I'm zeroing in on the components to build my first computer.
My system will be a multitasking unit used mainly, in order of priority, for video/photo editing, as a Media Center PC, web surfing, word and excel and occasional game playing.
I plan on using an Asus P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP MB, Q9450 cpu, Vista Premium 64 bit, DDR2 800 memory.
I have a Antec 900 case and 650w True Power Trio PS mod TP3-650 and two WD Caviar SE16 sata300 500gb HDs. I would like to over clock but, not to the extreme.
I'm not limited by a budget but not interested in wasting $. If spending a little more will provide a noticeable improvement I'll do it.
Question: Which video card? I'm leaning toward the hd-3870 GPU, 512mb. Newegg shows 11 different cards from 8 manufactures priced from $150 to $223. Please make a recommendation on what to buy and or what to avoid.
I can't figure out which specs are important. HDMI out isn't common to all cards on Newegg but seems to be a must for HTPC and HDTV. Some cards ship with adapters. Some card specifications list "TV-Out: HDTV / S-Video Out" and include an HDTV cable. Is this standard s-video with an s-video cable? Very confusing. TIA jmk
My system will be a multitasking unit used mainly, in order of priority, for video/photo editing, as a Media Center PC, web surfing, word and excel and occasional game playing.
I plan on using an Asus P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP MB, Q9450 cpu, Vista Premium 64 bit, DDR2 800 memory.
I have a Antec 900 case and 650w True Power Trio PS mod TP3-650 and two WD Caviar SE16 sata300 500gb HDs. I would like to over clock but, not to the extreme.
I'm not limited by a budget but not interested in wasting $. If spending a little more will provide a noticeable improvement I'll do it.
Question: Which video card? I'm leaning toward the hd-3870 GPU, 512mb. Newegg shows 11 different cards from 8 manufactures priced from $150 to $223. Please make a recommendation on what to buy and or what to avoid.
I can't figure out which specs are important. HDMI out isn't common to all cards on Newegg but seems to be a must for HTPC and HDTV. Some cards ship with adapters. Some card specifications list "TV-Out: HDTV / S-Video Out" and include an HDTV cable. Is this standard s-video with an s-video cable? Very confusing. TIA jmk
Last edited: