I am looking for an all in wonder card for my comp, which is a 1ghz (ie. nothing really special). Just want the ablity to hook it up to my tv and be able to do a little bit of gamming (not new games btw.) So, what card should i get?
You don't need an all in wonder then.All you need is a card with video out. If you go here-http://www.greenlyph.com/product_info.php?cPath=49&products_id=236 . I had one of those cards,they aren't a perfect gaming card but they are pretty good for most games and also for an older system like yours.
How much you have to spend? The 9200se's are not all that good for gaming, but if you really dont game or play only simcity or freecell or old quake arena and halflife (not hl2) then youll prob be ok. Big thing is to make sure what ever card you get make sure it is directx 9 compatible. I guess heres the deal. Eventually there will be a game you want to play. A 1 ghz computer is usually enough to play a game as long as the video card is up to snuff and you have enough ram 512 or so. Spend as much as you can without getting to out of hand. S-video out is always a good option and pretty standard now. Video in is usually expensive and I usually suggest getting a seperate tv tuner card for that as the technology in tv tuner cards changes very little year to year. I ran my first one for 4 years until I moved and broke the crystal. Ill prob run my new one just as long. I try to upgrade my video card at least once every year or two. If you tell me how much you want to spend ill give ya some suggestions. I like the ati 9600 pro or xt for the money they seem to have good power and such. If you want a more budget minded card the geforce 5200 card usually out performs the 9200se. G.i.P
For card performance comparisions, look here http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-08.html
The part about the 9200se is not exactly acurate there. My 9200se played Halo,Vice city,NBA live 2004, Colin Macrea 3+ 4 Toca racedriver, CSI, Microoft rallisport challenge,battlefield 1942,Call of duty,Midnight club 2,need for speed underground etc. I could go on all day listing more games that I have that I have played with my old system with a 9200se. It may not be a perfect card,but for an older computer it is pretty good. Also,it has RCA(composite) out as well as S-video. The composite hookup makes hooking to the TV much easier.
The funniest thing is when you mentioned SimCity as a game you'd be ok to play on that card.... lofl... I upgraded to my 9800 Pro specifically for that game. SimCity4, that is... very graphic-intensive game.
Same card that I have but I haven't opened Sims city yet! all I play is UT2004 on my PC! I play most games on my Xbox!
Any more comments? If not im probably gonna pick a 9200 at greenlyph. Actually, the only game that i want the card to handle is Warcraft 3, will the card run that fine?