The new ASUS HTV cards

[jult]

I'd like to capture a lot of old Hi8 tapes (the cam has S-Video out) as well as a lot of old VHS tapes (the VCR has rgb-scart and Composite out), and of course want to do that with the least quality loss possible.

For a fast new PC I'm considering buying an ASUS video (plus Video In capture) card, and I can't decide on the PCI-E N or the PCI-E A series.
( see http://www.asus.com/products1.aspx?l1=2 )
A is for Ati, N for Nvidia. I would normally prefer Nvidia, but looking at the specs of both I'd say the Ati cards are a lot faster now.
The system has no Firewire connectivity. Plenty of USB-2 though.
I never play Games on this machine, and I only need 1 DVD-I Output.

I'm also planning on buying a HD/DVD-R or some TV/DVB-T equipment, but I'm in no hurry with that. I need a DVI-Out for the new system first, and I thought I would buy a combo (with Video In). I doubt it makes sense to buy a separate Capture device/card these days, or am I wrong there?

I'd say my summed maximum price-tag for both Video-card plus capture-card is around 400 euro.

Any hints on which ASUStek card I should go for? The Silent cards are amazing, I've had a lot of trouble with videocard fans in my lifetime, and I'm fed up with the noise too, so cards like the EN7800GT TOP SILENT/2DHTV/256M look tempting, but it's not clear to me what Video Input is on it.
As I understand it, cards with the "HTV" code in their name have both S-Video and Composite Inputs, anyone knows if this is true? (I have asked this in an Asus forum, but no convincing answers yet)

Any and all advice on this appreciated,


J.

[Blue_MiSfit]

If you don't play games, it doesn't matter which video card is faster :D

I would really recommend NOT getting a card with video in. I have a 7800gt with S-video and composite in, and its really NOT great. The video in function is very "unsupported", and the drivers are crap for this.

Get something basic (like a 7300gt or an Ati X1300 pro) with a passive heatsink. Make sure you don't get a "turbo-cache" card, as these share memory with the rest of the system. Anything more is a total waste of money unless you are gaming.

Really, get yourself a dedicated capture card.

[jult]

Some handy web-sites to compare cards:
http://www.hardware.info/en-US/productdb/bGdk/viewgroup/
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Category.asp?Category=38
http://www.videohelp.com/capturecards.php?CaptureCard=&videoin=1&mjpeg=1

The speed of the card isn't all that bad if you're doing hardware encoding to MPEG (1/2/4). Furthermore, only the more expensive card will be able to accelerate actual video, this is important when you wish to play HD-movies in a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels for example, and I reckon DirectX 9.0c (or higher) support is very useful too, even if you're not playing games.

I've considered buying a Matrox Parhelia APVe, but my experiences with Matrox aren't all that good. Their software and drivers are usually top-notch, but their hardware either breaks down or is extremely noisy.

If you don't need TV/FM-tuners and all that mumbo jumbo, what are the advantages of for example Hauppauge or Pinnacle USB2 or X1300 units over the newer Ati/nVidia cards, if there are any at all?

All I need is S-Video and Composite in, and decent drivers to deal with it. Software I will provide myself.
Most 'dedicated capture cards' look rather old too. The 'All In Wonder' cards are very slow, compared to the new ASUS and MSI cards for example.

The Asus EAX1950XTX has the Ati Theater 200 chip, which is an old one (or so I'm told). Why did they put that in there, instead of Theater 650 or something?
Where are the dedicated capture cards that have this last chip?
I'm really considering buying the ASUS EAX1600XT now, it has the Ati Rage Theater chip.

[jult]

OK, still not ready to buy that card.

Can anyone assure me this Gigabyte GV-N66T128VP:
http://www.gigabyte.eu/Support/VGA/FAQ_Model.aspx?ClassValue=VGA&ProductID=1239
has Composite Video in (so that's not Component, but Composite, the yellow RCA out from old VHS, which holds CVBS) ?
It's rather unclear from their site or reviews on the model.