Nice Video Card for what I want
Written: Jun 15 '08 (Updated Jun 18 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: DirectX 10-HDCP-less power than 8800 or newer
Cons: not the fastest
The Bottom Line: If you don't need the fastest video card but want DirectX 10 and HDCP for a Home Theater experiance this is the card to get
|
|
|
| dragon1's Full Review: eVGA e-GeForce 8500GT, GeForce® 8500 GT, (256... |
I'm not a gamer so why buy a Higher end Graphics card
About the only game I play is Chess(which still beats me). So I don't need Directx 10 or higher performance. But what I do want is HDCP compliant video card. By using Vista X64 Ultimate/Home Premium and selecting the right parts I want to build a Home Theater. With the purchase of this card the only parts I need now are a 24" LCD Monitor (1920x1200)HDCP compliant($300 to $400) and a BluRay reader($139 more or less).
So just what is HDCP
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) is a form of digital copy protection. This is a form of copy protection that content providers have on their BluRay/HD-DVD disc's. If either the video or display (monitor )or even a 1080P TV does not have HDCP, the play back will not be of the high-definition digital video, in fact more than likely you will get a blank screen or a error message.
From what I have read about HDCP this will also effect Digital Audio but will not effect Analog Audio. So hopefully I will be able to use my sound system(onboard sound) and still have CD Quality sound. I may have to get a Sound card and Speaker system that have Digital capablities for Full Suround Sound. I will find out when I buy the BluRay player and 24" LCD monitor. At that time I will Update here and review the Sound card/Speaker system here.
Finding the Video Card
As usual to find the video card that met my needs, I looked at the Tigerdirect website. Since the chipset for my motherboard was a Nvidia . I wanted a Nvidia Video card. Since I'm not a gamer I did not need a hi end card. Which meant I did not need more than 256m memory on the card.
I have had very good performance from the eVGA cards so that is what I looked at. I found the eVGA GeForce 8500GT that filled all my requiremnts and was also only abt $80. As usual I ordered on Wednesday and recieved on Friday. As usual when I order a newvideo card, I check at the web site of the designer of the card for the newest drivers. In this case the Nvidia website. I then download this driver in preperation of the new card.
Installin and using the card
Once I recieve the new card, I start up the computer and then removing the driver for the old card I have done this with every Windows I have had be it-Windows 9x-XP or Vista. I then shut down the power. Disconnecting the monitor's cables, I then remove the old card and put in the new one.
Hooking up the monitor's and then powering up. When the Hardware Wizard starts up, I cancel it then install the drivers I downloaded before. I then setup the monitor's as I prefer they are setup. Doing this I have not had any problems.
The visual differance between this card and my old card, the sharpness and depth of color of DVD movies and TV look the same.
Biostar GeForceŽ 7600GS
Right now with my last computer build and the sound system I have. Plus the 20"LCD monitor, Vista and Digital TV tuner card, I can see the beginnings of that Home Theater System.
Vista Ultimate/Home X86/X64 is already able to play DVD's with Surround Sound. With SP1 installed, both BluRay/HD DVD are now able to be played in Vista Ultimate/Home Premium with Media Center.
Vista Ultimate/Home X86/X64 is already able to play DVD's with Surround Sound. With SP1 installed, both BluRay/HD DVD are now able to be played in Vista.
Spec's
From Epinions website
Processor
Graphic Processor: NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT
GPU Clock Speed: 450 MHz
RAMDAC Speed: 400 MHz
Key Features
Card Interface: PCI Express
Compatibility: PC
Memory
Installed Memory: 256 MB
Memory Tech: DDR2 SDRAM
Memory Data Width: 128-bit
Installed Memory / Technology: 256 MB (DDR2 SDRAM)
Memory Bandwidth: 12.8 GB/sec
Technical Features
Form Factor: Plug-in card
Analog Video Standards: S-Video
Max. Screen Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Refresh Rate at Max Res: 60 Hz @ 2560 x 1600
Pipeline Engines: 16 Pipeline Engines
Special Features: SLI Multi GPU Ready - HDTV TV-out Support
Input / Output
Display Interface: VGA - 15 pin D-Sub x 1 - DVI x 1
Output Interface: S-Video - Composite (RCA) - HDTV Out (HDCP)
System Requirements
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000- Microsoft Windows XP - Microsoft Windows Vista
BenchMarks
For Gamers information, I used 3dMark06 to benchmark this video card. For me the important spec was HDCP.
3DMark Score 2295 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 878
SM 3.0 Score 806
CPU Score 1883
Overview
Operating system Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate X64
Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 / 2.6 GHz processor
Result details
Benchmark settings
Program Version 3DMark06 Revision 1 Build 0 3DMark06 Revision 1 Build 0
Resolution 1280x1024 1280x1024
Full Screen Anti-Aliasing None None
Texture Filtering Optimal Optimal
Vertex Shader Profile 3_0 3_0
Pixel Shader Profile 3_0 3_0
Force Full Precision No No
Disable Post-processing No No
Force Software Vertex Shaders No No
Force Software FP Filtering No No
Disable Harware Shadow Mapping No No
Colour Mipmaps No No
Repeat Count Off Off
Fixed Framerate Off Off
Main test results
3DMark Score 2295
SM 3.0 Score 806
CPU Score 1883
Test Results
Graphics Tests1 - Return to Proxycon 6.89 FPS6.89
Firefly Forest 7.74 FPS7.74 TestsCPU1
Red Valley 0.59 FPS0
Red Valley 0.96 FPS0
Tests1 - Canyon Flight (SM 3.0) 6.77 FPS6.77 Deep Freeze (SM 3.0) 9.35
Vista reports the performance of this card as
Graphics 4.8
Gaming Graphics 5.2
Is this Video card good for games-I don't know which is the reason I included the Benchmarks. Of course this card supports DirectX 10. So many of the Games written(and to be written) will run on this setup.
My System
=MSI K9N NEO-F V3 Motherboard
AMD Athlon X2 X64 5200+ Processor
2 Seagate 160 gig Harddrives SATA300
2 Ultra 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel memory
AverMedia UltraTV 1500
Very good-well designed PC case (More added enough for VH (I hope?))
One of the most important parts of a pc(Update Febuary 12,2006)
Avermedia Combo TV Card(Analog/Digital recievers)
Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers
Windows Vista Ultimate X64
Acer AL2016W 20" Widescreen LCD
Acer AL1717BBM LCD 17"monitor
With this system, I have the Best Experiance watching TV or DVD movies and surfing the internet. If the computer system is designed right with out crapware. Vista runs with no problemsand just as fast as XP tho in some things XP is faster and in others Vista.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 80
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
dragon1
|
 in Computer Hardware, Software |
|
Member: Michael L Hereid Sr
Location: Clinton, Iowa
Reviews written: 71
Trusted by: 70 members
About Me:
MS Beta Tester since 1997-building my own PC's since 1986/7
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.