I would like the Hardware Guru's opinions

[Shakie]

I am looking to get two things within the next few weeks.

1. A Sony 510UL external DVD+-R/RW, it retails at newegg for $249 US. Do you have any alternatives? The only thing to keep in mind is it has to be EXTERNAL.


2. A new Vid card. Leaning to the ATI AIW 9800 PRO. It retails at newegg for $375 US. What do you all think?


Thanks for any input.

 

[LordDjinn]

The vid card that you are talking about is it the 128meg or the 256meg

 

[tpark]

Yes I think everything looks good. Though I don't recommand you buying a dvd-rw. Slow and it's a new tech. There will be problems.

-Tom-

 

[Shakie]

LordDjinn, 128. I can't see paying almost $100 more for 256 when there is nothing out there that can take advantage of it.



tpark, I know there will be problems, but that is with any new technology. I am still going to get one, I just had questions about that certian one.

Thanks for the responses guys.

 

[g5orbust]

If you want to spend the money, go ahead with both. All in wonder cards are great, especially this one since its a 9800. Thats a sound investment.

You actually may want to hold off on the DVD burner though. 8x drives are appearing on market. Wait a few months and one 8x dual format could be yours for that same price.

 

[Martin]

^ agreed, though if you seriously have the money, get one now, and you could then make the upgrade in the future to opt for a faster DVD-RW drive.

I see no problem with the videocard, however.

 

[Borgmeister]

Seriously 256 is a waste, u couldsay you were'futre proofing' but by the time u can take advantage of it, the vpu corewill be out of date,so g 128mb and upgarde! lateer

 

[volkanb]

256 meg cards a waste?
Depends on what you want to do with it.
Unreal Tournament 2003 has a lot of Texture data and will use it, i even read the performance between the 128 meg and 256 meg card can get up to 90% with UT2003.
But no, not many gamez will use it

 

[g5orbust]

Some points:

A lot of the newer games will start to make jump into 128MB buffers, especially if you run them with full texture detail. Games like Half Life 2 and especially Doom3 (a very texture intensive game from what I hear) should warrant at least a 128MB videocard.
------------------------
That AIW 9800 should suit very, very well for just about anything that is coming out in the next year, including HL2. ATI is Valve's card-of-choice, so if you want to play HL2, youre in the safe as far as performance goes.
-----------------
I would hardly consider a 256MB card a "waste" but I would never pay much of a premium to get one. ($100 premium is too much for such little gain.)
-----------------
The AIW 9800 will not only let you run the top games pretty much as fast as theyll go, but it will add other functionality to your computer as well, such as a TV tuner and DVR functions.
------------------------------
By the time anything comes out that will make your AIW 9800 fill out completely (AKA: Become bogged down, or laggy), it would probably be time for an upgrade anyway. That card should have major staying power and should be one of the longest lasting parts of your computer system.
------------------------------
(from ATI.com product comparison)
ATI Product Comparison
(bold means AIW 9800)
(plain text is 9800 pro)
Product Name
RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB
ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO

ASIC
RADEON 9800
RADEON 9800

SMARTSHADER™
2.1
2.1

SMOOTHVISION™
2.1
2.1

FULLSTREAM™
Real, DivX
Real, DivX

Adaptive De-Interlace
VIDEOSHADER™
VIDEOSHADER™

HYDRAVISION™
Yes
Yes

Clock Speed (MHz)
380e/680m
380e/680m

Pixel Fillrate
3.04 Gpixels/sec
3.04 Gpixels/sec

Geometery Rate
380 Mtriangles/sec
380 Mtriangles/sec

Bus Type
AGP 4X/8X
AGP

Power Requirement
300W
300W

Memory Amount
128
128

Memory Type
DDR1
DDR2

Memory Interface
256-bit
256-bit

VGA
Yes
No

DVI
Yes
Yes

YPrPb Out
w/adapter optional
Yes

S-Video Out
Yes
Yes

Composite Out
w/adapter included
Yes

Audio Out
No
Yes

SP/DIF Out
No
Yes

S-Video In
No
Yes

Composite In
No
Yes

TV Tuner
No
Yes

FM Tuner
No
No

Dual Display
Yes
No

HDTV Capable
w/optional adapter
Yes

REMOTE WONDER Included
No
REMOTE WONDER

Hardware MPEG Encode Assist
No
Yes

EAZYLOOK
No
Yes

 

[ekÆsine]

there are a lot of problems with internal sony dvd burners. many recordable DVD's do not work with it, i would be cautious about buying an external sony dvd burner also.