Help! looking for inexpensive video card

[fjortiz00]

I would like to add a video card with hardware MPEG2 decoding/help. I am looking to spend less than $75
Cabdidates include from NewEgg:
6200LE Nvidea
9700XT ATI
Must be AGP. Any syggestions welcome.

I am looking for the most band for the buck. I also have ITunes and would like to watch some episodes of Lost MP4 (Hardware MP4 Accel is propbably out of my range, X1300 and up)
Right now I am experiencing audio out of sync. After heavy video movement the audio loses sync and I have to pause to get it back.

Also I can't get the Live TV to work even though I am configured as a client to the PC w/PVR 150.

Current config:
IBM Netvista 2292_22U
PIV 1.6
640MB PC133
20GB HDD
EVGA GeForce2 MX400 64MB AGP - using svideo into receiver
GBPVR .99
CHAINTECH 7.1 - Optical out into receiver, analog y cables into 5.1 inputs on receiver
Running as a Client from server.

Server/Main PC config:
1800 AMD
768 MB DDR2 2600
80GB HDD OS
200GB HDD Media
80 GB HDD external USB 2.0 Media backup
ATI 8500
PVR150
GBPVR .99

[nitrogen_widget]

I've got a Gforce2 MX400 & i've watched DVD, Mpeg2, & Standard Definition MP4 on a 1 Ghz CPU without any problems.

Have you tried playing the video off the clients HardDrive?
What decoders do you have installed?

you said MP4, is that High Definition?

[fjortiz00]

All of my recordings are on the server and streamed ( I am not sure what GBPVR uses).

I have gotten resonable playback after tweaking on GBPVR config, but it still sometimes gets out of syc. Especially after heavy motion senes or transitions.

I keep everything on the other box because it has all the disk space. I may pull the 80GB out of the external enclosure and move it into the IBM.

MP4 is the extension for e the Lost episodes I downloaded from Itunes. I think its MPEG 4 DVD resolutions not HD, but I haven't checked. 42 minutes an the file is ~500MB. I don't think even H.264 can get HD that small.

I am not sure, i have changed so many times. Is there a step by step way to find the best decoders? If I tune with a loal 720X480 PVR150 created local file, will the settings also work for teh same fiel streamed through GBPVR over the network?

FYI 10/100 wired. I built the house in April 06 and ran network, telephone and coax everwhere.

[nitrogen_widget]

I use ffdshow for H264 decoding & while the cpu is up there on the 1ghz it isn't topping out.

What about your CPU?
If you open GBPVR in a window what does your CPU do?

Have you tried just copying a file directly to the clients HD & playing it off of that?

[infraRED]

Radeon 9700 is way over the top. (and has a fan which adds noise)

a passively cooled 9550 is cheap as dirt, has mpeg2 hardware decoding, theatre mode to match tv output res exactly for the sharpest picture, and yeah, passivley cooled so absolutely silent

[fjortiz00]

Widget. That seems pretty amazing. So you get H.264 decoding on 1 GHZ processor?

I am running a PIV 1.6. Over the weekend I loaded ffdshow, and enabled it as post proceeor in Config. It was not an option to select as the primary video decoder. Picture looks better, I think, but Audio still goes out of Sync. Whether I am using Analog 7.1 or the SPDIF (switched using ONKYO receiver) I still need to pause to get audio back in sync.

I did some experimenting and wrote down my config settings. I really need to be able to stream from the server with the big HDD and also I would like to run full-screen. When I try full-screen now the picture is crap.

I am running 800X600 or 1080 X 768 it doesn't seem to make a difference regarding GBPVR performance.
My other setting include:
On playback tab:
Vid Deode: Cyberlink Video/SP.
Other option i Sys Default

Aud Decode: CyberLink Audio.
Other option is sys Def. or MPEG

Aud Ren: Direct Sound Envy 24 WDM.
Other Opts: Sys def
Cyberlink
Def Direct sound
Def Direct Wave
Envy 24 WDM

Overlay is chosen
Minimal OSD is checked
FFDSHOW post is selected. (Just recenetly, hasn't made much of a diff.)

File Sharing TAB:
Everything is using \\ notation

Directories TAB
\\ (aka UNC path)

LIve preview is checked
Return from is also checked.
Enc Pass-thru is checked.

Any help on where to get some free-ware deocders and how to setup are appreciatted.

[fjortiz00]

My MVP runs like a champ, configuring this PC as a client is so far a pain and making another MVP sound like a real bargain.

[nitrogen_widget]

fjortiz00 I don't use post processing on that 1ghz geforce 2 mx400 PC.
I can use it on xvid without a problem however mpeg2 & h264 get too close to 100% for my taste.

My screen resolution is 720x480 via svideo on an sdtv.
It sounds to me like your using an lcd?

[fjortiz00]

No that's just the resolution I am picking from the Display settings in Windows. Plain 36" Toshiba SDTV. Conneted via Composite. How are you selcting ffdshow as the main video decoder? It is not in my drop-dpwn list in GBPVR?

[fjortiz00]

Do you use the NVIDEA control panel?