Can anyone recommend a video card?

[cumak]

For the past few months my SageTV Client system has used an EVGA GeForce FX 5200 video card, and I'm unhappy with the S-Video quality. The left edge of the display is jagged and slanted, and there are these subtle horizontal bands that slowly drift from the bottom to the top of the TV screen, and then start at the bottom again. It was easy to prove that the problem is with the video card, and not the capture card, decoder, or anything else. I also replaced the card with an identical model, and had equally disappointing results.

So, I'm shopping for a new video card. Can anybody recommend a card that they're very happy with? My requirements are:
- S-Video output
- Heatsink only, no fan
- AGP 4X or 8X
- Low-profile bracket option
- NVIDIA preferred (although not required), since I'm using the PureVideo decoder

Thanks.

[k9k9]

Do you have your graphics card next to your capture card in the PC ? I have the same card and it works great. However, when I first installed my capture card, it was right next to the graphics card and I think they interfered with each other (I'm not sure 100% on this). When I switched to have them 2 or 3 slots in between, everything was fine.

[amac]

Yes, the moving horizontal band does sound like some interference although I was thinking cable not card.

Regarding the left jagged border, is your video card output set to overscan? If not, it is likely that you and most anyone would get imperfections along the border with an NTSC signal.

[stevech]

I have a low priced ATI AGP board; S60 or some such, I don't recall, can look.
No problems. I think the 3-4 leading chipset makers all have had various lemon products and Windows driver issues off and on.

[cumak]

k9k9 - this is a client machine so there is no capture card. It does have a sound card and 802.11 card, however I think the problem existed before I installed either of those. I will take another look.

amac - that's an interesting comment about the cable because EVGA tech support told me the same thing. However, I tried two cables with the same result. Also, I plugged the cable into my VCR output and the video looked clean.

Any other suggestions to eliminate interference?

Thanks.

[dbfresh23]

For a bit more then the cost of an "inexpensive" video card it may be worth looking at the SageTV Extender. Better PQ then you'll get from a video card for SD content using Svideo or Composite.

[cumak]

I looked at the extender, and I may do that for another room in my house. However, I really wanted an S/PDIF output to my stereo, so I decided to build a front-end machine instead. The S/PDIF output eliminates the hissing sound I hear with other audio interfaces I've tried. So, now I have great audio quality and so-so video.

[dbfresh23]

Pretty sure that the New Model has S/PDIF