PVR 350 newbie question

[Grey_Goose]

Building a PVR, and looking at just using a PVR350 for capture & playback.

Am currently using a PVR250 & a 9800 Pro.

If i get a 350, can i just use that as my only card & get rid of the 9800?

The pvr350 playback is just as good?

The pvr350 will act as a regular video card for booting Windows, etc?

[zz5]

You will still need the video card. The 350 only outputs Sage menus and video.

The 350 playback is better for SDTV because the 350 output is interlaced and the color/black level is better than the S-video of the video card.

If you have a HDTV, it's better to use output from the video card.

[Griffonier]

I am using a simillar system. I have the 350 and an Gainward nVidia MX400 no TV out. How do I set up the system so that I no longer require a monitor. The system will not boot up with out the monitor attached.

[falchulk]

Griffonier, it depends on the PC. Most modern PC's have a "Halt on error" setting in the cmos. You can set it to halt on "all errors", "only keyboard" or "none" usually. The wording maybe a little diffrent but similar.

[Griffonier]

It is a ASUS a7v8x-x motherboard...I will look at those setting...Do I need a Video card with Video out if I want to see my desktop on the TV screen. I have heard that the desktop usually looks pretty bad, but am considering it just in case...

[falchulk]

I have a shuttle with onboard TV out. The desktop looks great. The overscan might make a diffrence depending on your video card and TV. I also have a Via m10000 on a 32" tv that overscans way too much and makes navigating the desktop kind of a pain to people not use to it. My shuttle does a much better job and its connected to a 55" tv. As a matter of fact, I use it daily to surf the web and play PC and emulated games.

[stanger89]

Originally posted by Griffonier
It is a ASUS a7v8x-x motherboard...I will look at those setting...Do I need a Video card with Video out if I want to see my desktop on the TV screen. I have heard that the desktop usually looks pretty bad, but am considering it just in case...

As zz5 said, the 350 only displays Sage Menus and video, if you want to see anything else, you need to use a video card.