[mythtv-users] Which nVidia video card would You recommend for MythTV

[Michael T. Dean]

On 08/11/2007 03:47 PM, Alan Calvert wrote:
> Grzegorz Krugły wrote:
>   
>> I need to replace my ATI Radeon 9600 because of the fglrx drivers 
>> overlay tv-out bug.
>> I would like to buy an AGP nVidia card for approx. the money I can get 
>> for the Radeon. Which model would You recommend?
> As things stand, and as I read them, a 5200 is good, as is a 6200.
>   

I recommend the 6200 because the last GPU to be end-of-lifed (EOL'ed) by
NVIDIA (for their proprietary driver development) was the GeForce 4
series.  The GF5000 series is next on the chopping block, so if you get
a 5200, once it's EOL'ed (in the next year, probably), you'll have to a)
stop upgrading kernels and possibly other system components and get
stuck with all the bugs in the last driver version to support your GPU,
or b) get a 6200 or above.

> Anything beyond those two offers diminishing return on investment.
>
> However, when mythtv-vid is unleashed, all that looks like changing.
> Then the 6200 will perhaps be an optimistic minimum,

Only if you decide to use the OpenGL video renderer.  IMHO, getting a
$500 video card to play SDTV when a $20 video card works great using Xv
(or even XvMC) is a /very/ bad idea.  Getting a $500 video card to play
HDTV when a $20 video card works great using Xv (or even XvMC) is not a
good idea and should only be considered if you can't find anything else
to spend your money on.  (If that's the case, though, you may want to
consider donating it to a worthy organization, instead.)

>  with more and
> perhaps serious graphics grunt becoming highly desirable.
>
> But the answer to your question really depends on what you expect to
> get for the departing Radeon.

Yeah.  I personally couldn't sell an Radeon 9600 in good conscience, but
the NVIDIA GF6200 should cost you about $20 if you find a great deal and
$35 if you get an ordinary deal.

Mike