>>>Hello Folks,
>>>
>>>I am looking to upgrade to an AGP video card with the TV-out
>>>connector. First off, I don't play games on the computer. So, I
>>>don't need the fastest most powerful card out there. I would probably
>>>be limited in that regard anyway, since my power supply is 250 volts.
>>>
>>>My primary uses for the video card would be for on-line video
>>>streaming. I frequent the "free tube" web site which let's you watch
>>>live TV.. up to a fulll screen. So, it was my hope that wiith the
>>>TV-out option, maybe I could finally ditch cable TV for free tube. :)
>>>So, the card should be able to handle streaming video well. In
>>>addition, I use the computer for photo editing, etc. I may also use
>>>the system for video editing at some point, unless I upgrade to a
>>>faster system before that.
>>>
>>>So, I'm basically looking for an improvement on what I already have
>>>(SIS Mirage 2 integrated VIdeo with 128 MB shared memory) and which
>>>has the TV out option.
>>>
>>>Here are the Specs of my system:
>>>
>>>AMD Athlon 63 3200+
>>>1.5 GB PC3200 DDR SDRAM
>>>120 GB 7200 RPM Ultra DMA Hard drive
>>>DVD+RW/CD-RW
>>>CD-ROM
>>>250 watt power supply
>>
>>
>>What kind of "improvement" are you looking for over the
>>video you already had? As GT mentioned, there's nothing
>>particularly demanding about TV-Out, nor your described
>>tasks, so we'd need to know where the current video is
>>falling short. Your present PSU could indeed be a
>>limitation, if you were just itching to replace something
>>that might be a good area to focus on.
>
>
> Well, at this point in time I don't have any real issues with the
> current video card. I primarily was looking for the tv-out option.
> However, if I was going to go through the trouble of upgrading to
> begin with, I'd hope to make an improvement over what I already had.
> I certainly wouldn't want degraded performance! Also, if I ever do
> plan on purchasing a new computer, I may very well sell this one on
> E-bay. So, upgrading to a "better" video card may add a bit more
> value to the system. But, I also don't want to spend a lot of money
> to do so. So, as GT mentioned, it would be great to find a cheap
> decent video card on E-bay that would do the job and not cost and arm
> and a leg.

A repeat answer, but you are not going to improve performance of anything
you do by upgrading your graphics card, as you don't use any software that
uses 3d power. All you are going to gain is the TV-out, so I would focus on
minimal spend to achieve your requirement. I wouldn't bother buying with a
view to selling in the future, because any budget card you buy now will be
well below gaming spec when you come to sell in a few months. You could
spend £300 on a new PCI-x graphics card and whilst it will be more capable
than any £10 card, it will still be out of date in 6 months!