CRT monitors (the ones like TV's) use a connector called a DB-15 that has 15-pins on it. It's an analog VGA signal. A DVI connector is a pure digital signal used for LCD monitors (the "flat panel" ones). The cool thing about a DVI connector is that you could use an LCD monitor on your PC if you want, or you can use the DVI-to-VGA cable adapter (it comes with the video card) and use an ordinary CRT monitor.

CRT monitors are cheaper, heavier, use more electricity, and are all-around better for moving images (ie watching movies, playing games, etc). LCD monitors are more expensive and lighter, but they're best for 2D work with limited motion. Their fixed-pixel screens also don't support nearly as many resolutions unless you like distortion, but they're generally easier on the eyes.