[mythtv-users] Need to buy a graphics card

[Damian Surr]

> Sure, get an nVidia 5200-based card.
>
> What we would really need to know is what interface you are going to  
> be using. For AGP the 5200 cards are pretty much the baseline, but  
> any nVidia card since then will work.
>   
My old motherboard has AGPx4
> Other factors are whether or not you are going to want to do HD, how  
> much CPU horsepower you will have (doing HD with an underpowered CPU  
> will require XvMC).
>   
I have an AMD Athlon 1.2Gig chip. Not much these days I know, but I 
can't afford to put a new system together for Myth. Is XvMC on the 
nVidia 5200, or does it depend on the manufacturer? I don't plan on 
using HD for the time being, but I would like to project higher than 
800x600 so that I could browse the net and type emails with the 
projector and Ubuntu occasionally. Doubt I'd do this much though.
> So: What you you planning to put this in, what are you going to do  
> with it, how are you planning to connect it to your display device  
> and what sort of display are you using? Are you planning to do any  
> gaming with this machine? Is noise a factor?
>   
I think I answered most of this on the start of the thread.
Short term, Monitor and old TV (standard TV aerial and scart input)
Long term, Monitor and Projector
The monitor is for Ubuntu use, the TV (then projector) is for Myth (and 
maybe games) use. I don't need to use both at the same time ever.
Games would be nice, but I doubt I'd play much so not essential.
Noise isn't a factor for me, but is definately a factor for my partner. 
She's very sound sensitive, so I need it to be as quiet as possible. 
It's already too load for her and there's no fan on any video card yet. 
I'm hoping changing the power supply will fix that.
> And of course: How much money do you have to spend ? :-)
>   
As little as possible to get it all working, but that's what you guessed 
right? :-)
The spec of the machine is obviously not too high, so there's no point 
putting any fantastic cards in there I wouldn't have thought.
> Your basic question was like asking "I want to buy a car, can you  
> help?". The answer might be anything from a VW beetle to a Rolls- 
> Royce, and without more info we can't help you.
>
> Please don't be offended, we really want to help. I agree there  
> should be better info on this on the WiKi and I really am thinking  
> about that as well.
>   
Thanks, I realise that it's not the easiest question to answer. It's 
just a question that I need some sort of answer to before I can buy the 
kit to build Myth.

The 5200 seems to keep cropping up, so I'll try and find a good one of 
those with the right outputs for the right price.

Cheers
Damian