Have gf2. Which nvidia budget card to buy?

I'm building another system (an htpc) from spare parts, and all I need is a
video-out-capable video card to complete it. It will have an Intel 815 mb
with a 433-1000 mhz cpu (I'll experiment and see what it will need to play
movies).

Which video card would you recommend? I don't want an ATI card because I
don't trust their driver support. I don't care about 3D performance on the
htpc.

I'm considering buying a gf4 440 mx or gf fx 5200 (which costs 2x more, so
i'm leaning towards the former).

Are there any other nvidia cards I should consider?

My current quiet "bedroom" system (athlon 800) has an MSI gf2 "pro" (running
at not-really-pro memory speed). Say I buy a 440 MX. Would it perform better
than my current card? I'm leaning towards a card with no fan, to help quiet
this pc down even further (It currently has a fluid-bearing seagate hard
drive, quiet cpu and ps fans. So vidcard fan noise is audible and a factor
since I sleep nearby and the system is on 24x7). I know I could do a
swap-out performance test with the cards once I bought a new one, but that's
work, and I'd like to know beforehand anyway. Are there any budget nvidia
card shootouts out there that span card generations?

As you can see from the low specs of these systems, they do not warrant
high-end gfx cards.

-rs

"War_Pig5" wrote in message
...
I'm building another system (an htpc) from spare parts, and all I need is
a
video-out-capable video card to complete it. It will have an Intel 815 mb
with a 433-1000 mhz cpu (I'll experiment and see what it will need to play
movies).

Which video card would you recommend? I don't want an ATI card because I
don't trust their driver support. I don't care about 3D performance on the
htpc.

I'm considering buying a gf4 440 mx or gf fx 5200 (which costs 2x more, so
i'm leaning towards the former).

Are there any other nvidia cards I should consider?

My current quiet "bedroom" system (athlon 800) has an MSI gf2 "pro"
(running
at not-really-pro memory speed). Say I buy a 440 MX. Would it perform
better
than my current card? I'm leaning towards a card with no fan, to help
quiet
this pc down even further (It currently has a fluid-bearing seagate hard
drive, quiet cpu and ps fans. So vidcard fan noise is audible and a factor
since I sleep nearby and the system is on 24x7). I know I could do a
swap-out performance test with the cards once I bought a new one, but
that's
work, and I'd like to know beforehand anyway. Are there any budget nvidia
card shootouts out there that span card generations?

As you can see from the low specs of these systems, they do not warrant
high-end gfx cards.

-rs



Go for the MX440, make sure its not an SE. The 460's are good if you can
find them.

"War_Pig5" wrote in message
...
I'm building another system (an htpc) from spare parts, and all I need is
a
video-out-capable video card to complete it. It will have an Intel 815 mb
with a 433-1000 mhz cpu (I'll experiment and see what it will need to play
movies).

Which video card would you recommend? I don't want an ATI card because I
don't trust their driver support. I don't care about 3D performance on the
htpc.

snip

As you can see from the low specs of these systems, they do not warrant
high-end gfx cards.

-rs



If you can find one, get a gf4 Ti 4200 with tv-out. These are being phased
out but are very competent cards for budget money.

chris

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 06:03:20 -0500, "War_Pig5"
wrote:

I'm building another system (an htpc) from spare parts, and all I need is a
video-out-capable video card to complete it. It will have an Intel 815 mb
with a 433-1000 mhz cpu (I'll experiment and see what it will need to play
movies).

With a PIII CPU... and MX440 or 5200(128bit) will be more than enough
power than your PIII can push... low end for gaming, but will work
fine for older games.


--
Remember when real men used Real computers!?
When 512K of video RAM was a lot!

Death to Palladium & WPA!!

"HamMan" wrote:
Go for the MX440, make sure its not an SE. The 460's are good if you can
find them.

The consensus is the mx 440.

I have never seen any of the cards I'm looking for listed as SE. What are
its problems? How mush less $ are they worth? Is there an easy way to tell
them apart, say by agp ?x or ???bits? that way i could just add that spec to
my search to filter out unmarked SE's.

unfortunately, no one commented on my no-fan requirement, probably since it
wasn't in the subject line. my bad. I asked it again in
appropriately-subject-ed post. Thx for the replies, all and feel free to
comment on fanless cards.